Elucidation of the functional role of flagella in virulence and ecological traits of Pseudomonas cichorii using flagella absence (ΔfliJ) and deficiency (ΔfliI) mutants.

Understanding the infection mechanisms of pathogens will lead to better management of the associated diseases. The flagella of these pathogens play significant roles not only in bacterial motility, but also in virulence. In the present study, two genes involved in flagella construction, fliJ and fliI of Pseudomonas cichorii, were analyzed.

An effector gene hopA1 influences on virulence, host specificity, and lifestyles of Pseudomonas cichorii JBC1.

Pseudomonas cichorii is a devastating pathogen which infects a wide range of ornamental as well as agricultural crops worldwide. Characterization of virulence genes helps to understand pathogens' infection processes, which may lead to development of resistant crops. For functional validation of novel genes, we re-constructed pUCP18 vector with λ phage red operon and sacB gene (pUCP18_RedS), which simplified conventional marker exchange system.