The RssAB two-component signal transduction system in Serratia marcescens regulates swarming motility and cell envelope architecture in response to exogenous saturated fatty acids.

ABSTRACT: Serratia marcescens swarms at 30 degrees C but not at 37 degrees C on a nutrient-rich (LB) agar surface. Mini-Tn5 mutagenesis of S. marcescens CH-1 yielded a mutant (WC100) that swarms not only vigorously at 37 degrees C but also earlier and faster than the parent strain swarms at 30 degrees C. Analysis of this mutant revealed that the transposon was inserted into a gene (rssA) predicted to encode a bacterial two-component signal transduction sensor kinase, upstream of which a potential response regulator gene (rssB) was located. rssA and rssB insertion-deletion mutants were constructed through homologous recombination, and the two mutants exhibited similar swarming phenotypes on LB swarming agar, in which swarming not only occurred at 37 degrees C but also initiated at a lower cell densit

SUBMITTER: Lai HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1112010 | biostudies-literature | 2005 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature