Chemical modulation of physiological adaptation and cross-protective responses against oxidative stress in soil bacterium and phytopathogen, Xanthomonas.

Soil bacteria need to adapt quickly to changes in the environmental conditions. Physiological adaptation plays an important role in microbial survival, especially under stressful conditions. Here the abilities of chemicals and pesticides to modulate physiological adaptive and cross-protective responses, that make the bacteria more resistant to oxidative stress, are examined in the soil bacterium and phytopathogen, Xanthomonas. The genetic basis for the observed stress resistance, as well as the regulatory mechanisms controlling gene expression during the process, has begun to be elucidated.