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]