The concept of the coevolutionary arms race holds a central position in our understanding of pathogen–host interactions. Here we identify the molecular mechanisms and follow the stepwise progression of an arms race in a natural system. We show how the evolution and function of the HopZ family of type III secreted effector proteins carried by the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae are influenced by a coevolutionary arms race between pathogen and host. We surveyed 96 isolates of P. syringae and identified three homologs (HopZ1, HopZ2, and HopZ3) distributed among ∼45% of the strains. All alleles were sequenced and their expression was confirmed. Evolutionary analyses determined that the diverse HopZ1 homologs are ancestral to P. syringae, and have diverged via pathoadaptive mutational changes into three functional and two degenerate forms, while HopZ2 and HopZ3 have been brought into P. syringae via horizontal transfer from other ecologically similar bacteria. A PAML selection analysis revealed that the C terminus of HopZ1 is under strong positive selection. Despite the extensive genetic variation observed in this family, all three homologs have cysteine–protease activity, although their substrate specificity may vary. The introduction of the ancestral hopZ1 allele into strains harboring alternate alleles results in a resistance protein-mediated defense response in their respective hosts, which is not observed with the endogenous allele. These data indicate that the P. syringae HopZ family has undergone allelic diversification via both pathoadaptive mutational changes and horizontal transfer in response to selection imposed by the host defense system. This genetic diversity permits the pathogen to avoid host defenses while still maintaining a virulence-associated protease, thereby allowing it to thrive on its current host, while simultaneously impacting its host range.

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Effectors are essential virulence proteins produced by a broad range of parasites, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, protozoa, insects and nematodes. Upon entry into host cells, pathogen effectors manipulate specific physiological processes or signaling pathways to subvert host immunity. Most effectors, especially those of eukaryotic pathogens, remain functionally uncharacterized. Here, we show that two effectors from the oomycete plant pathogen Phytophthora sojae suppress RNA silencing in plants by inhibiting the biogenesis of small RNAs. Ectopic expression of these Phytophthora suppressors of RNA silencing enhances plant susceptibility to both a virus and Phytophthora, showing that some eukaryotic pathogens have evolved virulence proteins that target host RNA silencing processes to promote infection. These findings identify RNA silencing suppression as a common strategy used by pathogens across kingdoms to cause disease and are consistent with RNA silencing having key roles in host defense.

Pseudomonas syringae utilizes the type III secretion system to translocate effector proteins into plant cells, where they can contribute to the pathogen's ability to infect and cause disease. Recognition of these effectors by resistance proteins induces defense responses that typically include a programmed cell death reaction called the hypersensitive response. The YopJ/HopZ family of type III effector proteins is a common family of effector proteins found in animal-and plant-pathogenic bacteria. The HopZ family in P. syringae includes HopZ1a PsyA2 , HopZ1b PgyUnB647 , HopZ1c PmaE54326 , HopZ2 Ppi895A and HopZ3 PsyB728a . HopZ1a is predicted to be most similar to the ancestral hopZ allele and causes a hypersensitive response in multiple plant species, including Arabidopsis thaliana. Therefore, it has been proposed that host defense responses have driven the diversification of this effector family. In this study, we further characterized the hypersensitive response induced by HopZ1a and demonstrated that it is not dependent on known resistance genes. Further, we identified a novel virulence function for HopZ2 that requires the catalytic cysteine demonstrated to be required for protease activity. Sequence analysis of the HopZ family revealed the presence of a predicted myristoylation sequence in all members except HopZ3. We demonstrated that the myristoylation site is required for membrane localization of this effector family and contributes to the virulence and avirulence activities of HopZ2 and HopZ1a, respectively. This paper provides insight into the selective pressures driving virulence protein evolution by describing a detailed functional characterization of the diverse HopZ family of type III effectors with the model plant Arabidopsis.The intimate interaction between plant bacterial pathogens and their hosts is believed to have driven the stepwise evolution of plant resistance mechanisms which successful pathogens have evolved to suppress (11,18,28). The gram-negative bacterial phytopathogen Pseudomonas syringae uses the type III secretion system to translocate virulence proteins (also known as type III effectors) directly into host cells, where they can suppress host defense responses (1, 9). However, plants have evolved resistance genes that can recognize effectors or the cellular perturbations that they cause and can induce defense responses that can thwart the infection process (15, 40). In fact, certain type III effector genes were originally called avirulence (avr) genes due to their ability to compromise the virulence of bacteria that express them. Often associated with the recognition of specific type III effectors by plant resistance proteins is the rapid cell death known as the hypersensitive response (HR), which is localized to the site of infection (23). Recent genome-wide screens have identified hundreds of type III effector proteins in P. syringae pathovars that can be subdivided into approximately 50 families (35). Although individual effectors have been studied to determine their virulence a...

Gram-negative bacterial pathogens deliver a variety of virulence proteins through the type III secretion system (T3SS) directly into the host cytoplasm. These type III secreted effectors (T3SEs) play an essential role in bacterial infection, mainly by targeting host immunity. However, the molecular basis of their functionalities remains largely enigmatic. Here, we show that the Pseudomonas syringae T3SE HopZ1a, a member of the widely distributed YopJ effector family, directly interacts with jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) proteins through the conserved Jas domain in plant hosts. JAZs are transcription repressors of jasmonate (JA)-responsive genes and major components of the jasmonate receptor complex. Upon interaction, JAZs can be acetylated by HopZ1a through a putative acetyltransferase activity. Importantly, P. syringae producing the wild-type, but not a catalytic mutant of HopZ1a, promotes the degradation of HopZ1-interacting JAZs and activates JA signaling during bacterial infection. Furthermore, HopZ1a could partially rescue the virulence defect of a P. syringae mutant that lacks the production of coronatine, a JA-mimicking phytotoxin produced by a few P. syringae strains. These results highlight a novel example by which a bacterial effector directly manipulates the core regulators of phytohormone signaling to facilitate infection. The targeting of JAZ repressors by both coronatine toxin and HopZ1 effector suggests that the JA receptor complex is potentially a major hub of host targets for bacterial pathogens.