ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Root exudate monosaccharides modulate the pathogenicity of Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum
Provisionally accepted
- Shandong Tobacco Industry Co. ltd, Jinan, China
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The Ralstonia solanacearum species complex (RSSC) is a devastating soil-borne that causes bacterial wilt in solanaceous crops. However, the response of RSSC to monosaccharides—key components of root exudates released into the rhizosphere—remains unclear. we supplemented culture media with several typical monosaccharides derived from tobacco root exudates to mimic rhizosphere signals and examined their effect on the expression of bacterial virulence factors. Transcriptome analysis revealed that galactose markedly altered the physiological status of RSSC, inducing a state resembling that during plant infection. Among the monosaccharides tested, galactose specifically up-regulated the expression of type III secreted effectors. Notably, galactose also actively induced nitrogen metabolism, leading to the production of nitrous oxide and other reactive nitrogen species, which may, like reactive oxygen species, enhance pathogenicity. Furthermore, metabolites extracted from galactose-induced RSSC cultures triggered cell death when infiltrated into tobacco leaves.
Keywords: Galactose, Monosaccharides, pathogenicity, Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum, transcriptome analysis
Received: 11 Jul 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fang, Zhang, Zhang, Li and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yang Zhang
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