Poster
Jovana Mijatovic Scouten, PhD (she/her/hers)
Postdoctoral Scholar
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Camila Medina Montes
Postdoctoral scholar
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Charlie Paulsen
Laboratory technician
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Imre Rist
Undergraduate researcher
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Sean Weller
Undergraduate researcher
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Sam Leiboff
PI
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Jeff Chang
PI
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Rhodococcus fascians can infect a diversity of plant species and cause unusual developmental changes that lead to galls and shoot proliferations. The current hypothesis predicts that R. fascians, potentially localized within plant cells, secretes cytokinins to perturb development. We used cellular and genetic methods to test this hypothesis. First, we will describe at the anatomical and morphological levels, the unusual developmental changes that occur during infection. We will describe changes to trichome patterning and bolting behavior of Arabidopsis. We will also describe observations from confocal microscopy detailing the localization of tdTomato-expressing bacteria throughout the infection process. Second, we used genetic approaches to reevaluate virulence genes reportedly necessary for pathogenicity. The fas locus includes six genes with functions implicated in cytokinin metabolism. Linked are mtr1 and mtr2, two putative methyltransfer-encoding genes implicated in modifying cytokinins. We previously reported that fasA, fasE, and fasF are not essential for pathogenicity. Results on the remaining fas locus genes necessity in pathogenicity and their impact on the plant infection will be presented. Overall, findings provide insights into the developmental changes induced by R. fascians during infection, and the possible bacterial mechanisms that cause these changes.