Unravelling physiological signatures of tomato bacterial wilt and xylem metabolites exploited by Ralstonia solanacearum

The plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum uses plant resources to intensely proliferate in xylem vessels and provoke plant wilting. We combined automatic phenotyping and tissue/xylem quantitative metabolomics of infected tomato plants to decipher the dynamics of bacterial wilt. Daily acquisition of physiological parameters such as transpiration and growth were performed. Measurements allowed us to identify a tipping point in bacterial wilt dynamics. At this tipping point, the reached bacterial density brutally disrupts plant physiology and rapidly induces its death. We compared the metabolic and physiological signatures of the infection with drought stress, and found that similar changes occur. Quantitative dynamics of xylem content enabled us to identify glutamine (and asparagine) as primary resources R. solanacearum consumed during its colonization phase. An abundant production of putrescine was also observed during the infection process and was strongly correlated with in planta bacterial growth. Dynamic profiling of xylem metabolites confirmed that glutamine is the favoured substrate of R. solanacearum. On the other hand, a triple mutant strain unable to metabolize glucose, sucrose and fructose appears to be only weakly reduced for in planta growth and pathogenicity.