Role of the T3SS of Burkholderia seminalis TC3.4.2R3 in mechanisms of microbial interactions

• Grant number: 23/18263-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Welington Luiz de Araújo
• Grantee: Luize Nóbrega e Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The bacterium Burkholderia seminalis has been isolated from different environments, such as soil, water, plants, and clinical patients. The interaction with other organisms has already been demonstrated in different ways, which may be beneficial or deleterious for the host. The TC3.4.2R3 strain of B. seminalis, isolated from sugarcane, has an antagonistic potential against several phytopathogenic fungi and Galleria mellonella larvae. Furthermore, the strain has also been associated with promoting plant growth and biocontrol of leaf necrosis in orchids caused by B. gladioli. This bacterium is a versatile strain in relation to the niche and environments occupied and has been subject to studies that evaluate the differential expression of genes at environmental and clinical temperatures. The previous results showed that the environment is capable to modulate the way in which B. seminalis interacts in the environment. The type 3 secretion system (T3SS) is an important system in the bacteria-host interaction and plays an important role both in the infection and colonization of organisms. Therefore, the main goal of this project is to evaluate the ecological role of the T3SS of B. seminalis TC3.4.2R3 in different environmental conditions, including environmental and clinical temperatures and different hosts. For this purpose, the T3SS gene cluster will be manually re-annotated in the genome of this bacterium, the expression of these genes will be evaluated in different transcriptomes previously generated at LABMEM/ICB/USP and the expression of these genes will be evaluated in different conditions using quantitative PCR. The results to be obtained will be important for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the establishment of this bacterium in different environments.