Journal of Bacteriology, November 2001, p. 6324-6334, Vol. 183, No. 21
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.21.6324-6334.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Laboratoire de Microbiologie, INSERM U-4111 and Laboratoire Mixte Pasteur-Necker de Recherche sur les Streptocoques et Streptococcies,2 Faculté de Médecine Necker-Enfants Malades, 75730 Paris Cedex 15, France, and Institute for Genetics and Microbiology, University of Munich, D-80638 Munich, Germany3
Received 16 April 2001/Accepted 8 August 2001
The dlt operon of gram-positive bacteria comprises four
genes (dltA, dltB, dltC, and dltD) that
catalyze the incorporation of D-alanine residues into the
lipoteichoic acids (LTAs). In this work, we characterized the
dlt operon of Streptococcus agalactiae, which,
in addition to the dltA to dltD genes, included
two regulatory genes, designated dltR and dltS,
located upstream of dltA. The dltR gene encodes
a 224-amino-acid putative response regulator belonging to the OmpR
family of regulatory proteins. The dltS gene codes for a
395-amino-acid putative histidine kinase thought to be involved in the
sensing of environmental signals. The dlt operon of
S. agalactiae is mainly transcribed from the
PdltR promoter, which directs synthesis of a
6.5-kb transcript encompassing dltR, dltS, dltA, dltB,
dltC, and dltD, and from a weaker promoter, PdltA, which is located in the 3' extremity of
dltS. We demonstrate that PdltR,
but not PdlA, is activated by DltR in the
presence of DltS in D-Ala-deficient LTA mutants resulting
from insertional inactivation of the dltA gene, which
encodes the cytoplasmic D-alanine-D-alanyl
carrier ligase DltA. Expression of the dlt operon does not
require DltR and DltS, since the basal activity of
PdltR is high, being 20-fold that of the
constitutive promoter PaphA-3 which directs synthesis of the kanamycin resistance gene aphA-3 in
various gram-positive bacteria. We hypothesize that the role of DltR
and DltS in the control of expression of the dlt operon is
to maintain the level of D-Ala esters in LTAs at a constant
and appropriate value whatever the environmental conditions. The
DltA
mutant displayed the ability to form clumps in
standing culture and exhibited an increased susceptibility to the
cationic antimicrobial polypeptide colistin.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| Appl. Environ. Microbiol. | Infect. Immun. | Eukaryot. Cell |
|---|---|---|
| Mol. Cell. Biol. | J. Virol. | Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. |
| ALL ASM JOURNALS |