Characterizing the role of CFL, OSR and SDR in the biosynthesis of the streptomyces scabies COR-like metabolites

Altowairish, Mead Saad (2014) Characterizing the role of CFL, OSR and SDR in the biosynthesis of the streptomyces scabies COR-like metabolites. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Streptomyces is the largest genus of actinobacteria and consists of Gram-positive filamentous organisms that mainly inhabit soil environments. Some members of this genus have the ability to cause economically important crop diseases such as potato common scab (CS), which is characterized by the formation of superficial, raised or pitted corky-like lesions on the surface of potato tubers. Among the virulence factors produced by the best characterized CS-causing pathogen, S. scabies are the phytotoxic secondary metabolites called the COR-like metabolites, which resemble the coronatine (COR) phytotoxin produced by the plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae. The objective of this study was to characterize the role of three S. scabies genes (cfl, oxr and sdr) in the biosynthesis of the COR-like metabolites by constructing gene deletion mutants and examining the effect of each mutation on metabolite biosynthesis and bioactivity. The results of this study indicate that all three genes are necessary for normal production of the COR-like metabolites in S. scabies, and possible roles for each gene in the biosynthetic pathway are discussed.

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