Previous Article | Next Article 
Journal of Bacteriology, June 2007, p. 4449-4455, Vol. 189, No. 12
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.00162-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Membrane-Bound Nitrate Reductase Is Required for Anaerobic Growth in Cystic Fibrosis Sputum
,
Kelli L. Palmer,
Stacie A. Brown, and
Marvin Whiteley*
Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
Received 31 January 2007/
Accepted 22 March 2007
The autosomal recessive disorder cystic fibrosis (CF) affects approximately 70,000 people worldwide and is characterized by chronic bacterial lung infections with the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To form a chronic CF lung infection, P. aeruginosa must grow and proliferate within the CF lung, and the highly viscous sputum within the CF lung provides a likely growth substrate. Recent evidence indicates that anaerobic microenvironments may be present in the CF lung sputum layer. Since anaerobic growth significantly enhances P. aeruginosa biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance, it is important to examine P. aeruginosa physiology and metabolism in anaerobic environments. Measurement of nitrate levels revealed that CF sputum contains sufficient nitrate to support significant P. aeruginosa growth anaerobically, and mutational analysis revealed that the membrane-bound nitrate reductase is essential for P. aeruginosa anaerobic growth in an in vitro CF sputum medium. In addition, expression of genes coding for the membrane-bound nitrate reductase complex is responsive to CF sputum nitrate levels. These findings suggest that the membrane-bound nitrate reductase is critical for P. aeruginosa anaerobic growth with nitrate in the CF lung.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712. Phone: (512) 471-5493. Fax: (512) 471-7088. E-mail:
mwhiteley{at}mail.utexas.edu
Published ahead of print on 30 March 2007.
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.
Journal of Bacteriology, June 2007, p. 4449-4455, Vol. 189, No. 12
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.00162-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Damron, F. H., Qiu, D., Yu, H. D.
(2009). The Pseudomonas aeruginosa Sensor Kinase KinB Negatively Controls Alginate Production through AlgW-Dependent MucA Proteolysis. J. Bacteriol.
191: 2285-2295
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Mikkelsen, H., Bond, N. J., Skindersoe, M. E., Givskov, M., Lilley, K. S., Welch, M.
(2009). Biofilms and type III secretion are not mutually exclusive in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Microbiology
155: 687-698
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Toyofuku, M., Nomura, N., Kuno, E., Tashiro, Y., Nakajima, T., Uchiyama, H.
(2008). Influence of the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal on Denitrification in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Bacteriol.
190: 7947-7956
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Tai, A., Ranganath, S.
(2008). Anaerobic Bacterial Infection in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.
178: 994-994
[Full Text]
-
Boes, N., Schreiber, K., Schobert, M.
(2008). SpoT-Triggered Stringent Response Controls usp Gene Expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Bacteriol.
190: 7189-7199
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Benkert, B., Quack, N., Schreiber, K., Jaensch, L., Jahn, D., Schobert, M.
(2008). Nitrate-responsive NarX-NarL represses arginine-mediated induction of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa arginine fermentation arcDABC operon. Microbiology
154: 3053-3060
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Harrison, J. J., Turner, R. J., Joo, D. A., Stan, M. A., Chan, C. S., Allan, N. D., Vrionis, H. A., Olson, M. E., Ceri, H.
(2008). Copper and Quaternary Ammonium Cations Exert Synergistic Bactericidal and Antibiofilm Activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.
52: 2870-2881
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Platt, M. D., Schurr, M. J., Sauer, K., Vazquez, G., Kukavica-Ibrulj, I., Potvin, E., Levesque, R. C., Fedynak, A., Brinkman, F. S. L., Schurr, J., Hwang, S.-H., Lau, G. W., Limbach, P. A., Rowe, J. J., Lieberman, M. A., Barraud, N., Webb, J., Kjelleberg, S., Hunt, D. F., Hassett, D. J.
(2008). Proteomic, Microarray, and Signature-Tagged Mutagenesis Analyses of Anaerobic Pseudomonas aeruginosa at pH 6.5, Likely Representing Chronic, Late-Stage Cystic Fibrosis Airway Conditions. J. Bacteriol.
190: 2739-2758
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Noriega, C. E., Sharma, V., Rowe, J. J.
(2007). Artificial Control of Nitrate Respiration through the lac Promoter Permits the Assessment of Oxygen-Mediated Posttranslational Regulation of the nar Operon in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Bacteriol.
189: 6501-6505
[Abstract]
[Full Text]