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Bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) caused byAcidovorax citrulliis one of the most important bacterial diseases of cucurbits worldwide. However, the mechanisms associated withA. citrullipathogenicity and genetics of host resistance have not been extensively investigated. We idenitfiedNicotiana benthamianaandNicotiana tabacumas surrogate hosts for studyingA. citrullipathogenicity and non‐host resistance triggered by type III secreted (T3S) effectors. TwoA. citrullistrains, M6 and AAC00‐1, that represent the two major groups amongstA. citrullipopulations, induced disease symptoms onN. benthamiana, but triggered a hypersensitive response (HR) onN. tabacumplants. Transient expression of 19 T3S effectors fromA. citrulliinN. benthamianaleaves revealed that three effectors, Aave_1548, Aave_2708, and Aave_2166, trigger water‐soaking‐like cell death inN. benthamiana.Aave_1548knockout mutants of M6 and AAC00‐1 displayed reduced virulence onN. benthamianaand melon (Cucumis meloL.). Transient expression of Aave_1548 and Aave_2166 effectors triggered a non‐host HR inN. tabacum, which was dependent on the functionality of the immune signalling component,NtSGT1. Hence, employingNicotianaspecies as surrogate hosts for studyingA. citrullipathogenicity may help characterize the function ofA. citrulliT3S effectors and facilitate the development of new strategies for BFB management.

 

How predictable are life trajectories? We investigated this question with a scientific mass collaboration using the common task method; 160 teams built predictive models for six life outcomes using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a high-quality birth cohort study. Despite using a rich dataset and applying machine-learning methods optimized for prediction, the best predictions were not very accurate and were only slightly better than those from a simple benchmark model. Within each outcome, prediction error was strongly associated with the family being predicted and weakly associated with the technique used to generate the prediction. Overall, these results suggest practical limits to the predictability of life outcomes in some settings and illustrate the value of mass collaborations in the social sciences.