@article{mbs:/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.000608, author = "Kaur, Amandeep and Rana, Rekha and Saroha, Tanu and Patil, Prabhu B.", title = "Discerning the role of a functional arsenic-resistance cassette in the evolution and adaptation of a rice pathogen", journal= "Microbial Genomics", year = "2021", volume = "7", number = "7", pages = "", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000608", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.000608", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "2057-5858", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "stress response", keywords = "heavy-metal resistance", keywords = "Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae", keywords = " arsenic", keywords = "ars cassette", keywords = "transcriptome", eid = "000608", abstract = "Arsenic is highly toxic element to all forms of life and is a major environmental contaminant. Understanding acquisition, detoxification and adaptation mechanisms in bacteria that are associated with the host in arsenic-rich conditions can provide novel insights into the evolutionary dynamics of host–microbe–environment interactions. In the present study, we have investigated an arsenic-resistance mechanism acquired during the evolution of a particular lineage in the population of   Xanthomonas oryzae   pv. oryzae, which is a serious plant pathogen infecting rice. Our study revealed the horizontal acquisition of a novel chromosomal 12 kb ars cassette in   X. oryzae   pv. oryzae IXO1088 that confers high resistance to arsenate/arsenite. The ars cassette comprises several genes that constitute an operon induced in the presence of arsenate/arsenite. Transfer of the cloned ars cassette to   X. oryzae   pv. oryzae BXO512, which lacks the cassette, confers an arsenic-resistance phenotype. Furthermore, the transcriptional response of   X. oryzae   pv. oryzae IXO1088 under arsenate/arsenite exposure was analysed using RNA sequencing. Arsenic detoxification and efflux, oxidative stress, iron acquisition/storage, and damage repair are the main cellular responses to arsenic exposure. Our investigation has provided insights into the existence of a novel detoxification and adaptation mechanism within the   X. oryzae   pv. oryzae population to deal with high-arsenic conditions outside the rice plant.", }