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Journal of Bacteriology, November 2004, p. 7221-7228, Vol. 186, No. 21
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.21.7221-7228.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

MorA Defines a New Class of Regulators Affecting Flagellar Development and Biofilm Formation in Diverse Pseudomonas Species

Weng-Keong Choy,1 Lian Zhou,2 Chris Kiu-Choong Syn,3 Lian-Hui Zhang,2 and Sanjay Swarup1*

Department of Biological Sciences,1 Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, National University of Singapore,2 Centre for Forensic Science, Health Sciences Authority, Singapore3

Received 9 June 2004/ Accepted 6 August 2004

Assembly of bacterial flagella is developmentally important during both planktonic cell growth and biofilm formation. Flagellar biogenesis is complex, requiring coordinated expression of over 40 genes, and normally commences during the log-to-stationary transition phase. We describe here a novel membrane-localized regulator, MorA, that controls the timing of flagellar development and affects motility, chemotaxis, and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas putida. MorA is conserved among diverse Pseudomonas species, and homologues are present in all Pseudomonas genomes sequenced thus far. In P. putida, the absence of MorA derepresses flagellar development, which leads to constitutive formation of flagella in the mutant cells in all growth phases. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the absence of MorA led to a reduction in biofilm formation. However, unlike the motility of P. putida, the motility of the P. aeruginosa mutants was unaffected. Our data illustrate a novel developmentally regulated sensory and signaling pathway for several properties required for virulence and ecological fitness of Pseudomonas species.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 10 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543. Phone: (65) 6874 7933. Fax: (65) 6779 2486. E-mail: dbsss{at}nus.edu.sg.

Journal of Bacteriology, November 2004, p. 7221-7228, Vol. 186, No. 21
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.21.7221-7228.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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