Characterization and conservation of a new xylan CUT system from Xanthomonas campestris pv. c ampestris : insights in microbial ecology
Guillaume Déjean
Abstract:
Microbial degradation of plant cell wall s is not only an important biological process but it also has a growing scientific interest for many biotechnological applications . In this work, we identified the degradation and utilization system of xylan, a major structural component of plant cell walls, in phytopathogenic Xanthomonas species. This system is required for pathogenicity, and we have shown the need of this system for optimal bacterial growth on the leaf surface of host and non host plants. One of the features of this system is the presence of two specific outer membrane transporters (TBDTs, T onB-d ependent t ransporters) that would be involved in active uptake of xylan hydrolysis products. Finally, genomic comparative analysis have identified a set of genes essential for xylan utilization, conserved in many phylogenetically distinct bacteria belonging to diverse habitats such as soil, plants, aquatic systems or digestive tracts systems. Our work shows that this set of genes is systematically associated with TBDTs, confirming the importance of these proteins in xylan utilization, the seco nd most abundant plant polysaccharide in nature.
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Thesis of the University of Toulouse
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