Previous Article | Next Article 
Journal of Bacteriology, July 2005, p. 4372-4380, Vol. 187, No. 13
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.187.13.4372-4380.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Regulation of Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal Synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Dana S. Wade,
M. Worth Calfee,
Edson R. Rocha,
Elizabeth A. Ling,
Elana Engstrom,
James P. Coleman, and
Everett C. Pesci*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd., Greenville, North Carolina 27834
Received 1 February 2005/
Accepted 29 March 2005
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients and is a major source of nosocomial infections. This bacterium controls many virulence factors by using two quorum-sensing systems, las and rhl. The las system is composed of the LasR regulator protein and its cell-to-cell signal, N-(3-oxododecanoyl) homoserine lactone, and the rhl system is composed of RhlR and the signal N-butyryl homoserine lactone. A third intercellular signal, the Pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS; 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4-quinolone), also regulates numerous virulence factors. PQS synthesis requires the expression of multiple operons, one of which is pqsABCDE. Previous experiments showed that the transcription of this operon, and therefore PQS production, is negatively regulated by the rhl quorum-sensing system and positively regulated by the las quorum-sensing system and PqsR (also known as MvfR), a LysR-type transcriptional regulator protein. With the use of DNA mobility shift assays and ß-galactosidase reporter fusions, we have studied the regulation of pqsR and its relationship to pqsA, lasR, and rhlR. We show that PqsR binds the promoter of pqsA and that this binding increases dramatically in the presence of PQS, implying that PQS acts as a coinducer for PqsR. We have also mapped the transcriptional start site for pqsR and found that the transcription of pqsR is positively regulated by lasR and negatively regulated by rhlR. These results suggest that a regulatory chain occurs where pqsR is under the control of LasR and RhlR and where PqsR in turn controls pqsABCDE, which is required for the production of PQS.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, East Carolina University School of Medicine, BT 132, 600 Moye Blvd., Greenville, NC 27834. Phone: (252) 744-2351. Fax: (252) 744-3535. E-mail:
pescie{at}mail.ecu.edu.
Journal of Bacteriology, July 2005, p. 4372-4380, Vol. 187, No. 13
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.187.13.4372-4380.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Alhede, M., Bjarnsholt, T., Jensen, P. O., Phipps, R. K., Moser, C., Christophersen, L., Christensen, L. D., van Gennip, M., Parsek, M., Hoiby, N., Rasmussen, T. B., Givskov, M.
(2009). Pseudomonas aeruginosa recognizes and responds aggressively to the presence of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Microbiology
155: 3500-3508
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Cummins, J., Reen, F. J., Baysse, C., Mooij, M. J., O'Gara, F.
(2009). Subinhibitory concentrations of the cationic antimicrobial peptide colistin induce the pseudomonas quinolone signal in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Microbiology
155: 2826-2837
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Toyofuku, M., Nomura, N., Kuno, E., Tashiro, Y., Nakajima, T., Uchiyama, H.
(2008). Influence of the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal on Denitrification in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Bacteriol.
190: 7947-7956
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Farrow, J. M. III, Sund, Z. M., Ellison, M. L., Wade, D. S., Coleman, J. P., Pesci, E. C.
(2008). PqsE Functions Independently of PqsR-Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal and Enhances the rhl Quorum-Sensing System. J. Bacteriol.
190: 7043-7051
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Willcox, M. D. P., Zhu, H., Conibear, T. C. R., Hume, E. B. H., Givskov, M., Kjelleberg, S., Rice, S. A.
(2008). Role of quorum sensing by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in microbial keratitis and cystic fibrosis. Microbiology
154: 2184-2194
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Vial, L., Lepine, F., Milot, S., Groleau, M.-C., Dekimpe, V., Woods, D. E., Deziel, E.
(2008). Burkholderia pseudomallei, B. thailandensis, and B. ambifaria Produce 4-Hydroxy-2-Alkylquinoline Analogues with a Methyl Group at the 3 Position That Is Required for Quorum-Sensing Regulation. J. Bacteriol.
190: 5339-5352
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Kukavica-Ibrulj, I., Sanschagrin, F., Peterson, A., Whiteley, M., Boyle, B., MacKay, J., Levesque, R. C.
(2008). Functional genomics of PycR, a LysR family transcriptional regulator essential for maintenance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the rat lung. Microbiology
154: 2106-2118
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Oglesby, A. G., Farrow, J. M. III, Lee, J.-H., Tomaras, A. P., Greenberg, E. P., Pesci, E. C., Vasil, M. L.
(2008). The Influence of Iron on Pseudomonas aeruginosa Physiology: A REGULATORY LINK BETWEEN IRON AND QUORUM SENSING. J. Biol. Chem.
283: 15558-15567
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
McAlester, G., O'Gara, F., Morrissey, J. P.
(2008). Signal-mediated interactions between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. J Med Microbiol
57: 563-569
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Coleman, J. P., Hudson, L. L., McKnight, S. L., Farrow, J. M. III, Calfee, M. W., Lindsey, C. A., Pesci, E. C.
(2008). Pseudomonas aeruginosa PqsA Is an Anthranilate-Coenzyme A Ligase. J. Bacteriol.
190: 1247-1255
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Yim, G., Huimi Wang, H., Davies FRS, J.
(2007). Antibiotics as signalling molecules. Phil Trans R Soc B
362: 1195-1200
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Li, L.-L., Malone, J. E., Iglewski, B. H.
(2007). Regulation of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum-Sensing Regulator VqsR. J. Bacteriol.
189: 4367-4374
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Farrow, J. M. III, Pesci, E. C.
(2007). Two Distinct Pathways Supply Anthranilate as a Precursor of the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal. J. Bacteriol.
189: 3425-3433
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Xiao, G., He, J., Rahme, L. G.
(2006). Mutation analysis of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa mvfR and pqsABCDE gene promoters demonstrates complex quorum-sensing circuitry. Microbiology
152: 1679-1686
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Fuqua, C.
(2006). The QscR Quorum-Sensing Regulon of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: an Orphan Claims Its Identity. J. Bacteriol.
188: 3169-3171
[Full Text]
-
Burrowes, E., Baysse, C., Adams, C., O'Gara, F.
(2006). Influence of the regulatory protein RsmA on cellular functions in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, as revealed by transcriptome analysis. Microbiology
152: 405-418
[Abstract]
[Full Text]