Xanthomonas campestris

From DrugPedia: A Wikipedia for Drug discovery

Xanthomonas campestris

Xanthomonas is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria known for being a common plant pathogen.

**Scientific classification**
Kingdom	Eubacteria
Phylum	Proteobacteria
Class	Gamma proteobacteria
Order	Xanthomonadales
Family	Xanthomonadaceae
Genus	Xanthomonas
Species	X. campestris
Binomial	Xanthomonas campestris

[edit] Surface Characteristics

The cell wall of Xanthomonas campestris consists of a β1-->4 glucose polymer, i.e. a cellulose backbone, with β1-->3 substituted trisaccharide side-chains of (mannose-β1-->4 glucuronic acid-α-1-->2-mannose-β-1-->3)- on alternate glucose residues. The side-chain is variably acylated. The inner mannose may have an O-6 acetyl group and the terminal mannose a 4,6- bound pyruvate ketal

[edit] Pathogenic Activity

It is the causative agent of crucifer black rot disease, which causes severe losses in agricultural yield world-wide also it acts a model organism for studying plant-bacteria interactions.

[edit] Virulence

Their virulence appears to be due primarily to secreted and surface compounds that could increase host nutrient loss, or avoid or suppress unfavorable conditions in the host. Type II and III secretory pathways are essential for virulence. Some individual extracellular enzymes (type II-secretion dependent) affect final bacterial population levels, whereas some avirulence gene products (type III-secretion dependent) affect virulence by altering host metabolism. Avr proteins, probably secreted via a pilus, can also be recognized by host resistance gene products. Virulence is also associated with bacterial surface polysaccharides, which may help to avoid host defense responses, and regulatory gene systems, which can control virulence gene expression.