Bacterial effectors manipulate plant abscisic acid signaling for creation of an aqueous apoplast

Phytopathogens like Pseudomonas syringae induce "water soaking" in the apoplastic space of plant leaf tissue as a key virulence mechanism. Water soaking is commonly observed in diverse pathosystems, yet the underlying physiological basis remains largely elusive. Here, we show that one of the strong P. syringae water-soaking inducers, AvrE, alters the regulation of abscisic acid (ABA) to induce ABA signaling, stomatal closure, and, thus, water soaking. AvrE binds and inhibits the function of Arabidopsis type one protein phosphatases (TOPPs), which negatively regulate ABA by suppressing SnRK2s, a key node of the ABA signaling pathway. The topp12537 quintuple mutants display significantly enhanced water soaking after P. syringae inoculation, whereas the loss of the ABA pathway dampens P. syringae-induced water soaking and disease. Our study uncovers the hijacking of ABA signaling and stomatal closure by P. syringae effectors as key mechanisms of disease susceptibility.