2005, Fellow, American Phytopathological Society
2004, Technology Innovator Award, Office of Academic Affairs, IT Division, Oklahoma State University
1996, Alumni Award, Gamma Sigma Delta (Honor Society of Agriculture), University of California, Riverside
1993, James A. Whatley Award for Meritorious Research in Agricultural Science, Oklahoma State University
Teaching:
PLP 5724
Physiology of the Host-Pathogen Interaction
Current research:
Research in my lab has focused on the plant pathogenic bacterium, Pseudomonas syringae, and the interaction of this bacterium with various plant hosts. More specifically, we study two virulence factors that are produced by P. syringae, the phytotoxin coronatine and the exopolysaccharide alginate. From the plant viewpoint, we are interested in how coronatine and alginate contribute to pathogenesis. This has become an attractive area due to the advent of functional genomics and the availability of nucleotide sequence information for P. syringae and various plant hosts. We are also interested in commercial applications of our research activities, which have led to several patent and licensing agreements.
Coronatine is an amazing compound that has a variety of effects on plants. Recent patents have shown that coronatine has potential in the stimulation of taxene production and other secondary metabolites in plant cell culture. Coronatine has also been patented as an abscission aid in citrus. Due to its structural / functional similarity to methyl jasmonate and octadecanoid signaling molecules, coronatine also influences plant signal transduction pathways, especially those that lead to defense. We are also pleased to offer the following to the research market:
authentic, crystalline coronatine;
protocols and strains for coronatine isolation; and
technical support for partial purification of coronatine. A brochure describing these services is available upon request.
Another project involves the exopolysaccharide alginate, which also functions as a virulence factor in P. syringae by increasing the bacterial population within and on the surface of plant hosts. We have obtained results indicating that alginate production is differentially regulated in P. syringae and the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and these results may eventually provide insight into factors contributing to the divergent evolution of plant and animal pathogens.
Recent Publications:
Uppalapati, S. R., P. Ayoubi, H. Weng, D. A. Palmer, R. E. Mitchell, W. Jones, and C. L. Bender. 2005. The phytotoxin coronatine and methyl jasmonate impact multiple phytohormone pathways in tomato. Plant J: in press.
Cui, J., A. K. Bahrami, E. G. Pringle, G. Hernandez-Guzman, C. L. Bender, N. E. Pierce, and F. M. Ausubel. 2005. Pseudomonas syringae manipulates systemic plant defenses against pathogens and herbivores. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA: 102:1791-1796.
Peñaloza-Vázquez, A., M. K. Fakhr, A. M. Bailey, and C. L. Bender. 2004. AlgR functions in algC expression and virulence in Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae. Microbiology 150:2727–2737.
Bender, C. L. 2004. Bacterial virulence factors: strategies for disrupting plant defense, p. 73-82. In J. Leach, S. Tsuyumu, T. Wolpert, and T. Shirashi (eds.), Genomic and Genetic Analysis of Plant Parasitism and Defense; APS Press, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Bjerkan, T. M., C. L. Bender, H. Ertesvåg, F. Drabløs, M. K. Fakhr, L. A. Preston, G. Skjåk-Bræk, and S. Valla. 2004. The Pseudomonas syringae genome encodes a combined mannuronan C5-epimerase and O-acetyl hydrolase, which strongly enhances the predicted gel-forming properties of alginates. J. Biol. Chem. 279:28920-28929.
Seidle, H., V. Rangaswamy, R. Couch, C. L. Bender, and R. J. Parry. 2004. Characterization of Cfa1, a monofunctional acyl carrier protein involved in the biosynthesis of the polyketide phytotoxin coronatine. J. Bacteriol. 186:2499-503.
Brooks, D. M., G. H. Guzman, A. P. Kloek, F. Alarcón-Chaidez, A. Sreedharan, V. Rangaswamy, A. Peñaloza-Vázquez, C. L. Bender, and B. N. Kunkel. 2004. Identification and characterization of a well-defined series of coronatine biosynthetic mutants of Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato DC3000. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 17:162-174.
Bender, C. L., and B. K. Scholz-Schroeder. 2004. New insights into the biosynthesis, mode of action, and regulation of syringomycin, syringopeptin and coronatine, p. 125-158. In J. L. Ramos (ed.), The Pseudomonads, Vol. II, Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht.
