Characterization of the 2-ketogluconate utilization operon in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

Sanguinarine Inhibits the 2-Ketogluconate Pathway of Glucose Utilization in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Interfering with the ability of pathogenic bacteria to import glucose may represent a new promising antibacterial strategy, especially for the treatment of infections occurring in diabetic and other hyperglycemic patients. Such patients are particularly susceptible to infections caused by a variety of bacteria, among which opportunistic pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In P. aeruginosa, glucose can be directly imported into the cytoplasm or after its periplasmic oxidation into gluconate and 2-ketogluconate (2-KG). We recently demonstrated that a P. aeruginosa mutant lacking the 2-KG transporter KguT is less virulent than its kguT⁺ parental strain in an insect infection model, pointing to 2-KG branch of glucose utilization as a possible target for anti-Pseudomonas drugs. In this work, we devised an experimental protocol to find specific inhibitors of the 2-KG pathway of P. aeruginosa glucose utilization and applied it to the screening of the Prestwick Chemical Library. By exploiting mutants lacking genes involved in the transport of glucose derivatives in the primary screening and in the secondary assays, we could identify sanguinarine as an inhibitor of 2-KG utilization. We also demonstrated that sanguinarine does not prevent 2-KG formation by gluconate oxidation or its transport, suggesting that either KguD or KguK is the target of sanguinarine in P. Aeruginosa.

Targeting Bacterial Gyrase with Cystobactamid, Fluoroquinolone, and Aminocoumarin Antibiotics Induces Distinct Molecular Signatures in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The design of novel antibiotics relies on a profound understanding of their mechanism of action. While it has been shown that cellular effects of antibiotics cluster according to their molecular targets, we investigated whether compounds binding to different sites of the same target can be differentiated by their transcriptome or metabolome signatures. The effects of three fluoroquinolones, two aminocoumarins, and two cystobactamids, all inhibiting bacterial gyrase, on Pseudomonas aeruginosa at subinhibitory concentrations could be distinguished clearly by RNA sequencing as well as metabolomics. We observed a strong (2.8- to 212-fold) induction of autolysis-triggering pyocins in all gyrase inhibitors, which correlated with extracellular DNA (eDNA) release. Gyrase B-binding aminocoumarins induced the most pronounced changes, including a strong downregulation of phenazine and rhamnolipid virulence factors. Cystobactamids led to a downregulation of a glucose catabolism pathway. The study implies that clustering cellular mechanisms of action according to the primary target needs to take class-dependent variances into account.

IMPORTANCE Novel antibiotics are urgently needed to tackle the growing worldwide problem of antimicrobial resistance. Bacterial pathogens possess few privileged targets for a successful therapy: the majority of existing antibiotics as well as current candidates in development target the complex bacterial machinery for cell wall synthesis, protein synthesis, or DNA replication. An important mechanistic question addressed by this study is whether inhibiting such a complex target at different sites with different compounds has similar or differentiated cellular consequences. Using transcriptomics and metabolomics, we demonstrate that three different classes of gyrase inhibitors can be distinguished by their molecular signatures in P. aeruginosa. We describe the cellular effects of a promising, recently identified gyrase inhibitor class, the cystobactamids, in comparison to those of the established gyrase A-binding fluoroquinolones and the gyrase B-binding aminocoumarins. The study results have implications for mode-of-action discovery approaches based on target-specific reference compounds, as they highlight the intraclass variability of cellular compound effects.

Glucose-Binding of Periplasmic Protein GltB Activates GtrS-GltR Two-Component System in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

A two-component system GtrS-GltR is required for glucose transport activity in P. aeruginosa and plays a key role during P. aeruginosa-host interactions. However, the mechanism of action of GtrS-GltR has not been definitively established. Here, we show that gltB, which encodes a periplasmic glucose binding protein, is essential for the glucose-induced activation of GtrS-GltR in P. aeruginosa. We determined that GltB is capable of binding to membrane regulatory proteins including GtrS, the sensor kinase of the GtrS-GltR TCS. We observed that alanine substitution of glucose-binding residues abolishes the ability of GltB to promote the activation of GtrS-GltR. Importantly, like the gtrS deletion mutant, gltB deletion mutant showed attenuated virulence in both Drosophila melanogaster and mouse models of infection. In addition, using CHIP-seq experiments, we showed that the promoter of gltB is the major in vivo target of GltR. Collectively, these data suggest that periplasmic binding protein GltB and GtrS-GltR TCS form a complex regulatory circuit that regulates the virulence of P. aeruginosa in response to glucose.

Characterization of a transcriptional regulator PtxS from Pseudomonas plecoglossicida for regulating 2-ketogluconic acid metabolism

Homologs of PtxS are ubiquitous transcriptional regulators controlling the expression of the glucose dehydrogenase and kgu operon to globally regulate the 2-ketogluconic acid (2KGA) metabolism in Pseudomonas. In the present study, a PtxS from a 2KGA industrial producer Pseudomonas plecoglossicida JUIM01 (PpPtxS) was heterologously expressed in E. coli BL21(DE3), then structurally and functionally characterized. The obtained results showed that PpPtxS was a 36.65-kDa LacI-family transcriptional regulator. 2KGA was the sole effector of PpPtxS. Glucose negatively affected the molecular binding of PpPtxS and 2KGA, and gluconic acid inhibited the PpPtxS-2KGA binding reaction. PpPtxS in water solution mainly existed as a dimer and bound to two molecules of 2KGA. The effector 2KGA mainly bound to the region close to the C-terminal of PpPtxS by interacting with the 299th to the 301st amino acids (Ala, Gln, Pro, Thr, Glu and Arg). PpPtxS specifically recognized and bound to a 14-bp palindrome sequence (5'-TGAAACCGGTTTCA-3') due to its conserved HTH motif at the N-terminal. The characterization of PpPtxS in this study would provide a theoretical guidance for the industrial production of 2KGA.

Does the mode of dispersion determine the properties of dispersed Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm cells?

INTRODUCTION

Actively dispersed Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm cells differ from planktonic cells, as they have a lower intracellular cyclic di-guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) concentration and show increased virulence. In addition, the nature of the dispersion trigger has been shown to influence the antibiotic susceptibility of dispersed cells. However, properties of passively-dispersed cells, in which the dispersion trigger directly releases cells from the biofilm, have not been described. The present study determined c-di-GMP concentration, virulence in Galleria mellonella and antibiotic susceptibility of P. aeruginosa cells dispersed from biofilm using various triggers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

P. aeruginosa biofilms grown in flow-cells were dispersed actively [exposure to the nitric oxide (NO)-donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) or to glutamate] or passively [by stopping and restarting the flow or exposure to laser-induced vapor nanobubbles (VNB)], and properties of these dispersed cells were compared to those of spontaneously-dispersed cells.

RESULTS

The passively dispersed P. aeruginosa biofilm cells had significantly lower intracellular c-di-GMP levels than actively-dispersed cells. However, this did not result in differences in virulence in Galleria mellonella, nor in tobramycin and ciprofloxacin susceptibility. Passively-dispersed cells were more susceptible to colistin than actively- and spontaneously-dispersed cells. In cells dispersed by interrupting the flow, increased susceptibility to colistin was immediate, whereas this was delayed for VNB-dispersed cells.

CONCLUSION

Passively-dispersed P. aeruginosa biofilm cells have a decreased intracellular c-di-GMP concentration and an increased colistin susceptibility compared to actively-dispersed cells. No differences in virulence or susceptibility to tobramycin or colistin were observed.

2-Ketogluconate Kinase from Cupriavidus necator H16: Purification, Characterization, and Exploration of Its Substrate Specificity

We have cloned, overexpressed, purified, and characterized a 2-ketogluconate kinase (2-dehydrogluconokinase, EC 2.7.1.13) from Cupriavidus necator (Ralstonia eutropha) H16. Exploration of its substrate specificity revealed that three ketoacids (2-keto-3-deoxy-d-gluconate, 2-keto-d-gulonate, and 2-keto-3-deoxy-d-gulonate) with structures close to the natural substrate (2-keto-d-gluconate) were successfully phosphorylated at an efficiency lower than or comparable to 2-ketogluconate, as depicted by the measured kinetic constant values. Eleven aldo and keto monosaccharides of different chain lengths and stereochemistries were also assayed but not found to be substrates. 2-ketogluconate-6-phosphate was synthesized at a preparative scale and was fully characterized for the first time.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutants defective in glucose uptake have pleiotropic phenotype and altered virulence in non-mammal infection models

Pseudomonas spp. are endowed with a complex pathway for glucose uptake that relies on multiple transporters. In this work we report the construction and characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa single and multiple mutants with unmarked deletions of genes encoding outer membrane (OM) and inner membrane (IM) proteins involved in glucose uptake. We found that a triple ΔgltKGF ΔgntP ΔkguT mutant lacking all known IM transporters (named GUN for Glucose Uptake Null) is unable to grow on glucose as unique carbon source. More than 500 genes controlling both metabolic functions and virulence traits show differential expression in GUN relative to the parental strain. Consistent with transcriptomic data, the GUN mutant displays a pleiotropic phenotype. Notably, the genome-wide transcriptional profile and most phenotypic traits differ between the GUN mutant and the wild type strain irrespective of the presence of glucose, suggesting that the investigated genes may have additional roles besides glucose transport. Finally, mutants carrying single or multiple deletions in the glucose uptake genes showed attenuated virulence relative to the wild type strain in Galleria mellonella, but not in Caenorhabditis elegans infection model, supporting the notion that metabolic functions may deeply impact P. aeruginosa adaptation to specific environments found inside the host.

Oxygen Availability Influences Expression of Dickeya solani Genes Associated With Virulence in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.)

Dickeya solani is a Gram-negative necrotrophic, plant pathogenic bacterium able to cause symptoms in a variety of plant species worldwide. As a facultative anaerobe, D. solani is able to infect hosts under a broad range of oxygen concentrations found in plant environments. However, little is known about oxygen-dependent gene expression in Dickeya spp. that might contribute to its success as a pathogen. Using a Tn5 transposon, harboring a promoterless gusA reporter gene, 146 mutants of D. solani IPO2222 were identified that exhibited oxygen-regulated expression of the gene into which the insertion had occurred. Of these mutants 114 exhibited higher expression under normal oxygen conditions than hypoxic conditions while 32 were more highly expressed under hypoxic conditions. The plant host colonization potential and pathogenicity as well as phenotypes likely to contribute to the ecological fitness of D. solani, including growth rate, carbon and nitrogen source utilization, production of pectinolytic enzymes, proteases, cellulases and siderophores, swimming and swarming motility and the ability to form biofilm were assessed for 37 strains exhibiting the greatest oxygen-dependent change in gene expression. Eight mutants expressed decreased ability to cause disease symptoms when inoculated into potato tubers or chicory leaves and three of these also exhibited delayed colonization of potato plants and exhibited tissue specific differences in gene expression in these various host tissues. The genes interrupted in these eight mutants encoded proteins involved in fundamental bacterial metabolism, virulence, bacteriocin and proline transport, while three encoded hypothetical or unknown proteins. The implications of environmental oxygen concentration on the ability of D. solani to cause disease symptoms in potato are discussed.

Dynamic Response of Pseudomonas putida S12 to Sudden Addition of Toluene and the Potential Role of the Solvent Tolerance Gene trgI

Pseudomonas putida S12 is exceptionally tolerant to various organic solvents. To obtain further insight into this bacterium’s primary defence mechanisms towards these potentially harmful substances, we studied its genome wide transcriptional response to sudden addition of toluene. Global gene expression profiles were monitored for 30 minutes after toluene addition. During toluene exposure, high oxygen-affinity cytochrome c oxidase is specifically expressed to provide for an adequate proton gradient supporting solvent efflux mechanisms. Concomitantly, the glyoxylate bypass route was up-regulated, to repair an apparent toluene stress-induced redox imbalance. A knock-out mutant of trgI, a recently identified toluene-repressed gene, was investigated in order to identify TrgI function. Remarkably, upon addition of toluene the number of differentially expressed genes initially was much lower in the trgI-mutant than in the wild-type strain. This suggested that after deletion of trgI cells were better prepared for sudden organic solvent stress. Before, as well as after, addition of toluene many genes of highly diverse functions were differentially expressed in trgI-mutant cells as compared to wild-type cells. This led to the hypothesis that TrgI may not only be involved in the modulation of solvent-elicited responses but in addition may affect basal expression levels of large groups of genes.

Draft genome sequence of the chronic, nonclonal cystic fibrosis isolate Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain 18A

Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain 18A is a clinical, nonclonal isolate retrieved from the sputum of a chronically infected cystic fibrosis patient. The genome of 18A was sequenced for comparison with environmental and clinical isolates to identify genes that might facilitate its persistence during infection.

Analysis of the LacI family regulators of Erwinia chrysanthemi 3937, involvement in the bacterial phytopathogenicity

Analysis of the regulators of the LacI family was performed in order to identify those potentially involved in pathogenicity of Erwinia chrysanthemi (Dickeya dadantii). Among the 18 members of the LacI family, the function of 11 members is either known or predicted and only 7 members have, as yet, no proposed function. Inactivation of these seven genes, called lfaR, lfbR, lfcR, lfdR, lfeR, lffR, and lfgR, demonstrated that four of them are important for plant infection. The lfaR and lfcR mutants showed a reduced virulence on chicory, Saintpaulia sp., and Arabidopsis. The lfeR mutant showed a reduced virulence on Arabidopsis. The lfdR mutant was more efficient than the wild-type strain in initiating maceration on Saintpaulia sp. The genetic environment of each regulator was examined to detect adjacent genes potentially involved in a common function. Construction of transcriptional fusions in these neighboring genes demonstrated that five regulators, LfaR, LfcR, LfeR, LffR, and LfgR, act as repressors of adjacent genes. Analysis of these fusions also indicated that the genes controlled by LfaR, LfcR, LfgR, and LffR are expressed during plant infection. Moreover, addition of crude plant extracts to culture medium demonstrated that the expression of the LfaR- and LfgR-controlled genes is specifically induced by plant components.

A temperature-regulated Campylobacter jejuni gluconate dehydrogenase is involved in respiration-dependent energy conservation and chicken colonization

Campylobacter jejuni is a gastrointestinal pathogen of humans but can asymptomatically colonize the avian gut. C. jejuni therefore grows at both 37 degrees C and 42 degrees C, the internal temperatures of humans and birds respectively. Microarray and proteomic studies on temperature regulation in C. jejuni strain 81-176 revealed the upregulation at 42 degrees C of two proteins, Cj0414 and Cj0415, orthologous to gluconate dehydrogenase (GADH) from Pectobacterium cypripedii. 81-176 demonstrated GADH activity, converting d-gluconate to 2-keto-d-gluconate, that was higher at 42 degrees C than at 37 degrees C. In contrast, cj0414 and cj0415 mutants lacked GADH activity. Wild-type but not cj0415 mutant bacteria exhibited gluconate-dependent respiration. Neither strain grew in defined media with d-gluconate or 2-keto-d-gluconate as a sole carbon source, revealing that gluconate was used as an electron donor rather than as a carbon source. When administered to chicks individually or in competition with wild-type, the cj0415 mutant was impaired in establishing colonization. In contrast, there were few significant differences in colonization of BALB/c-ByJ mice in single or mixed infections. These results suggest that the ability of C. jejuni to use gluconate as an electron donor via GADH activity is an important metabolic characteristic that is required for full colonization of avian but not mammalian hosts.

Convergent peripheral pathways catalyze initial glucose catabolism in Pseudomonas putida: genomic and flux analysis

In this study, we show that glucose catabolism in Pseudomonas putida occurs through the simultaneous operation of three pathways that converge at the level of 6-phosphogluconate, which is metabolized by the Edd and Eda Entner/Doudoroff enzymes to central metabolites. When glucose enters the periplasmic space through specific OprB porins, it can either be internalized into the cytoplasm or be oxidized to gluconate. Glucose is transported to the cytoplasm in a process mediated by an ABC uptake system encoded by open reading frames PP1015 to PP1018 and is then phosphorylated by glucokinase (encoded by the glk gene) and converted by glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (encoded by the zwf genes) to 6-phosphogluconate. Gluconate in the periplasm can be transported into the cytoplasm and subsequently phosphorylated by gluconokinase to 6-phosphogluconate or oxidized to 2-ketogluconate, which is transported to the cytoplasm, and subsequently phosphorylated and reduced to 6-phosphogluconate. In the wild-type strain, glucose was consumed at a rate of around 6 mmol g(-1) h(-1), which allowed a growth rate of 0.58 h(-1) and a biomass yield of 0.44 g/g carbon used. Flux analysis of (13)C-labeled glucose revealed that, in the Krebs cycle, most of the oxalacetate fraction was produced by the pyruvate shunt rather than by the direct oxidation of malate by malate dehydrogenase. Enzymatic and microarray assays revealed that the enzymes, regulators, and transport systems of the three peripheral glucose pathways were induced in response to glucose in the outer medium. We generated a series of isogenic mutants in one or more of the steps of all three pathways and found that, although all three functioned simultaneously, the glucokinase pathway and the 2-ketogluconate loop were quantitatively more important than the direct phosphorylation of gluconate. In physical terms, glucose catabolism genes were organized in a series of clusters scattered along the chromosome. Within each of the clusters, genes encoding porins, transporters, enzymes, and regulators formed operons, suggesting that genes in each cluster coevolved. The glk gene encoding glucokinase was located in an operon with the edd gene, whereas the zwf-1 gene, encoding glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, formed an operon with the eda gene. Therefore, the enzymes of the glucokinase pathway and those of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway are physically linked and induced simultaneously. It can therefore be concluded that the glucokinase pathway is a sine qua non condition for P. putida to grow with glucose.

Contribution of the PhoP-PhoQ and PmrA-PmrB two-component regulatory systems to Mg2+-induced gene regulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

When grown in divalent cation-limited medium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa becomes resistant to cationic antimicrobial peptides and polymyxin B. This resistance is regulated by the PhoP-PhoQ and PmrA-PmrB two-component regulatory systems. To further characterize Mg(2+) regulation in P. aeruginosa, microarray transcriptional profiling was conducted to compare wild-type P. aeruginosa grown under Mg(2+)-limited and Mg(2+)-replete conditions to isogenic phoP and pmrA mutants grown under Mg(2+)-limited conditions. Under Mg(2+)-limited conditions (0.02 mM Mg(2+)), approximately 3% of the P. aeruginosa genes were differentially expressed compared to the expression in bacteria grown under Mg(2+)-replete conditions (2 mM Mg(2+)). Only a modest subset of the Mg(2+)-regulated genes were regulated through either PhoP or PmrA. To determine which genes were directly regulated, a bioinformatic search for conserved binding motifs was combined with confirmatory reverse transcriptase PCR and gel shift promoter binding assays, and the results indicated that very few genes were directly regulated by these response regulators. It was found that in addition to the previously known oprH-phoP-phoQ operon and the pmrHFIJKLM-ugd operon, the PA0921 and PA1343 genes, encoding small basic proteins, were regulated by Mg(2+) in a PhoP-dependent manner. The number of known PmrA-regulated genes was expanded to include the PA1559-PA1560, PA4782-PA4781, and feoAB operons, in addition to the previously known PA4773-PA4775-pmrAB and pmrHFIJKLM-ugd operons.

Microarray analysis of the osmotic stress response in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Transcriptional profiling of Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown under steady-state hyperosmotic stress conditions showed an up-regulation of genes associated with osmoprotectant synthesis, putative hydrophilins, and the type III secretion system with associated cytotoxins. A large number of regulatory genes, including several two-component systems not previously known to be influenced by osmolarity, were differentially expressed by P. aeruginosa in immediate response to hyperosmotic shock.

Transcriptional analysis of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxA regulatory gene ptxR

The expression of the exotoxin A gene (toxA) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a complicated process that involves several regulators, including ptxR, which enhances toxA expression by 4- to 5-fold. Available evidence suggests that ptxR is expressed from two separate promoters, P1 and P2. Previous evidence indicated the presence, within the ptxR upstream region, of binding sites for several regulatory proteins, including PtxS, which negatively regulates ptxR expression. We utilized nested deletion and in vitro transcription analyses to examine the regulation of ptxR expression. The results from nested deletion analysis suggest that under aerobic conditions in iron-deficient medium, ptxR expression follows a biphasic curve that involves the P1 promoter only. Iron eliminated the second peak of ptxR expression but did not affect expression from the P2 promoter. Under microaerobic conditions, iron represses ptxR expression from subclones that carry P1 alone or P2 alone at both early and late stages of growth. Under anaerobic conditions, ptxR expression increases considerably. In addition, our results suggest that different segments of the ptxR upstream region play specific roles in ptxR expression; their deletion caused variations in the level as well as the pattern of ptxR expression. Our results also indicate that negative regulation of ptxR expression by PtxS does not occur through the PtxS binding site within the ptxR-ptxS intergenic region. In vitro transcription analysis using sigma70-reconstituted P. aeruginosa RNA polymerase produced one transcript that closely resembles T1, indicating that P1 is recognized by sigma70. RNA polymerase reconstituted with either RpoS or AlgU produced no transcripts. However, a transcript was produced by RpoH-reconstituted RNA polymerase.

Multivariate analysis of microarray data by principal component discriminant analysis: prioritizing relevant transcripts linked to the degradation of different carbohydrates in Pseudomonas putida S12

The value of the multivariate data analysis tools principal component analysis (PCA) and principal component discriminant analysis (PCDA) for prioritizing leads generated by microarrays was evaluated. To this end, Pseudomonas putida S12 was grown in independent triplicate fermentations on four different carbon sources, i.e. fructose, glucose, gluconate and succinate. RNA isolated from these samples was analysed in duplicate on an anonymous clone-based array to avoid bias during data analysis. The relevant transcripts were identified by analysing the loadings of the principal components (PC) and discriminants (D) in PCA and PCDA, respectively. Even more specifically, the relevant transcripts for a specific phenotype could also be ranked from the loadings under an angle (biplot) obtained after PCDA analysis. The leads identified in this way were compared with those identified using the commonly applied fold-difference and hierarchical clustering approaches. The different data analysis methods gave different results. The methods used were complementary and together resulted in a comprehensive picture of the processes important for the different carbon sources studied. For the more subtle, regulatory processes in a cell, the PCDA approach seemed to be the most effective. Except for glucose and gluconate dehydrogenase, all genes involved in the degradation of glucose, gluconate and fructose were identified. Moreover, the transcriptomics approach resulted in potential new insights into the physiology of the degradation of these carbon sources. Indications of iron limitation were observed with cells grown on glucose, gluconate or succinate but not with fructose-grown cells. Moreover, several cytochrome- or quinone-associated genes seemed to be specifically up- or downregulated, indicating that the composition of the electron-transport chain in P. putida S12 might change significantly in fructose-grown cells compared to glucose-, gluconate- or succinate-grown cells.

Genetic evidence that catabolites of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway signal C source repression of the sigma54 Pu promoter of Pseudomonas putida

Glucose and other C sources exert an atypical form of catabolic repression on the sigma54-dependent promoter Pu, which drives transcription of an operon for m-xylene degradation encoded by the TOL plasmid pWW0 in Pseudomonas putida. We have used a genetic approach to identify the catabolite(s) shared by all known repressive C sources that appears to act as the intracellular signal that triggers downregulation of Pu. To this end, we reconstructed from genomic data the pathways for metabolism of repressor (glucose, gluconate) and nonrepressor (fructose) C sources. Since P. putida lacks fructose-6-phosphate kinase, glucose and gluconate appear to be metabolized exclusively by the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway, while fructose can be channeled through the Embden-Meyerhof (EM) route. An insertion in the gene fda (encoding fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase) that forces fructose metabolism to be routed exclusively to the ED pathway makes this sugar inhibitory for Pu. On the contrary, a crc mutation known to stimulate expression of the ED enzymes causes the promoter to be less sensitive to glucose. Interrupting the ED pathway by knocking out eda (encoding 2-dehydro-3-deoxyphosphogluconate aldolase) exacerbates the inhibitory effect of glucose in Pu. These observations pinpoint the key catabolites of the ED route, 6-phosphogluconate and/or 2-dehydro-3-deoxyphosphogluconate, as the intermediates that signal Pu repression. This notion is strengthened by the observation that 2-ketogluconate, which enters the ED pathway by conversion into these compounds, is a strong repressor of the Pu promoter.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa global regulator MvaT specifically binds to the ptxS upstream region and enhances ptxS expression

Exotoxin A production inPseudomonas aeruginosais regulated positively or negatively by several genes. Two such regulatory genes,ptxRandptxS, which are divergently transcribed from each other, have been described previously. While computer analysis suggested that theptxR-ptxSintergenic region contains potential binding sites for several regulatory proteins, the mechanism that regulates the expression of eitherptxRorptxSinP. aeruginosais not known. The presence of aP. aeruginosaprotein complex that specifically binds to a segment within this region was determined. In this study the binding region was localized to a 150 bp fragment of the intergenic region and the proteins that constitute the binding complex were characterized asP. aeruginosaHU and MvaT. Recombinant MvaT was purified as a fusion protein (MAL-MvaT) and shown to specifically bind to theptxR-ptxSintergenic region. A PAO1 isogenic mutant defective inmvaT, PAOΔmvaT, was constructed and characterized. The lysate of PAOΔmvaTfailed to bind to the 150 bp probe. The effect ofmvaTonptxSandptxRexpression was examined using real-time PCR experiments. The expression ofptxSwas lower in PAOΔmvaTthan in PAO1, but no difference was detected inptxRexpression. These results suggest that MvaT positively regulatesptxSexpression by binding specifically to theptxSupstream region.

Effects of the twin-arginine translocase on secretion of virulence factors, stress response, and pathogenesis

A novel secretion pathway originally found in plants has recently been discovered in bacteria and termed TAT, for "twin-arginine translocation," with respect to the presence of an Arg-Arg motif in the signal sequence of TAT-secreted products. However, it is unknown whether the TAT system contributes in any way to virulence through the secretion of factors associated with pathogenesis or stress response. We found that the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces several virulence factors that depend on the TAT system for proper export to the periplasm, outer membrane, or extracellular milieu. We identified at least 18 TAT substrates of P. aeruginosa and characterized the pleiotropic phenotypes of a tatC deletion mutant. The TAT system proved essential for the export of phospholipases, proteins involved in pyoverdine-mediated iron-uptake, anaerobic respiration, osmotic stress defense, motility, and biofilm formation. Because all these traits have been associated with virulence, we studied the role of TAT in a rat lung model. A tatC mutant did not cause the typical multifocal pulmonary abscesses and did not evoke a heavy inflammatory host response compared with wild type, indicating that tatC mutant cells are attenuated for virulence. Because the TAT apparatus is well conserved among important bacterial pathogens yet absent in mammalian cells, it represents a potential target for novel antimicrobial compounds.

Molecular analysis of thePseudomonas aeruginosaregulatory genesptxRandptxS

We have previously described two Pseudomonas aeruginosa genes, ptxR, which enhances toxA and pvc ( the pyoverdine chromophore operon) expression, and ptxS, the first gene of the kgu operon for the utilization of 2-ketogluconate by P. aeruginosa. ptxS interferes with the effect of ptxR on toxA expression. In this study, we have utilized DNA hybridization experiments to determine the presence of ptxR and ptxS homologous sequences in several gram-negative bacteria. ptxR homologous sequences were detected in P. aeruginosa strains only, while ptxS homologous sequences were detected in P. aeruginosa, Pseudomonas putida, and Pseudomonas fluorescens. Using Northern blot hybridization experiments and a ptxS–lacZ fusion plasmid, we have shown that P. aeruginosa ptxR and ptxS are expressed in P. putida and P. fluorescens. Additional Northern blot hybridization experiments confirmed that ptxS is transcribed in P. putida and P. fluorescens strains that carried no plasmid. The presence of a PtxS homologue in these strains was examined by DNA-gel shift experiments. Specific gel shift bands were detected when the lysates of P. aeruginosa, P. putida, and P. fluorescens were incubated with the ptxS operator site as probe. kgu-hybridizing sequences were detected in P. putida and P. fluorescens. These results suggest that (i) ptxR is present in P. aeruginosa, while ptxS is present in P. aeruginosa, P. putida, and P. fluorescens; (ii) both ptxR and ptxS are expressed in P. putida and P. fluorescens; and (iii) a PtxS homologue may exist in P. putida and P. fluorescens.Key words: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, ptxR, ptxS, DNA hybridization, kgu operon.

Autoregulation of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa protein PtxS occurs through a specific operator site within the ptxS upstream region

We have previously shown that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxA regulatory protein PtxS autoregulates its own synthesis by binding to a 52-bp fragment. The 3' end of the 52-bp fragment is located 58 bp 5' of the ptxS translation start site. We have identified a 14-bp palindromic sequence (TGAAACCGGTTTCA) within the 52-bp fragment. In this study, we used site-directed mutagenesis and promoter fusion experiments to determine if PtxS binds specifically to this palindromic sequence and regulates ptxS expression. We have also tried to determine the roles of specific nucleotides within the palindromic sequence in PtxS binding and ptxS expression. Initial promoter fusion experiments confirmed that the 52-bp fragment does not overlap with the region that carries the ptxS promoter activity. PtxS binding was eliminated upon the deletion of the 14-bp palindromic sequence from the 52-bp fragment. In addition, the deletion of the 14-bp sequence caused a significant enhancement in ptxS expression in the P. aeruginosa strain PAO1 and the ptxS isogenic mutant PAO::ptxS. Mutation of specific nucleotides within the 14-bp sequence eliminated, reduced, or had no effect on PtxS binding. However, mutations of several of these nucleotides produced a significant increase in ptxS expression in both PAO1 and PAO::ptxS. These results suggest that (i) the 14-bp palindromic sequence and specific nucleotides within it play a role in PtxS binding and (ii) deletion of the palindromic sequence or changing of certain nucleotides within it interferes with another mechanism that may regulate ptxS expression.