Boris A. Vinatzer

Associate Professor 551 Latham Hall (0390) Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 24061 Phone: (540) 231-2126 Fax: (540) 231-7477 E-Mail: vinatzer at vt.edu Lab Website

Education| Awards| Research Interests| Experience| Peer-reviewed Publications| Review Articles| Book Chapters

Education

• Ph.D., Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Italy (2000)
• B.S. and M.S., Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy (1995)

Awards

• April 2008 NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award
• April 2005 Virginia Tech ASPIRES (A Support Program for Innovative Research Strategies) award
• July 2002 Postdoctoral Ruth L. Kirschstein NIH National Research Service Award
• July 1995 Graduation "cum laude" from the University of Bologna (Italy)

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Research Interests

The ability of organism to adapt to new niches becomes a primary concern to our society when it involves the specialization of pathogens to humans, farm animals, or crops. Little is known about how plant pathogens, which were adapted to natural mixed-plant communities in pre-agricultural times, evolved into today's highly aggressive pathogens of crops cultivated in monoculture. To fill this void, the Vinatzer lab aims at identifying the molecular evolutionary mechanisms that allow pathogens to specialize to specific plant species and to become more aggressive. The bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (the cause of bacterial speck disease of tomato worldwide) and closely related bacteria, are the focus of our research. A multidisciplinary approach of comparative evolutionary genomics, population genetics, and microbial genetics is applied leveraging the latest advances in biological sciences and computer sciences. Research and education are integrated in the lab's activities through the undergraduate course in Microbial Forensics and Biosecurity and the creation of internship opportunities for undergraduates in our lab and in the biotech industry. It is anticipated that our research will uncover genomic changes that occurred in P. syringae pv. tomato during its evolution since the advent of agriculture and that have led to its current aggressiveness and worldwide distribution. Results from this research are expected to constitute the basis for the development of new hypotheses on the evolution of bacterial pathogens in general and to be instrumental in future breeding and engineering of disease resistant crops. Easy access to obtained results is provided through web-accessible databases. Check out our P. syringae pv. tomato T1 genome website.

Research in the Vinatzer lab is funded by the NSF.

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Experience

• Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 2010-present
• Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 2004-2010
• Postdoctoral Research, Jean Greenberg Laboratory, Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, The University of Chicago, 2000-2004
• Graduate Research, Silviero Sansavini Laboratory, Department of Arboriculture, The University of Bologna, Italy, (1995-2000)
• Visiting Scientist at the David Lightfoot Laboratory, Department of Plant, Soil and General Agriculture, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (IL), Jan 1999 - July 1999
• Visiting Scientist at the Hong-Bin Zhang Laboratory, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and Crop Biotechnology Center at Texas A&M University, College Station (TX), Aug 1998 - Dec 1998, Sep 1996 - Jan 1997
• Visiting Scientist at the Cesare Gessler Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Institute of Plant Sciences, Zurich (Switzerland), Jan 1998 - Jul 1998

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Peer-reviewed Research Articles

• Monteil CL, Cai R, Liu H, Mechan Llontop ME, Leman S, Studholme DJ, Morris CE, Vinatzer BA (in press) Non-agricultural reservoirs contribute to emergence and evolution of Pseudomonas syringae crop pathogens. New Phytologist
• Sarris PF, Trantas EA, Baltrus DA, Bull CT, Wechter WP, Yan S, Ververidis F, Almeida, NF, Jones CD, Dangl JL, Panopoulos NJ, Vinatzer BA, Goumas DE (2013) Comparative Genomics of Multiple Strains of Pseudomonas cannabina pv. alisalensis, a Potential Model Pathogen of Both Monocots and Dicots. PLoS ONE 8(3): e59366. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059366
• Balestra GM, Taratufolo MC, Vinatzer BA, Mazzaglia A (2013) A Multiplex PCR Assay for Detection of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae and Differentiation of Populations with Different Geographic Origin. Plant Disease 97(4):472-478
• Mazzaglia A, Studholme DJ, Taratufolo MC, Cai R, Almeida NF, Goodman, T, Guttman DS, Vinatzer BA, Balestra GM (2012) Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (PSA) isolates from recent bacterial canker of kiwifruit outbreaks belong to the same genetic lineage. PLoS ONE 7(5): e36518. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036518
• Hao W, Ahonsi MO, Vinatzer BA, Hong C (2012) Inactivation of Phytophthora and bacterial species in water by a potential energy-saving heat treatment. Eur J Plant Pathol DOI: 10.1007/s10658-012-9994-4
• Oliver CL, Cai R, Vinatzer BA, Bush EA, Hansen MA (2012) First Report of Bacterial Spot of Peony Caused by a Xanthomonas sp. in the United States. Plant Disease 96(4):581
• Diallo MD, Monteil CL, Vinatzer BA, Clarke CR, Glaux C, Guilbaud C, Desbiez C, Morris CE. (2012) Pseudomonas syringae naturally lacking the canonical type III secretion system are ubiquitous in non agricultural habitats, are phylogenetically diverse and can be pathogenic. The ISME Journal doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.202
• Sohn KH, Saucet SB, Clarke CR, Vinatzer BA, O'Brien HE, Guttman DS, Jones JD (2012) HopAS1 recognition significantly contributes to Arabidopsis nonhost resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pathogens. New Phytologist doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03950.x.
• Kumar A, Prameela TP, Suseela Bhai R, Siljon A, Biju CN, Anandaraj M, Vinatzer BA (2011) Small Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton.) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roxb) bacterial wilt is caused by same strain of Ralstonia solanacearum: A revelation by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Eur J Plant Pathol DOI 10.1007/s10658-011-9903-2
• Cai R, Yan S, Haijie L, Leman S, Vinatzer BA (2011) Reconstructing Host Range Evolution of Bacterial Plant Pathogens using Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato and Its Close Relatives as a Model. Infection, Genetics and Evolution 11(7):1738-51
• Cai R, Lewis J, Yan S, Liu H, Clarke CR, Campanile F, Almeida NF, Studholme DJ, Lindeberg M, Schneider DJ, Zaccardelli M, Setubal JC, Morales-Lizcano NP, Bernal A, Coaker G, Baker C, Bender CL, Leman S, Vinatzer BA (2011) The plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato is genetically monomorphic and under strong selection to evade tomato immunity. PLoS Pathogens 7(8):e1002130
• Potnis N, Krasileva K, Chow V, Almeida NF, Patil PB, Ryan RP, Sharlach M, Behlau F, Dow JM, Momol M, White FF, Preston JF, Vinatzer BA, Koebnik R, Setubal JC, Norman DJ, Staskawicz BJ, Jones JB (2011) Comparative genomics reveals diversity among xanthomonads infecting tomato and pepper. BMC Genomics 12:146
• Bull CT, Clarke CR, Cai R, Vinatzer BA, Jardini TM, Koike ST (2011) Multilocus Sequence Typing of Pseudomonas syringae Sensu Lato Confirms Previously Described Genomospecies and Permits Rapid Identification of P. syringae pv. coriandricola and P. syringae pv. apii Causing Bacterial Leaf Spot on Parsley. Phytopathology 101(7):847-58
• Moreira LM, Almeida NF Jr, Potnis N, Digiampietri LA, Adi SS, Bortolossi JC, da Silva AC, da Silva AM, de Moraes FE, de Oliveira JC, de Souza RF, Facincani AP, Ferraz AL, Ferro MI, Furlan LR, Gimenez DF, Jones JB, Kitajima EW, Laia ML, Leite RP Jr, Nishiyama MY, Rodrigues Neto J, Nociti LA, Norman DJ, Ostroski EH, Pereira HA Jr, Staskawicz BJ, Tezza RI, Ferro JA,Vinatzer BA, Setubal JC (2010) Novel insights into the genomic basis of citrus canker based on the genome sequences of two strains of Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. aurantifolii. BMC Genomics 11:238
• Bull CT, Manceau C, Lydon J, Kong H, Vinatzer BA, Fischer-Le Saux M (2010) Pseudomonas cannabina pv. cannabina pv. nov., and Pseudomonas cannabina pv. alisalensis (Cintas Koike and Bull, 2000) comb. nov., are members of the emended species Pseudomonas cannabina (ex Sutic & Dowson 1959) Gardan, Shafik, Belouin, Brosch, Grimont & Grimont 1999. Syst Appl Micobiol 33(3)105-115
• Almeida NF*, Yan S*, Cai R*, Clarke CR*, Morris CE, Schaad NW, Lacy GH, Jones JB, Castillo JA, Bull CT, Leman S, Guttman DS, Setubal JC, Vinatzer BA (2010) PAMDB, A Multilocus sequence typing & analysis database and website for plant-associated and plant-pathogenic microorganisms. Phytopathology 100(3):208-15
• Clarke CR, Cai R, Studholme DJ, Guttman DS, Vinatzer BA. (2010) Pseudomonas syringae Isolates Naturally Lacking the Canonical P. syringae hrp/hrc Locus are Common Leaf Colonizers Equipped with an Alternate Type III Secretion System. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact 23(2):198-210
• Ferrante P, Clarke CR, Cavanaugh KA, Michelmore RW, Buonaurio R, Vinatzer BA. (2009) Contributions of the effector gene hopQ1-1 to differences in host range between Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola and P. syringae pv. tabaci. Mol Plant Pathology 10(6):837-842
• Wroblewski T, Caldwell KS, Piskurewicz U, Cavanaugh KA, Xu H, Kozik A, Ochoa O, McHale LK, Lahre K, Jelenska J, Castillo JA, Blumenthal D, Vinatzer BA, Greenberg JT, Michelmore RW. (2009) Comparative large-scale analysis of interactions between several crop species and the effector repertoires from multiple pathovars of Pseudomonas and Ralstonia. Plant Physiology 150(4):1733-1749
• Almeida NF, Yan S, Lindeberg M, Studholme DJ, Schneider DJ, Condon B, Liu H, Viana CJ, Warren A, Evans C, Kemen E, MacLean D, Angot A, Martin GB, Jones JD, Collmer A, Setubal JC, Vinatzer BA. (2009) A draft genome sequence of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strain T1 reveals a repertoire of type III related genes significantly divergent from that of P. syringae pv tomato strain DC3000. Mol Plant-Microbe Interact 22(1):52-62
• Yan S, Liu H, Mohr TJ, Jenrette J, Chiodini R., Zaccardelli M, Setubal JC, Vinatzer BA. (2008) The Role of Recombination in the Evolution of The Model Plant Pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000, a Very Atypical Tomato Strain. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74(10):3171-81
• Mohr TJ, Liu H, Yan S, Morris CE, Castillo JA, Jelenska J, Vinatzer BA. (2008) Naturally Occurring Non-pathogenic Isolates of the Plant Pathogen Species Pseudomonas syringae Lack a Type III Secretion System and Effector Gene Orthologues. Journal of Bacteriology 190(8):2858-70
• Morris CE, Sands DC, Vinatzer BA, Glaux C, Guilbaud C, Buffière A, Yan S, Dominguez H, Thompson BM (2008) The life history of the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae is linked to the water cycle. The ISME Journal 2:321-334
• Jelenska J, Yao N, Vinatzer BA, Wright CM, Brodsky JL, and Greenberg JT (2007) A J domain virulence effector of Pseudomonas syringae remodels host chloroplasts and suppresses defenses. Current Biology 17(6):499-508
• Vinatzer BA, Teitzel GM, Lee M-W, Jelenska J, Hotton S, Fairfax K, Jenrette J, and Greenberg JT (2006) The Type III effector repertoire of Pseudomonas syringae B728a and its role in survival and disease on host and non-host plants. Molecular Microbiology 62(1):26-44
• Vinatzer BA, Jelenska J, Greenberg JT (2005) Bioinformatics correctly identifies many type III secretion substrates in the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae and the biocontrol isolate P. fluorescens SBW25. Mol Plant-Microbe Interact 18:877-888
• Vinatzer BA, Patocchi A, Gianfranceschi L, Tartarini S, Sansavini S, Cesare G. (2004) Isolation of two microsatellite markers from BAC clones of the Vf scab resistance region and their application in analyzing scab resistance in Malus accessions. Plant Breeding 123: 321-326
• Belfanti E, Silfverberg-Dilworth E, Barbieri M, Tartarini S, Patocchi A, Zhu J, Vinatzer BA, Gianfranceschi L, Gessler C, Sansavini S (2004) The HcrVf2 gene from a wild apple confers scab resistance to a transgenic cultivated variety. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.101(3): 886-890
• Guttman DS*, Vinatzer BA*, Sarkar SF, Ranall, MV, Kettler G, Greenberg JT (2002) A functional screen for the Type III (Hrp) Secretome of the Plant Pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. Science 295: 1722-1726 (*The first two authors contributed equally to this work)
• Vinatzer BA*, Patocchi A*, Tartarini S, Gianfranceschi L, Zhang H-B, Gessler C, Sansavini S (2001) Apple (Malus sp.) contains receptor-like genes homologous to the Cf resistance gene family of tomato with a cluster of such genes co-segregating with Vf apple scab resistance. Mol Plant-Microbe Interact 14(4): 508-515 (*The first two authors contributed equally to this work)
• Patocchi A*, Vinatzer BA*, Gianfranceschi L, Tartarini S, Zhang H-B, Sansavini S, Gessler C (1999) Construction of a 550 kb BAC contig spanning the genomic region containing the apple scab resistance gene Vf. Mol Gen Genet 262: 884-891 (*The first two authors contributed equally to this work)
• Vinatzer BA, Zhang H-B and Sansavini S (1998) Construction and characterization of a Bacterial Artificial Chromosome Library of Apple. Theor Appl Genet 97: 1183-1190

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Review Articles and Commentaries

• Vinatzer BA(2012) “Listening In” on How a Bacterium Takes Over the Plant Vascular System. mBio 3(5)e00269-12
• Jackson RW, Vinatzer BA, Arnold DL, Dorus S, Murillo J (2011) The influence of the accessory genome on bacterial pathogen evolution. Mobile Genetic Elements 1(1):55-65
• Vinatzer BA, Yan S (2008) Mining the genomes of plant pathogenic bacteria: how not to drown in gigabases of sequence. Molecular Plant Pathology 9(1):105-118
• Greenberg JT, Vinatzer BA (2003) Identifying type III effectors of plant pathogens and analysing their interaction with plant cells. Current Opinion in Microbiology 6: 20-28

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Book Chapters

• Vinatzer BA, Bull, CT (2009) The impact of genomic approaches on our understanding of diversity and taxonomy of plant pathogenic bacteria. In Plant Pathogenic Bacteria: Genomics and Molecular Biology, R.W. Jackson (Norwich, UK: Horizon Press)
• Vinatzer BA, Greenberg JT (2006) Whole-Genome Analysis to Identify Type III-Secreted Effectors. Methods in Molecular Biology 6354:19-34

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