Analysis on the signaling network involved in the host-switching mechanism of phytoplasmas

我们对植原体寄主转换的分子机制进行了研究，为开发植原体感染控制技术奠定了基础。通过对植原体分离物Oy-M及其非昆虫传递性突变体Oy-NIM的启动子分析表明，ORF3位于植原体的质粒中，与昆虫的传递性有关。我们首次开发了植原体DNA芯片，并进行了微阵列分析，以研究植原体基因表达的宿主特异性调控。这一分析表明，植原体通过其基因表达的戏剧性变化来适应植物和昆虫这两种不同的宿主。

We investigated the molecular mechanism of phytoplasmal host switching to establish the basis of developing techniques to control the phytoplasma infection. Comparative analyses along with promoter analyses using phytoplasma isolate OY-M and its non-insect-transmissible mutant OY-NIM revealed that ORF3 located in the plasmid of phytoplasmas are involved in insect transmissibility. We developed phytoplasma DNA chip for the first time and performed microarray analysis to study host-specific regulation of phytoplasmal gene expressions. This analysis showed that phytoplasmas adapt to two diverse hosts, plants and insects, by dramatical alterations of their gene expression in response to the host.