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 Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Aertsen, A. Articles by Michiels, C. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Aertsen, A. Articles by Michiels, C. W.

An SOS Response Induced by High Pressure in Escherichia coli

Laboratory of Food Microbiology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Received 7 May 2004/ Accepted 16 June 2004

Although pressure is an important environmental parameter in microbial niches such as the deep sea and is furthermore used in food preservation to inactivate microorganisms, the fundamental understanding of its effects on bacteria remains fragmentary. Our group recently initiated differential fluorescence induction screening to search for pressure-induced Escherichia coli promoters and has already reported induction of the heat shock regulon. Here the screening was continued, and we report for the first time that pressure induces a bona fide SOS response in E. coli, characterized by the RecA and LexA-dependent expression of uvrA, recA, and sulA. Moreover, it was shown that pressure is capable of triggering lambda prophage induction in E. coli lysogens. The remnant lambdoid e14 element, however, could not be induced by pressure, as opposed to UV irradiation, indicating subtle differences between the pressure-induced and the classical SOS response. Furthermore, the pressure-induced SOS response seems not to be initiated by DNA damage, since recA and lexA1 (Ind^–) mutants, which are intrinsically hypersensitive to DNA damage, were not sensitized or were only very slightly sensitized for pressure-mediated killing and since pressure treatment was not found to be mutagenic. In light of these findings, the current knowledge of pressure-mediated effects on bacteria is discussed.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Bowman, J. P., Bittencourt, C. R., Ross, T. (2008). Differential gene expression of Listeria monocytogenes during high hydrostatic pressure processing. Microbiology 154: 462-475 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Malone, A. S., Chung, Y.-K., Yousef, A. E. (2006). Genes of Escherichia coli O157:H7 That Are Involved in High-Pressure Resistance. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 2661-2671 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Aertsen, A., Faster, D., Michiels, C. W. (2005). Induction of Shiga Toxin-Converting Prophage in Escherichia coli by High Hydrostatic Pressure. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 1155-1162 [Abstract] [Full Text]