After recent work published in the journal Science, the RIBP laboratory team associated with that of ICMR have just published a new article in the prestigious PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA) journal.
They demonstrate for the first time that rhamnolipids and their precursors (HAAs) produced by the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa are perceived by two separate mechanisms to activate defence mechanisms in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Rhamnolipids and HAAs are essential molecules for bacteria of the genera Pseudomonas and Burkholderia, in particular for their motility and the establishment of biofilms. This work should have an impact in the fields of immunity in plants as well as in humans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa being an opportunistic nosocomial bacterium responsible for severe diseases in the hospital environment.