This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Vergauwen, B. Articles by Van Beeumen, J. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Vergauwen, B. Articles by Van Beeumen, J. J.

Glutathione and Catalase Provide Overlapping Defenses for Protection against Respiration-Generated Hydrogen Peroxide in Haemophilus influenzae

Laboratory for Protein Biochemistry and Protein Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

Received 6 February 2003/ Accepted 27 June 2003

Glutathione is an abundant and ubiquitous low-molecular-weight thiol that may play a role in many cellular processes, including protection against the deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species. We address here the role of glutathione in protection against hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in Haemophilus influenzae and show that glutathione and catalase provide overlapping defense systems. H. influenzae is naturally glutathione deficient and imports glutathione from the growth medium. Mutant H. influenzae lacking catalase and cultured in glutathione-deficient minimal medium is completely devoid of H₂O₂ scavenging activity and, accordingly, substantial amounts of H₂O₂ accumulate in the growth medium. H. influenzae generates H₂O₂ at rates similar to those reported for Escherichia coli, but the toxicity of this harmful metabolite is averted by glutathione-based H₂O₂ removal, which appears to be the primary system for protection against H₂O₂ endogenously generated during aerobic respiration. When H₂O₂ concentrations exceed low micromolar levels, the hktE gene-encoded catalase becomes the predominant scavenger. The requirement for glutathione in protection against oxidative stress is analogous to that in higher and lower eukaryotes but is unlike the situation in other bacteria in which glutathione is dispensable for aerobic growth during both normal and oxidative stress conditions.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Kidd, S. P., Jiang, D., Jennings, M. P., McEwan, A. G. (2007). Glutathione-Dependent Alcohol Dehydrogenase AdhC Is Required for Defense against Nitrosative Stress in Haemophilus influenzae. Infect. Immun. 75: 4506-4513 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Coenye, T., Honraet, K., Rigole, P., Jimenez, P. N., Nelis, H. J. (2007). In Vitro Inhibition of Streptococcus mutans Biofilm Formation on Hydroxyapatite by Subinhibitory Concentrations of Anthraquinones. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 1541-1544 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Vergauwen, B., De Vos, D., Van Beeumen, J. J. (2006). Characterization of the Bifunctional {gamma}-Glutamate-cysteine Ligase/Glutathione Synthetase (GshF) of Pasteurella multocida. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 4380-4394 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Morrison, J. P., Coleman, M. C., Aunan, E. S., Walsh, S. A., Spitz, D. R., Kregel, K. C. (2005). Aging reduces responsiveness to BSO- and heat stress-induced perturbations of glutathione and antioxidant enzymes. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 289: R1035-R1041 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pittman, M. S., Robinson, H. C., Poole, R. K. (2005). A Bacterial Glutathione Transporter (Escherichia coli CydDC) Exports Reductant to the Periplasm. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 32254-32261 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Harrison, A., Dyer, D. W., Gillaspy, A., Ray, W. C., Mungur, R., Carson, M. B., Zhong, H., Gipson, J., Gipson, M., Johnson, L. S., Lewis, L., Bakaletz, L. O., Munson, R. S. Jr. (2005). Genomic Sequence of an Otitis Media Isolate of Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae: Comparative Study with H. influenzae Serotype d, Strain KW20. J. Bacteriol. 187: 4627-4636 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Li, K., Hein, S., Zou, W., Klug, G. (2004). The Glutathione-Glutaredoxin System in Rhodobacter capsulatus: Part of a Complex Regulatory Network Controlling Defense against Oxidative Stress. J. Bacteriol. 186: 6800-6808 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pauwels, F., Vergauwen, B., Van Beeumen, J. J. (2004). Physiological Characterization of Haemophilus influenzae Rd Deficient in Its Glutathione-dependent Peroxidase PGdx. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 12163-12170 [Abstract] [Full Text]