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Journal of Bacteriology, March 2001, p. 2117-2120, Vol. 183, No. 6
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.6.2117-2120.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Phase-Variable Expression of an Operon Encoding
Extracellular Alkaline Protease, a Serine Protease Homolog, and
Lipase in Pseudomonas brassicacearum
Philippe
Chabeaud,1
Arjan
de Groot,1,2
Wilbert
Bitter,2
Jan
Tommassen,2
Thierry
Heulin,1 and
Wafa
Achouak1,*
CEA/Cadarache, DSV-DEVM, Laboratoire
d'Ecologie Microbienne de la Rhizosphère, UMR 163 CNRS-CEA,
F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France,1 and
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Institute of
Biomembranes, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The
Netherlands2
Received 11 August 2000/Accepted 14 December 2000
 |
ABSTRACT |
The rhizobacterium Pseudomonas brassicacearum forms
phenotypic variants which do not show extracellular protease and lipase activity. The operon encoding these enzymes, a serine protease homolog,
and a type I secretion machinery was characterized.
Transcriptional lacZ gene fusions revealed that the
expression of the operon is under the control of phase variation.
| |
TEXT |
Phenotypic variation leads to the
division of a bacterial population into subpopulations expressing
different surface compounds, thereby creating and maintaining sets of
functionally different organisms within the population. Several
pathogenic bacteria use this strategy to escape from the immune defense
of the host. Phenotypic variation has also been observed in some
soil-borne pseudomonads, for example, Pseudomonas tolaasii,
the causal agent of brown blotch disease in mushrooms (7).
Recently, we described a new Pseudomonas species,
Pseudomonas brassicacearum, which was frequently
isolated as a major root-colonizing population from Arabidopsis
thaliana and Brassica napus (1). In the
present study, we demonstrate that the expression of several
extracellular enzymes in this species is prone to phase variation, and
we characterized the operon that encodes these enzymes with the
eventual goal of understanding the mechanism of phase variation and its
putative role in root colonization.
Phase variation in P. brassicacearum.
The original
isolate of P. brassicacearum strain NFM421 (1)
formed small mucoid colonies on rich medium plates (phase I cells).
After prolonged growth on these plates, variants appeared on the edges
of colonies (Fig. 1a), which formed
large, flat, nonmucoid colonies (phase II cells) (Fig. 1b).
Occasionally these phase II cells were found to revert to phase I (data
not shown), consistent with the idea that phase variation rather than
mutation is the basis for this phenotypic variation. In contrast to the phase II cells, the phase I cells were found to produce extracellular protease and lipase, as revealed by the halos formed around the colonies on protease and lipase indicator plates (Fig. 1c and d).
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FIG. 1.
Phenotypic variation of P. brassicacearum
strain NFM421. (a) Seven-day-old colony grown on PAF medium (Difco
Laboratories, Detroit, Mich.) with a sector corresponding to phase II
cells. (b) Colony morphology of the two phases. (c and d) Extracellular
protease and lipase activity in phase I but not phase II cells was
revealed on 10-fold-diluted tryptic soy broth medium (Difco
Laboratories) agar plates containing 1% skim milk (c) or 1%
tributyrin and 0.8% gum arabic (d). Bacteria were grown at 30°C.
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Isolation of a cosmid containing phase-variable genes of P. brassicacearum.
Southern hybridization experiments
(27) with a DNA probe encompassing the alkaline protease
gene aprA from Pseudomonas aeruginosa identified
specific signals within genomic DNA digests of P. brassicacearum NFM421 phase I (data not shown), suggesting the
presence of an aprA homolog in this organism.
Identical fragments were revealed within DNA from phase II cells.
To clone the aprA homolog of P. brassicacearum, a
genome library of strain NFM421 phase I was constructed. Genomic DNA
was purified using CsCl gradient centrifugation, partially digested
with Sau3A, and size fractionated using a 10 to 30% sucrose
gradient, and DNA fragments of between 15 and 25 kb were ligated with
pLAFR3 (30) digested with BamHI. In vitro packaging with the Gigapack III XL packaging extract (Stratagene, La
Jolla, Calif.) was followed by transduction of Escherichia coli S17-1 (28). The genome library was screened with
the aprA probe, and a positive clone, designated pAG500, was identified.
Nucleotide sequence analysis.
Relevant DNA fragments from
pAG500 were subcloned and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of a
fragment spanning a total of 12 kb was determined (GenBank accession
number AF286062). Seven complete open reading frames were identified
and, based on homologies described below, were tentatively designated
aprA, aprI, aprD, aprE, aprF, pspB, and lipA
(Fig. 2).
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FIG. 2.
Genetic organization and restriction map of the
sequenced 12-kb fragment. Restriction sites indicated are
BamHI (B), EcoRI (E), HindIII (H),
KpnI (K), PstI (P), SacI (Sa),
SmaI (Sm), and XhoI (X). Thin arrows
indicate the open reading frames. The two putative terminators are
indicated by stem-loop structure. Thick arrows represent fragments
subcloned in pEMBL19, pPC7, and pPC8 or pUR6500HE (pAG525), in
the orientation indicated relative to the lac or
tac promoter, or in pMP220, in the orientation indicated
relative to the promoterless lacZ gene.
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The putative aprA gene product showed high levels of
homology to several metalloproteases, including alkaline protease of P. aeruginosa PAO1. A putative Zn2+-binding
domain corresponding to the consensus sequence QTLHEIGHxxGLxHP (5) was identified in AprA of P. brassicacearum. A three-times-repeated glycine-rich sequence
of nine amino acids (xxxGGxGxD), implicated in
Ca2+ binding (5), was present in the
C-terminal domain, and the sequence DIVA, complying with the consensus
sequence Dhhh, where h stands for any hydrophobic residue, was found at
the extreme C terminus. These motifs, as well as the absence of an
N-terminal signal sequence, are characteristic of proteins secreted via
type I machinery (4, 15) and were shown to be important
for recognition of the secreted proteins by the translocator
(12). The aprI gene putatively encodes a
protein with homology to protease inhibitors. The protein contains an
N-terminal hydrophobic segment, which could function as a signal
sequence or a membrane anchor. The aprDEF genes code for the
three components of a type I secretion system and show high levels of
homology with the corresponding components of type I systems involved
in the secretion of proteases in other bacteria (2, 8, 11, 21,
22). AprD contains four putative transmembrane segments in the
N-terminal region and an ATP-binding consensus sequence (GxxGxGKS)
in the C-terminal half. It belongs to the ATP-binding cassette
(ABC) protein family, which includes prokaryotic and eukaryotic
proteins involved in the export and import of various substrates
(19). The AprE protein contains one predicted
transmembrane segment, followed by a large periplasmic domain. It is a
member of the membrane fusion protein family (10). The
aprF gene encodes a protein synthesized with an N-terminal
signal sequence, which constitutes the outer membrane component of the
type I secretion apparatus (10).
The next gene in the cluster, pspB, putatively encodes a
protein of 1,036 amino acids with strong homology to serine proteases (21, 25). In addition, lower but significant homology
(24% identity) over the entire length of the protein was observed with the serotype 1-specific antigen of Pasteurella haemolytica
(16, 23). Interestingly, these serine proteases are not
secreted via a type I pathway, but they belong to the autotransporter
family of secreted proteins. Autotransporters possess an overall
unifying structure comprising three functional domains: an N-terminal
signal peptide, the secreted mature protein (passenger or 
-domain), and a C-terminal 
-barrel (-domain), which probably forms a pore in the outer membrane to allow the secretion of the passenger domain
(18).
The last gene of the cluster, lipA, putatively encodes a
protein of 619 amino acids with homology to lipases secreted via a type
I secretion pathway (2, 3, 20). The LipA sequence contains
the lipase consensus sequence GxSxG, which comprises the
active-site serine residue (20). It does not possess an N-terminal signal sequence but does contain glycine-rich repeats and a
motif, EGIA, with similarity to the Dhhh motif in the metalloproteases at the extreme C terminus. Similar gene clusters have been
described in Pseudomonas fluorescens strains
SIK-W1 (2), CYO91 (22), and 33 (21). However, whereas P. brassicacearum contains one gene for a serine protease homolog,
P. fluorescens strains 33 and SIK-W1 contain two and none,
respectively. In addition, the lipase of P. brassicacearum
is considerably larger than those of P. fluorescens strains
SIK-W1 and 33.
Expression and secretion of P. brassicacearum lipase
and protease in E. coli.
To investigate
whether the genes identified code for functional proteins,
various plasmids carrying these genes under the control of the
lac or tac promoter on pEMBL19 (9)
or pUR6500HE (14), respectively, were constructed (Fig. 2)
and introduced into E. coli strain DH5. With the strain
carrying aprAID plasmid pPC8, no protease activity was
detected on milk plates at either 30 or 37°C. However, protease
activity was observed for the strain carrying plasmid pPC7
(aprAIDEF), but only at 30°C (results not shown). Such
temperature dependence was also reported when the apr gene
homologs of P. fluorescens were expressed in E. coli (21). Apparently, the aprA gene
encodes a functional protease, which requires the type I machinery
encoded by aprDEF for its secretion.
When plasmid pAG525 (pspB-lipA in pUR6500HE) was
cointroduced with pPC8 carrying aprAID in E. coli, a small halo around the colonies was observed on
tributyrin plates (results not shown). This halo was larger when pPC7
carrying all secretion genes was introduced with pAG525, showing that
the lipA gene encodes an active enzyme which is secreted by
the AprDEF secretion apparatus. The small halo observed in the absence
of the ABC transporter may result from overexpression of the lipase or
from unspecific leakage.
Expression of the serine protease homolog PspB from plasmid PspB in
E. coli did not result in the detection of protease activity on milk plates. Similarly, no protease activity was detected for the
serine protease homologs PspA and PspB of P. fluorescens (21) and Ssp-h1 and Ssp-h2 of
Serratia marcescens (25).
Interestingly, expression of pAG525 in E. coli led to
massive aggregation (Fig. 3), suggesting
that PspB might act as an autoaggregation factor. Moreover, many
proteins belonging to the autotransporter family are involved in
adhesion or autoaggregation, even though several of them possess the
active-site motif of serine proteases (18), and some of
them, for example antigen 43 of E. coli, are subject to
phase variation (17, 26). Such autoaggregation may be
important in the rhizosphere for biofilm formation.
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FIG. 3.
Confocal microscopy observation of E. coli
DH5 without plasmid (a) and with plasmid pAG525 (b) after growth on
LB plates supplemented with 0.5 mM
isopropyl--D-thiogalactoside. Bars: (a) 5.0 µm; (b)
20.0 µm.
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Analysis of promoter activities in the apr-lip gene
cluster.
The introduction of pAG500 into P. brassicacearum phase II cells did not restore protease and lipase
secretion. Hence, the structural genes for either the enzymes or the
ABC transporter or both are not expressed. Promoter activity was
investigated by cloning potential promoter-containing fragments
of pAG500 upstream of a promoterless lacZ reporter gene on
pMP220 (29), yielding pAG520, pAG521, and pAG522
(Fig. 2). Plasmids were transferred from E. coli to P. brassicacearum using the conjugative properties of pRK2013
(13), and -galactosidase activity was measured
(24). In phase I cells, promoter activity was only
detected with the aprA-lacZ fusion on pAG520 (950 Miller
units), strongly suggesting that the aprA-lipA genes
constitute a single operon. In phase II cells, the promoter was not
active (95 Miller units). These results indicate that phase II cells do
not produce extracellular protease and lipase activity because the
aprA-lipA operon is not transcribed in this variant and that
regulation of this operon occurs at the transcriptional level.
Possibly, phase II cells lack an activator, or, alternatively, phase I
cells lack a repressor. Phase variation altering the expression of
protease and lipase genes has previously been observed for the
soil-borne insect-pathogenic species Xenorhabdus
luminescens (6). In that case, the expression of
lipase activity appeared to be controlled at the posttranslational level (31). Therefore, the phase variation-controlled
regulation of lipase expression in X. luminescens is
entirely different from that in P. brassicacearum. The
molecular mechanism of the phase variation in P. brassicacearum and its role in root colonization will be
investigated in the future. The identification of an operon that is
regulated by this mechanism, as described in the present study, will be
a valuable tool for future studies.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
We are grateful to Alain Filloux (CNRS, Marseille) for helpful discussions.
This study was partially funded through the PICS program of CNRS,
France, and a Van Gogh project France-Holland.
| |
FOOTNOTES |
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: DEVM/LEMiR, CEA
Cadarache, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France. Phone: 33 4 42 25 49 61. Fax: 33 4 42 25 66 48. E-mail: wafa.achouak{at}cea.fr.
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Journal of Bacteriology, March 2001, p. 2117-2120, Vol. 183, No. 6
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.6.2117-2120.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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