Effects of wbnH2 on biological characteristics and pathogenicity of Erwinia beijingensis

Abstract:

[Background] Bacterial soft rot caused by Erwinia beijingensis results in serious economic losses to enterprises. The biological function of the glycosyltransferase gene wbnH2 in E. beijingensis remains unclear. [Objective] To explore the effect of wbnH2 gene on the pathogenicity of E. beijingensis. [Methods] Homologous recombination was employed to construct the E. beijingensis LMG 27579^T wbnH2 -deleted mutant Δ -wbnH2. The biological characteristics such as pathogenicity, growth rate, motility, biofilm formation, and adhesion of Δ -wbnH2 were studied. Further, we used the broad-host-range plasmid pBBR1MCS2 to construct the complementation strain C -wbnH2 for excluding the polarity effect-caused phenotypic change of the mutant. [Results] Compared with that of the wild type, the growth rate of Δ -wbnH2 had no significant change. However, the deletion of wbnH2 resulted in significant decreases in polysaccharide secretion, biofilm formation, adhesion and pathogenicity. [Conclusion] The glycosyltransferase gene wbnH2 affects the polysaccharide secretion, biofilm formation, adhesion, and pathogenicity of E. beijingensis, playing a role in the pathogenic process. This study provides a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of bacterial soft rot.