Cell-cell signaling in Xylella fastidiosa, a xylem-colonizing plant pathogenic bacterium, mediated by a fatty acid Diffusible Signaling Factor (DSF), is required to colonize insect vectors and to s...

Acinetobacter baumannii continues to be a major health problem especially in hospital settings. Herein, features that may play a role in persistence and disease potential were investigated in a col...

Xylella fastidiosa is the causal agent of citrus variegated chlorosis and Pierce's disease which are the major threat to the citrus and wine industries. The most accepted hypothesis for Xf diseases...

Ralstonia solanacearum is a soil-borne plant pathogen that causes bacterial wilt disease on many plant species. We previously showed that swimming motility contributes to virulence of this bacteriu...

Xylella fastidiosa is limited to the xylem of the plant host and the foregut of insect vectors (sharpshooters). The mechanism of pathogenicity of this bacterium differs from other plant pathogens, ...

Twitching motility is one of the major virulence factors of the plantpathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, and it is mediated by type IV pili (TFP) that are present at one of the cell poles. Gen...

Acidovorax citrulli is the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch of cucurbits. We have shown previously that type IV pili (TFP) are required for wild-type levels of virulence of A. citrulli on mel...

Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium responsible for Pierce's disease in grapevines, possesses both type I and type IV pili at the same cell pole. Type IV pili facilitate twitching motility, and type I ...

Autoaggregation of widely dispersed Xylella fastidiosa cells into compact cell masses occurred over a period of hours following 7 to 11 days of growth in microfluidic chambers. Studies involving th...

To cope with toxic levels of H2S, the plant pathogens Xylella fastidiosa and Agrobacterium tumefaciens employ the bigR operon to oxidize H2S into sulfite. The bigR operon is regulated by the transc...

Flavobacterium columnare is a bacterial fish pathogen that affects many freshwater species worldwide. The natural reservoir of this pathogen is unknown, but its resilience in closed aquaculture sys...

For naturally competent bacteria, spatially structured growth can provide an environment for enhanced horizontal gene transfer through transformation and recombination. DNA is often present in the ...