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Soft-rot Enterobacteriaceae (SRE), which belong to the genera Pectobacterium and Dickeya, consist mainly of broad host-range pathogens that cause wilt, rot, and blackleg diseases on a wide range of plants. They are found in plants, insects, soil, and water in agricultural regions worldwide. SRE encode all six known protein secretion systems present in gram-negative bacteria, and these systems are involved in attacking host plants and competing bacteria. They also produce and detect multiple types of small molecules to coordinate pathogenesis, modify the plant environment, attack competing microbes, and perhaps to attract insect vectors. This review integrates new information about the role protein secretion and detection and production of ions and small molecules play in soft-rot pathogenicity.

Ectoine (1,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2-methyl-4-pyrimidinecarboxylic acid) is a cyclic amino acid, identified as a compatible solute in moderately halophilic bacteria. Exogenously provided ectoine was found to stimulate growth of Escherichia coli in media of inhibitory osmotic strength. The stimulation was independent of any specific solute, electrolyte or nonelectrolyte. It is accumulated in E. coli cells proportionally to the osmotic strength of the medium, and it is not metabolized. Its osmoprotective ability was as potent as that of glycine betaine. The ProP and ProU systems are both involved in ectoine uptake and accumulation in E. coli. ProP being the main system for ectoine transport. The intracellular ectoine pool is regulated by both influx and efflux systems.

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