The frequent outbreaks of rice foot rot disease caused by Dickeya zeae have become a significant concern in rice planting regions and countries, but the regulatory mechanisms that govern the virulence of this important pathogen remain vague. Given that the second messenger cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) is associated with modulation of various virulence-related traits in various microorganisms, here we set to investigate the role of the genes encoding c-di-GMP metabolism in the regulation of the bacterial physiology and virulence by construction all in-frame deletion mutants targeting the annotated c-di-GMP turnover genes in D. zeae strain EC1. Phenotype analyses identified individual mutants showing altered production of exoenzymes and phytotoxins, biofilm formation and bacterial motilities. The results provide useful clues and a valuable toolkit for further characterization and dissection of the regulatory complex that modulates the pathogenesis and persistence of this important bacterial pathogen.

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virulencerelated traits second messenger cyclic digmp cdigmp rice foot rot disease bacterial physiology cdigmp metabolism exoenzymes persistence virulence regulatory complex phytotoxins biofilm formation bacterial motilities

Yufan Chen,Mingfa Lv,Lisheng Liao,Yanfang Gu,Zhibin Liang,Zurong Shi,Shiyin Liu,Jianuan Zhou,Lianhui Zhang,.Genetic Modulation of c-di-GMP Turnover Affects Multiple Virulence Traits and Bacterial Virulence in Rice Pathogen Dickeya zeae.. 11 (11),.

Yufan Chen,Mingfa Lv,Lisheng Liao,Yanfang Gu,Zhibin Liang,Zurong Shi,Shiyin Liu,Jianuan Zhou,Lianhui Zhang,"Genetic Modulation of c-di-GMP Turnover Affects Multiple Virulence Traits and Bacterial Virulence in Rice Pathogen Dickeya zeae." 11

Yufan Chen,Mingfa Lv,Lisheng Liao,Yanfang Gu,Zhibin Liang,Zurong Shi,Shiyin Liu,Jianuan Zhou,Lianhui Zhang,"Genetic Modulation of c-di-GMP Turnover Affects Multiple Virulence Traits and Bacterial Virulence in Rice Pathogen Dickeya zeae."