A Genome-Scale Co-Functional Network of Genes Can Accurately Reconstruct Regulatory Circuits Controlled by Two-Component Signaling Systems.

Bacterial species in the genus infect virtually all crop plants. Although many genes involved in virulence have been identified through molecular and cellular studies, the elucidation of virulence-associated regulatory circuits is still far from complete. Functional gene networks have proven useful in generating hypotheses for genetic factors of biological processes in various species. Here, we present a genome-scale co-functional network of pv () genes, XooNet (www.inetbio.org/xoonet/), constructed by integrating heterogeneous types of genomics data derived from and other bacterial species. XooNet contains 106,000 functional links, which cover approximately 83% of the coding genome. XooNet is highly predictive for diverse biological processes in and can accurately reconstruct cellular pathways regulated by two-component signaling transduction systems (TCS). XooNet will be a useful research platform for genetic dissection of virulence pathways in .