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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2000, p. 2026-2032, Vol. 182, No. 7
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Isolation and Characterization of vicH, Encoding a New Pleiotropic Regulator in Vibrio cholerae

Christian Tendeng,1 Cyril Badaut,2 Evelyne Krin,1 Pierre Gounon,3 Saravuth Ngo,1,dagger Antoine Danchin,1 Sylvie Rimsky,2 and Philippe Bertin1,*

Unité de Régulation de l'Expression Génétique,1 Unité de Physico-Chimie des Macromolécules Biologiques (URA1773 CNRS),2 and Station Centrale de Microscopie Electronique,3 Institut Pasteur, F-75724 Paris, France

Received 12 July 1999/Accepted 24 September 1999

During the last decade, the hns gene and its product, the H-NS protein, have been extensively studied in Escherichia coli. H-NS-like proteins seem to be widespread in gram-negative bacteria. However, unlike in E. coli and in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, little is known about their role in the physiology of those organisms. In this report, we describe the isolation of vicH, an hns-like gene in Vibrio cholerae, the etiological agent of cholera. This gene was isolated from a V. cholerae genomic library by complementation of different phenotypes associated with an hns mutation in E. coli. It encodes a 135-amino-acid protein showing approximately 50% identity with both H-NS and StpA in E. coli. Despite a low amino acid conservation in the N-terminal part, VicH is able to cross-react with anti-H-NS antibodies and to form oligomers in vitro. The vicH gene is expressed as a single gene from two promoters in tandem and is induced by cold shock. A V. cholerae wild-type strain expressing a vicHDelta 92 gene lacking its 3' end shows pleiotropic alterations with regard to mucoidy and salicin metabolism. Moreover, this strain is unable to swarm on semisolid medium. Similarly, overexpression of the vicH wild-type gene results in an alteration of swarming behavior. This suggests that VicH could be involved in the virulence process in V. cholerae, in particular by affecting flagellum biosynthesis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité de Régulation de l'Expression Génétique, 28, rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. Phone: (33) 01 40 61 35 56. Fax: (33) 01 45 68 89 48. E-mail: phbertin{at}pasteur.fr.

dagger Present address: Centre de Génétique Moléculaire du CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

Journal of Bacteriology, April 2000, p. 2026-2032, Vol. 182, No. 7
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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