Authors:

Brooke Allison Pilkey

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About Paper:

The soilborne bacteria Ralstonia solanacearum is the causal agent of bacterial wilt disease in a number of host plants, including tomatoes. Ralstonia results in significant crops losses each year, and is one of the most damaging bacteria that infects plants. Ralstonia produces exopolysaccharides (EPS), a known virulence factor, that accumulates and clogs the xylem of plants. This results in water transport being inhibited, leading to wilting symptoms. However, much about how tomatoes respond to EPS, and how EPS may help Ralstonia evade tomato defenses, is unknown. To investigate this relationship, lectins will be isolated from tomatoes through column chromatography. Lectins, carbohydrate binding proteins, bind Ralstonia and decrease EPS production. Two strains of Ralstonia, K60 and GMI1000, will be exposed to the lectins and observed under a microscope to see if agglutination occurs. Agglutination, a clumping of the bacteria, inhibits motility and adhesion leading to decreased virulence. Mutant strains of K60 and GMI1000, which produce significantly less EPS because of a mutation in the epsB gene, will also be exposed to lectins to determine if EPS prevents agglutination. To further characterize the relationship between EPS and plant defenses, reactive oxygen species (ROS) assays will be performed. ROS are produced by tomatoes after Ralstonia infection. Tomato roots will be exposed to WT and mutant Ralstonia strains. Measuring ROS levels can provide insight into the potential for EPS to provide a protective effect against antimicrobial ROS for Ralstonia. Further research aims to collect and compare data from resistant and susceptible tomato cultivars. Keywords: Tomato; Bacterial Wilt; Ralstonia solanacearum; Exopolysaccharides

Source:

Purdue University / 2024

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Co-authors:

Brooke Allison Pilkey