Our new findings from the Burdman lab were featured in the Hebrew University and Jerusalem Post.
Researchers: Irene Jiménez-Guerrero, Monica Sonawane, Noam Eckshtain-Levi, Za Khai Tuang, Gustavo Mateus da Silva, Francisco Pérez-Montaño, Meirav Leibman-Markus, Rupali Gupta, Lianet Noda-Garcia, Maya Bar, Saul Burdman;
In this work, we focused on the effector AopW1, revealing its role in host adaptation and providing new insights into the HopW1 family of bacterial effectors, with the abstract of this paper accessible here. Acidovorax citrulli, the bacterium that causing disease to melon and watermelon, has two major genetic groups with different host preferences. Group I strains are more associated with melons, while Group II strains are more aggressive towards watermelons. We discovered that these groups differ in their arsenal of type-III secreted protein effectors, which are crucial in manipulating host metabolism to promote disease. Our study sheds light on how these effectors, particularly AopW1, contribute to the pathogen’s virulence and host preference. This knowledge is vital for developing strategies to combat bacterial fruit blotch and protect melon and watermelon crops.
