Screening and identification of DnaJ interaction proteins in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Heat Shock Protein DnaJ in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Affects Biofilm Formation via Pyocyanin Production

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play important biological roles, and they are implicated in bacterial response to environmental stresses and in pathogenesis of infection. The role of HSPs in P. aeruginosa, however, remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we report the unique role of HSP DnaJ in biofilm formation and pathogenicity in P. aeruginosa. A dnaJ mutant produced hardly any pyocyanin and formed significantly less biofilms, which contributed to decreased pathogenicity as demonstrated by reduced mortality rate in a Drosophila melanogaster infection model. The reduced pyocyanin production in the dnaJ mutant was a result of the decreased transcription of phenazine synthesis operons including phzA1, phzA2, phzS, and phzM. The reduction of biofilm formation and initial adhesion in the dnaJ mutant could be reversed by exogenously added pyocyanin or extracellular DNA (eDNA). Consistent with such observations, absence of dnaJ significantly reduced the release of eDNA in P. aeruginosa and addition of exogenous pyocyanin could restore eDNA release. These results indicate dnaJ mutation caused reduced pyocyanin production, which in turn caused the decreased eDNA, resulting in decreased biofilm formation. DnaJ is required for pyocyanin production and full virulence in P. aeruginosa; it affects biofilm formation and initial adhesion via pyocyanin, inducing eDNA release.

Interacting protein partners of Arabidopsis RNA-binding protein AtRBP45b

RNA binding proteins, important players in post-transcriptional gene regulation, usually exist in ribonuclear complexes. However, even in model systems like Arabidopsis characterisation of RBP associated proteins is limited. In this study, we investigated the interacting proteins of the Arabidopsis AtRBP45b, which is involved in stress signalling. In vivo localisation of AtRBP45b was conducted using 35S-GFP. FLAG-tagged AtRBP45b under control of the 35S promoter in the Atrbp45b-1 mutant background was used to pull down AtRBP45b interacting proteins. Yeast two-hybrid analysis, fluorescence energy resonance transfer assays were used to confirm the veracity of the AtRBP45b interacting proteins. In planta GFP-tagging indicated AtRBP45b is localised to the nucleus and the cytosol. AtRBP45b protein has a N-terminal proline-rich region and a C-terminal glutamine-rich domain that are usually involved in protein-protein interactions. Co-immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry-based protein sequencing led to identification of 30 proteins that interacted with AtRBP45b. Using information from interactome databases (BIOGRID, INTACT and STRING), pull-down assays and localisation data, 12 putative interacting proteins were selected for yeast two-hybrid analysis. Cap-binding protein (CBP20, At5g44200) and polyA-binding protein (PAB8, At1g49760) were shown to interact with AtRBP45b. Based on its interacting partners we speculate that AtRBP45b may play an important role in RNA metabolism, especially in aspects related to mRNA stability and translation initiation during stress conditions in plants.