We have cloned a hrp gene cluster from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Bacteria with mutations in the hrp region have reduced growth in rice leaves and lose the ability to elicit a hypersensitive response (HR) on the appropriate resistant cultivars of rice and the nonhost plant tomato. A 12,165-bp portion of nucleotide sequence from the presumed left end and extending through the hrpB operon was determined. The region was most similar to hrp genes from Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria and Ralstonia solanacearum. Two new hrp-associated loci, named hpa1 and hpa2, were located beyond the hrpA operon. The hpa1 gene encoded a 13-kDa glycine-rich protein with a composition similar to those of harpins and PopA. The product of hpa2 was similar to lysozyme-like proteins. Perfect PIP boxes were present in the hrpB and hpa1 operons, while a variant PIP box was located upstream of hpa2. A strain with a deletion encompassing hpa1 and hpa2 had reduced pathogenicity and elicited a weak HR on nonhost and resistant host plants. Experiments using single mutations in hpa1 and hpa2 indicated that the loss of hpa1 was the principal cause of the reduced pathogenicity of the deletion strain. A 1,519-bp insertion element was located immediately downstream of hpa2. Hybridization with hpa2 indicated that the gene was present in all of the strains of Xanthomonas examined. Hybridization experiments with hpa1 and IS1114 indicated that these sequences were detectable in all strains of X. oryzae pv. oryzae and some other Xanthomonas species.The hrp ("harp") genes encode type III secretory pathways and are required by many phytopathogenic bacteria to elicit a hypersensitive response (HR) on nonhost or resistant host plants and for pathogenesis on susceptible hosts. The HR is a rapid localized death of the host cells that occurs upon pathogen infection and, together with the expression of a complex array of defense-related genes, is a component of plant resistance. The hrp genes were first identified in Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola, a bean pathogen (38). Since then, hrp genes from a variety of plant pathogenic bacteria, including Erwinia, Pseudomonas, Ralstonia, and Xanthomonas, have been characterized (for reviews, see references 2, 9, and 11). The specific functions of the hrp pathway in pathogenesis are not known. However, type III secretion pathways of animal and plant pathogens have been demonstrated to mediate the secretion of virulence factors into the extracellular melieu. Some of the proteins ultimately end up in the host cell cytoplasm (reviewed in references 11, 25, and 37). In mediating the interaction of the bacterium and the host plant, the hrp pathway presumably acts to prevent or inhibit a general resistance response or otherwise enhance the colonization of the plant by the bacteria.Given the importance of the type III systems to pathogenicity, it can be expected that analysis of the systems in different species will provide insight into the adaptation of the species to their respective host plants. The hrp gene cl...