(Press-News.org) UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 19:00 BST / 14:00 ET THURSDAY 17 APRIL 2025
Sugar-mimicking molecule central to virulence of a common crop disease, study finds
In plants, the space between cells is a key battleground during infection. To avoid recognition in this space, a strain of the bacterial tomato disease Pseudomonas syringae manipulates plants by producing a substance called glycosyrin. This substance suppresses the immune response and allows the bacteria to remain unnoticed.
A new study led by the University of Oxford has revealed that glycosyrin does this by mimicking galactose, a simple sugar found in many living things – acting like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Glycosyrin represents a novel type of ‘iminosugars’, many of which are used as human drugs to treat metabolic disorders such as type-II diabetes and Fabry disease, because they are stable and mimic sugars – meaning that the finding may have medicinal applications. However, glycosyrin has a unique structure amongst this group, and this is what allows it to mimic galactose.
The virulence role of glycosyrin in this strain of P. syringae is dependent on hiding the products of a particular gene. However, there are many strains that hide this gene product in other ways and still produce glycosyrin, indicating that it may serve other roles. The researchers discovered that glycosyrin also alters the biochemistry of the space between cells more broadly, and it is likely that it changes cell wall properties and cell-to-cell communication and connection.
Lead researcher Professor Renier van der Hoorn (Department of Biology, University of Oxford) said: “We discovered the structure of this molecule, its biosynthesis, and its regulation – and then we realised how it mimics galactose and changes the glycobiology of many plants, including crops, in many other ways. We will investigate this further for many years to come.”
Different P. syringae strains infect diverse host plants, including almond, olive, leek, and bean. Similar iminosugar biosynthesis genes are found in these other plant pathogens, so it is likely that glycosyrin is a common strategy used by these bacteria to manipulate host plants.
The study was made possible by an interdisciplinary collaboration across structural biology, bacterial genetics, synthetic chemistry, and metabolomics.
Professor van der Hoorn added:“We used the same LacZ gene that first-year students use in practicals, because its product is also sensitive to glycosyrin. We took advantage of LacZ inhibition to identify the biosynthesis genes and to resolve the structure. This was also a very productive interdisciplinary collaboration with experts: Gail Preston (Biology), Peijun Zhang (Structural biology), Markus Kaiser (synthetic chemistry) and others.”
Notes to editors:
For media inquiries and interviews, contact Dr Caroline Wood: caroline.wood@admin.ox.ac.uk
The study ‘Bacterial pathogen deploys the iminosugar glycosyrin to manipulate plant glycobiology’ will be published in Science at 19:00 BST / 14:00 ET Thursday 17 April 2025, doi 10.1126/science.adp2433
Advance copies of the paper may be obtained from the Science press package, SciPak, at https://www.eurekalert.org/press/scipak/ or by contacting scipak@aaas.org
About the University of Oxford
Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the ninth year running, and number 3 in the QS World Rankings 2024. At the heart of this success are the twin-pillars of our ground-breaking research and innovation and our distinctive educational offer.
Oxford is world-famous for research and teaching excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research alongside our personalised approach to teaching sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.
Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 300 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past five years. The university is a catalyst for prosperity in Oxfordshire and the United Kingdom, contributing £15.7 billion to the UK economy in 2018/19, and supports more than 28,000 full time jobs.
END
Sugar-mimicking molecule central to virulence of a common crop disease, study finds
2025-04-17
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Surprise: Synapses on single neurons follow distinct rules during learning
2025-04-17
Shedding light on how the brain fine-tunes its wiring during learning, a new study finds that different dendritic segments of a single neuron follow distinct rules. The findings challenge the idea that neurons follow a single learning strategy and offer a new perspective on how the brain learns and adapts behavior. The brain's remarkable ability to learn and adapt is rooted in its capacity to modify the connections within its neural circuits – a phenomenon known as synaptic plasticity, in which specific synapses are altered to reshape neural activity and support behavioral change. Neurons, unlike most other cell types, are characterized by their intricate, ...
Fresh insights into why solid-state batteries fail could inform longer-lasting batteries
2025-04-17
Solid-state lithium batteries fail for the same reason over-bent paperclips snap – metal fatigue in the anode itself, according to a new study. The findings, which show that this fatigue follows well-documented mechanical behavior, provide a quantitative framework for predicting the cycle life of solid-state batteries, enabling new pathways for designing longer-lasting and safer energy storage systems. Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSBs) promise both high energy and improved safety by combining a lithium ...
Curiosity rover identifies carbonates, providing evidence of a carbon cycle on ancient Mars
2025-04-17
NASA’s Curiosity rover has uncovered a hidden chemical archive of ancient Mars’ atmosphere, which suggests that large amounts of carbon dioxide have been locked into the planet’s crust, according to a new study. The findings provide in situ evidence that a carbon cycle once operated on ancient Mars and offer new insights into the planet’s past climate. The Martian landscape shows clear signs that liquid water once flowed across its surface, which would have required ...
Up to 17% of global cropland contaminated by toxic heavy metal pollution, study estimates
2025-04-17
Based on data from over 1000 regional studies combined with machine learning, researchers estimate that as many as 1.4 billion people live in areas with soil dangerously polluted by heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel, and lead. The study reveals a global risk, but also a previously unrecognized high-risk, metal-enriched zone in low-latitude Eurasia, in particular. The growth in demand for critical metals means toxic heavy metal pollution in soils is only likely to worsen. “We hope that the global soil pollution data presented in this report will ...
Curiosity rover finds large carbon deposits on Mars
2025-04-17
Research from NASA’s Curiosity rover has found evidence of a carbon cycle on ancient Mars, bringing scientists closer to an answer on whether the Red Planet was ever capable of supporting life.
Lead author Dr. Ben Tutolo, PhD, an associate professor with the Department of Earth, Energy and Environment in the Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary, is a participating scientist on the NASA Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover team.
The team is working to understand climate transitions and habitability on ancient Mars as Curiosity explores Gale Crater.
The paper, published this week in the journal Science, reveals that ...
CHOP, Penn Medicine researchers use deep learning algorithm to pinpoint potential disease-causing variants in non-coding regions of the human genome
2025-04-17
Philadelphia, April 17, 2025 – Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine) have successfully employed an algorithm to identify potential mutations which increase disease risk in the noncoding regions our DNA, which make up the vast majority of the human genome. The findings could serve as the basis for detecting disease-associated variants in a range of common diseases. The findings were published online today by the American Journal of Human Genetics.
While certain sections ...
Prevalence of obesity with and without confirmation of excess adiposity among US adults
2025-04-17
About The Study: Among U.S. adults ages 20 to 59, the prevalence of obesity by body mass index (BMI) only was nearly identical with the obesity prevalence after confirmation of excess adiposity. Approximately 98% of individuals identified as having obesity based on BMI had excess adiposity.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Michael Fang, PhD, MHS, email mfang9@jh.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jama.2025.2704)
Editor’s Note: Please ...
Population attributable fraction of incident dementia associated with hearing loss
2025-04-17
About The Study: The results of this cohort study suggest that treating hearing loss might delay dementia for a large number of older adults. Public health interventions targeting clinically significant audiometric hearing loss might have broad benefits for dementia prevention. Future research quantifying population attributable fractions should carefully consider which measures are used to define hearing loss, as self-reporting may underestimate hearing-associated dementia risk.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding ...
New study reveals how cleft lip and cleft palate can arise
2025-04-17
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Cleft lip and cleft palate are among the most common birth defects, occurring in about one in 1,050 births in the United States. These defects, which appear when the tissues that form the lip or the roof of the mouth do not join completely, are believed to be caused by a mix of genetic and environmental factors.
In a new study, MIT biologists have discovered how a genetic variant often found in people with these facial malformations leads to the development of cleft lip and cleft palate.
Their findings suggest that the variant diminishes cells’ supply of transfer RNA, a molecule ...
Scientists hack cell entry to supercharge cancer drugs
2025-04-17
A new discovery could pave the way for more effective cancer treatment by helping certain drugs work better inside the body.
Scientists at Duke University School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and University of Arkansas have found a way to improve the uptake of a promising class of cancer-fighting drugs called PROTACs, which have struggled to enter cells due to their large size.
The new method works by taking advantage of a protein called CD36 that helps pull substances into cells. By designing drugs to use this CD36 pathway, researchers delivered 7.7 to 22.3 times more of the drug inside cancer cells, making ...