This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ng, W.-L.
Right arrow Articles by Winkler, M. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ng, W.-L.
Right arrow Articles by Winkler, M. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, November 2005, p. 7444-7459, Vol. 187, No. 21
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.21.7444-7459.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Regulation of the pspA Virulence Factor and Essential pcsB Murein Biosynthetic Genes by the Phosphorylated VicR (YycF) Response Regulator in Streptococcus pneumoniae{dagger}

Wai-Leung Ng, Ho-Ching Tiffany Tsui, and Malcolm E. Winkler*

Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405

Received 19 June 2005/ Accepted 8 August 2005

The VicRK (YycFG) two-component regulatory system (TCS) is required for virulence of the human respiratory pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus). The VicR (YycF) response regulator (RR) is essential through its positive regulation of pcsB, which encodes an extracellular protein that mediates murein biosynthesis. To determine other genes that are regulated by VicR, we performed microarray analyses on a unique {Delta}vicR deletion mutant, which was constructed by uncoupling regulation of pcsB. Results from these microarray experiments support the idea that the VicR RR exerts strong positive regulation on the transcription of a set of genes encoding important surface proteins, including the PspA virulence factor, two proteins (Spr0096 and Spr1875) containing LysM peptidoglycan-binding domains, and a putative membrane protein (Spr0709) of unknown function. To demonstrate direct regulation, we performed band shift and footprinting experiments using purified unphosphorylated VicR and phosphorylated VicR-P, which was prepared by reaction with acetyl phosphate. VicR and VicR-P bound to regions upstream of pcsB, pspA, spr0096, spr1875, and spr0709. Phosphorylation of VicR to VicR-P increased the apparent strength and changed the nature of binding to these regions. DNase I footprinting of VicR and VicR-P bound to regions upstream of pcsB, pspA, spr0096, and spr1875 showed protection of extended regions containing a degenerate sequence related to a previously proposed consensus. These combined approaches did not support autoregulation of the vicRKX operon or substantive direct regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis by VicR or VicR-P. However, the {Delta}vicR mutant required fatty acids in some conditions, which supports the notion that the VicRK TCS may mediate membrane integrity as well as murein biosynthesis and virulence factor expression in S. pneumoniae.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, Indiana University, Jordan Hall 142, Bloomington, IN 47405. Phone: (812) 856-1318. Fax: (812) 855-6705. E-mail: mwinkler{at}bio.indiana.edu.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://www.jb.asm.org/.

Journal of Bacteriology, November 2005, p. 7444-7459, Vol. 187, No. 21
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.21.7444-7459.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Tremblay, Y. D. N., Lo, H., Li, Y.-H., Halperin, S. A., Lee, S. F. (2009). Expression of the Streptococcus mutans essential two-component regulatory system VicRK is pH and growth-phase dependent and controlled by the LiaFSR three-component regulatory system. Microbiology 155: 2856-2865 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Barendt, S. M., Land, A. D., Sham, L.-T., Ng, W.-L., Tsui, H.-C. T., Arnold, R. J., Winkler, M. E. (2009). Influences of Capsule on Cell Shape and Chain Formation of Wild-Type and pcsB Mutants of Serotype 2 Streptococcus pneumoniae. J. Bacteriol. 191: 3024-3040 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Winkler, M. E., Hoch, J. A. (2008). Essentiality, Bypass, and Targeting of the YycFG (VicRK) Two-Component Regulatory System in Gram-Positive Bacteria. J. Bacteriol. 190: 2645-2648 [Full Text]  
  • Szurmant, H., Bu, L., Brooks, C. L. III/, Hoch, J. A. (2008). An essential sensor histidine kinase controlled by transmembrane helix interactions with its auxiliary proteins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 5891-5896 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ahn, S.-J., Burne, R. A. (2007). Effects of Oxygen on Biofilm Formation and the AtlA Autolysin of Streptococcus mutans. J. Bacteriol. 189: 6293-6302 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Standish, A. J., Stroeher, U. H., Paton, J. C. (2007). The Pneumococcal Two-Component Signal Transduction System RR/HK06 Regulates CbpA and PspA by Two Distinct Mechanisms. J. Bacteriol. 189: 5591-5600 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Salzberg, L. I., Helmann, J. D. (2007). An Antibiotic-Inducible Cell Wall-Associated Protein That Protects Bacillus subtilis from Autolysis. J. Bacteriol. 189: 4671-4680 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Saskova, L., Novakova, L., Basler, M., Branny, P. (2007). Eukaryotic-Type Serine/Threonine Protein Kinase StkP Is a Global Regulator of Gene Expression in Streptococcus pneumoniae. J. Bacteriol. 189: 4168-4179 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Szurmant, H., Mohan, M. A., Imus, P. M., Hoch, J. A. (2007). YycH and YycI Interact To Regulate the Essential YycFG Two-Component System in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 189: 3280-3289 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ma, Z., Zhang, J.-R. (2007). RR06 Activates Transcription of spr1996 and cbpA in Streptococcus pneumoniae. J. Bacteriol. 189: 2497-2509 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • McKessar, S. J., Hakenbeck, R. (2007). The Two-Component Regulatory System TCS08 Is Involved in Cellobiose Metabolism of Streptococcus pneumoniae R6. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1342-1350 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fadda, D., Santona, A., D'Ulisse, V., Ghelardini, P., Ennas, M. G., Whalen, M. B., Massidda, O. (2007). Streptococcus pneumoniae DivIVA: Localization and Interactions in a MinCD-Free Context. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1288-1298 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vicente, M., Garcia-Ovalle, M. (2007). Making a Point: the Role of DivIVA in Streptococcal Polar Anatomy{triangledown}. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1185-1188 [Full Text]  
  • Mattos-Graner, R. O., Porter, K. A., Smith, D. J., Hosogi, Y., Duncan, M. J. (2006). Functional Analysis of Glucan Binding Protein B from Streptococcus mutans. J. Bacteriol. 188: 3813-3825 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Paterson, G. K., Blue, C. E., Mitchell, T. J. (2006). Role of two-component systems in the virulence of Streptococcus pneumoniae.. J Med Microbiol 55: 355-363 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bergmann, S., Hammerschmidt, S. (2006). Versatility of pneumococcal surface proteins. Microbiology 152: 295-303 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»