This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
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 Kojic, M.
Right arrow Articles by Venturi, V.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kojic, M.
Right arrow Articles by Venturi, V.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2001, p. 3712-3720, Vol. 183, No. 12
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.12.3712-3720.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Regulation of rpoS Gene Expression in Pseudomonas: Involvement of a TetR Family Regulator

Milan Kojic and Vittorio Venturi*

Bacteriology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 34012 Trieste, Italy

Received 5 September 2000/Accepted 20 March 2001

The rpoS gene encodes the sigma factor which was identified in several gram-negative bacteria as a central regulator during stationary phase. rpoS gene regulation is known to respond to cell density, showing higher expression in stationary phase. For Pseudomonas aeruginosa, it has been demonstrated that the cell-density-dependent regulation response known as quorum sensing interacts with this regulatory response. Using the rpoS promoter of P. putida, we identified a genomic Tn5 insertion mutant of P. putida which showed a 90% decrease in rpoS promoter activity, resulting in less RpoS being present in a cell at stationary phase. Molecular analysis revealed that this mutant carried a Tn5 insertion in a gene, designated psrA (Pseudomonas sigma regulator), which codes for a protein (PsrA) of 26.3 kDa. PsrA contains a helix-turn-helix motif typical of DNA binding proteins and belongs to the TetR family of bacterial regulators. The homolog of the psrA gene was identified in P. aeruginosa; the protein showed 90% identity to PsrA of P. putida. A psrA::Tn5 insertion mutant of P. aeruginosa was constructed. In both Pseudomonas species, psrA was genetically linked to the SOS lexA repressor gene. Similar to what was observed for P. putida, a psrA null mutant of P. aeruginosa also showed a 90% reduction in rpoS promoter activity; both mutants could be complemented for rpoS promoter activity when the psrA gene was provided in trans. psrA mutants of both Pseudomonas species lost the ability to induce rpoS expression at stationary phase, but they retained the ability to produce quorum-sensing autoinducer molecules. PsrA was demonstrated to negatively regulate psrA gene expression in Pseudomonas and in Escherichia coli as well as to be capable of activating the rpoS promoter in E. coli. Our data suggest that PsrA is an important regulatory protein of Pseudomonas spp. involved in the regulatory cascade controlling rpoS gene regulation in response to cell density.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Bacteriology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Area Science Park, Padriciano 99, 34012 Trieste, Italy. Phone: 040 3757317. Fax: 040 226555. E-mail: venturi{at}icgeb.trieste.it.


Journal of Bacteriology, June 2001, p. 3712-3720, Vol. 183, No. 12
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.12.3712-3720.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kazakov, A. E., Rodionov, D. A., Alm, E., Arkin, A. P., Dubchak, I., Gelfand, M. S. (2009). Comparative Genomics of Regulation of Fatty Acid and Branched-Chain Amino Acid Utilization in Proteobacteria. J. Bacteriol. 191: 52-64 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gooderham, W. J., Bains, M., McPhee, J. B., Wiegand, I., Hancock, R. E. W. (2008). Induction by Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides and Involvement in Intrinsic Polymyxin and Antimicrobial Peptide Resistance, Biofilm Formation, and Swarming Motility of PsrA in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Bacteriol. 190: 5624-5634 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Johnson, D. R., Brodie, E. L., Hubbard, A. E., Andersen, G. L., Zinder, S. H., Alvarez-Cohen, L. (2008). Temporal Transcriptomic Microarray Analysis of "Dehalococcoides ethenogenes" Strain 195 during the Transition into Stationary Phase. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 2864-2872 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chatterjee, A., Cui, Y., Hasegawa, H., Chatterjee, A. K. (2007). PsrA, the Pseudomonas Sigma Regulator, Controls Regulators of Epiphytic Fitness, Quorum-Sensing Signals, and Plant Interactions in Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato Strain DC3000. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 3684-3694 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Shen, D. K., Filopon, D., Kuhn, L., Polack, B., Toussaint, B. (2006). PsrA Is a Positive Transcriptional Regulator of the Type III Secretion System in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Infect. Immun. 74: 1121-1129 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Girard, G., van Rij, E. T., Lugtenberg, B. J. J., Bloemberg, G. V. (2006). Regulatory roles of psrA and rpoS in phenazine-1-carboxamide synthesis by Pseudomonas chlororaphis PCL1391. Microbiology 152: 43-58 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kazmierczak, M. J., Wiedmann, M., Boor, K. J. (2005). Alternative Sigma Factors and Their Roles in Bacterial Virulence. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 69: 527-543 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Preiter, K., Brooks, D. M., Penaloza-Vazquez, A., Sreedharan, A., Bender, C. L., Kunkel, B. N. (2005). Novel Virulence Gene of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato Strain DC3000. J. Bacteriol. 187: 7805-7814 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ramos, J. L., Martinez-Bueno, M., Molina-Henares, A. J., Teran, W., Watanabe, K., Zhang, X., Gallegos, M. T., Brennan, R., Tobes, R. (2005). The TetR Family of Transcriptional Repressors. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 69: 326-356 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pysz, M. A., Conners, S. B., Montero, C. I., Shockley, K. R., Johnson, M. R., Ward, D. E., Kelly, R. M. (2004). Transcriptional Analysis of Biofilm Formation Processes in the Anaerobic, Hyperthermophilic Bacterium Thermotoga maritima. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 6098-6112 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Erickson, D. L., Lines, J. L., Pesci, E. C., Venturi, V., Storey, D. G. (2004). Pseudomonas aeruginosa relA Contributes to Virulence in Drosophila melanogaster. Infect. Immun. 72: 5638-5645 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bertani, I., Venturi, V. (2004). Regulation of the N-Acyl Homoserine Lactone-Dependent Quorum-Sensing System in Rhizosphere Pseudomonas putida WCS358 and Cross-Talk with the Stationary-Phase RpoS Sigma Factor and the Global Regulator GacA. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 5493-5502 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sevo, M., Buratti, E., Venturi, V. (2004). Ribosomal Protein S1 Specifically Binds to the 5' Untranslated Region of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Stationary-Phase Sigma Factor rpoS mRNA in the Logarithmic Phase of Growth. J. Bacteriol. 186: 4903-4909 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Aguilar, C., Bertani, I., Venturi, V. (2003). Quorum-Sensing System and Stationary-Phase Sigma Factor (rpoS) of the Onion Pathogen Burkholderia cepacia Genomovar I Type Strain, ATCC 25416. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 1739-1747 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • D'Argenio, D. A., Calfee, M. W., Rainey, P. B., Pesci, E. C. (2002). Autolysis and Autoaggregation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Colony Morphology Mutants. J. Bacteriol. 184: 6481-6489 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hengge-Aronis, R. (2002). Signal Transduction and Regulatory Mechanisms Involved in Control of the {sigma}S (RpoS) Subunit of RNA Polymerase. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 66: 373-395 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Diggle, S. P., Winzer, K., Lazdunski, A., Williams, P., Camara, M. (2002). Advancing the Quorum in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: MvaT and the Regulation of N-Acylhomoserine Lactone Production and Virulence Gene Expression. J. Bacteriol. 184: 2576-2586 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kojic, M., Aguilar, C., Venturi, V. (2002). TetR Family Member PsrA Directly Binds the Pseudomonas rpoS and psrA Promoters. J. Bacteriol. 184: 2324-2330 [Abstract] [Full Text]