Virulence mechanisms and host specificity of gall-forming Pantoea agglomerans

Pantoea agglomerans has been transformed from a commensal bacterium associated with many plants into a host-specific gall-forming pathogen by acquiring a plasmid-borne pathogenicity island. This pathogenicity island harbors the hrp/hrc gene cluster, in addition to genes encoding type III effector proteins, biosynthesis of the phytohormones indole-3-acetic acid and cytokinin, multiple diverse insertion sequences and pseudogenes. This review describes a unique model for understanding the emergence of new pathogens or new pathogenic variants, offering an insight into the function of type III effectors in host specificity and the evolution of a pathogen into pathovars. It also addresses the primary role of type III effectors in gall initiation as compared with a secondary role of phytohormones secreted by the pathogen.