Global transcriptome analysis of the tripartite interaction between X. citri, one of its lytic bacteriophage and the citrus host

• Grant number: 25/03250-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Henrique Ferreira
• Grantee: Caio Felipe Cavicchia Zamunér
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/10577-0 - Biology of Bacteria and Bacteriophages Research Center, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Citriculture is one of the most important agricultural activities in Brazil, where the State of São Paulo holds the position of the largest producer of sweet orange worldwide. Among a plethora of threats that hinders citrus production, citrus canker, caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Xanthomonas citri subp. citri (X. citri) is a non-treatable disease that causes significant economic losses. The management of the disease is done majorly by frequent sprays of copper-based bactericides that have been associated with the development of bacterial resistance and damage to the environment. Bacteriophages are natural predators of bacteria and have been used as biocontrol alternatives for several plant cultivars of economic interest. However, little is known regarding the interaction between host and phage, especially for X. citri infecting phage. During the infection, bacteriophages can shut down several metabolic pathways in its host, ultimately taking control of the replication machinery of the cell to produce new virions. Accessing the transcriptional landscape of phages might shed a new light into the interactions occurring between their host and can provide novel information about the defense mechanisms used by X. citri, shutoff of virulence factors and other metabolic alterations. We plan to study this transcriptional landscape using RNA-seq in experiments in vitro as well as in planta to capture the interplay between phage-bacteria and phage-bacteria-plant during the onset of the disease citrus canker. Our goal is to identified possible changes in bacterial virulence and plant innate response during the infection of phage infected X. citri.