Virulence analysis and gene expression profiling of the pigment-deficient mutant of Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae

Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae ( Xoo ) causes bacterial blight disease in rice ( Oryza sativa L.). For a study of function, we constructed a random insertion mutant library of Xoo using a Tn5 transposon and isolated the mutant strain (M11; aroK ∷Tn5) that had extremely low pigment production. In addition, M11 had decreased virulence against the susceptible rice cultivar IR24. Thermal asymmetric interlaced-PCR and sequence analysis of M11 revealed that the transposon was inserted into the aroK gene (which encodes a shikimate kinase). To investigate the expression patterns of the pigment- and virulence-deficient mutant, DNA microarray analysis was performed. In addition, reverse transcriptase-PCR was performed to confirm the expression levels of several genes, including the aro genes of the aroK mutant. Our findings reveal that several crucial genes for virulence, including cellulase and hypersensitive response and pathogenicity ( hrp ) genes, were regulated by mutations in the aroK gene.