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Analysis of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa regulon controlled by the sensor kinase KinB and sigma factor RpoN

ABSTRACT: Alginate overproduction by P. aeruginosa, also known as mucoidy is associated with chronic endobronchial infections in cystic fibrosis (CF). Alginate biosynthesis in this bacterium is initiated by the extracytoplasmic function sigma factor (σ22, AlgU/T). In the wild type (wt) nonmucoid strains, such as PAO1, AlgU is sequestered by the anti-sigma factor MucA that inhibits alginate production. However, the degradation of MucA by activated intramembrane proteases AlgW and/or MucP can lead to the conversion from nonmucoid strains to mucoid. Previously we reported that the absence of the sensor kinase KinB in PAO1 causes the initiation of AlgW-dependent proteolysis of MucA resulting in alginate overproduction. In the kinB mutant this activation requires alternate sigma factor RpoN (σ54). To determine the RpoN-dependent KinB regulon, microarray and proteomic analyses were performed on a mucoid kinB mutant and an isogenic nonmucoid kinB rpoN double mutant. In the kinB mutant, RpoN controlled the expression of approximately 20% of the genome. Besides alginate biosynthesis and regulator genes such as AlgW, KinB, in concert with RpoN, also control a large number of genes including: those involved in carbohydrate metabolism, quorum sensing, iron regulation, rhamnolipid production, and motility. In an acute pneumonia murine infection model, mice exhibited better survival when challenged with the kinB mutant than wt PAO1. Together, these data strongly suggest that KinB controls virulence factors important for acute pneumonia and conversion to mucoidy.

ORGANISM(S): Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

PROVIDER: GSE35248 | GEO | 2012/03/01

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA152815

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that can adapt to changing environments and can secrete an exopolysaccharide known as alginate as a protection response resulting in a colony morphology and phenotype referred to as mucoid. However how P. aeruginosa senses its environment and activates alginate overproduction is not fully understood. Previously, we showed that Pseudomonas isolation agar (PIA) supplemented with ammonium metavanadate (PIAAMV) induces P. aeruginosa to overproduce alginate. Vanadate is a phosphate mimic and causes protein misfolding by disruption of disulfide bonds. Here we used PIAAMV to characterize the pathways involved in inducible alginate production and tested the global effects of P. aeruginosa growth on PIAAMV by a mutant library screen, transcriptomics, and in a murine acute virulence model. The PA14 non-redundant mutant library was screened on PIAAMV to identify new genes that are required for the inducible alginate stress response. A functionally diverse set of genes encoding products involved in cell envelope biogenesis, peptidoglycan, uptake of phosphate and iron, phenazines biosynthesis, and other processes were identified as positive regulators of the mucoid phenotype on PIAAMV. Transcriptome analysis of P. aeruginosa growing in the presence of vanadate caused differential expression of genes involved in virulence, envelope biogenesis, and cell stress pathways. In this study, it was observed that growth on PIAAMV attenuates P. aeruginosa in a mouse pneumonia model. Induction of alginate overproduction occurs as a stress response to protect P. aeruginosa but it may be possible to modulate and inhibit these pathways based on the new genes identified in this study. Strain PAO1 was cultured on both PIA and PIAAMV for 18 hr. Three separate plates were used for each media. The cells from each plate were scraped into 4 ml of RNA Protect (Qiagen) and stored immediately at -80°C. Cells were treated with RNAprotect (Qiagen) and total RNA was extracted using an RNeasy mini purification kit (Qiagen) per the manufacturer’s instructions. RNA quality and the presence of residual DNA were checked on an Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100 electrophoretic system pre- and post-DNase treatment. Ten micrograms of total RNA was used for cDNA synthesis, fragmentation, and labeling according to the Affymetrix GeneChip P. aeruginosa genome array expression analysis protocol. RNA isolation, cDNA preparation, labeling and microarray analysis were performed as previously described in reference: Damron, F. H., J. P. Owings, Y. Okkotsu, J. J. Varga, J. R. Schurr, J. B. Goldberg, M. J. Schurr, and H. D. Yu. 2012. Analysis of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Regulon Controlled by the Sensor Kinase KinB and Sigma Factor RpoN. J Bacteriol 194:1317-30.

Project description:The plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae B728a grows and survives on leaf surfaces and in the leaf apoplast of its host, bean. Global transcriptome profiling was used to understand the contribution of distinct regulators to B728a fitness and pathogenicity. We performed a transcriptome analysis of B728a and nine regulator mutants recovered from the surface and interior of leaves and exposed to various environmental stresses in culture. These mutants were nonpolar deletion mutants lacking a single target regulator gene: ahlR, aefR, gacS, retS, salA, rpoS, algU, hrpL and rpoN. RNA was collected from cells of these strains that were exposed to five treatments in vitro, namely a basal medium, sodium chloride to confer an osmotic stress, hydrogen peroxide to confer an oxidative stress, iron limitation, and nitrogen limitation, and were recovered from two bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) leaf sites, namely epiphytic sites after leaf surface inoculation and 72 h of growth and apoplastic sites after leaf infiltration and 48 h of growth. The results indicated that the quorum-sensing regulators AhlR and AefR influenced few genes in planta or in vitro. In contrast, GacS and a downstream regulator SalA formed a large regulatory network that included a branch that regulated diverse traits and was independent of plant-specific environmental signals, and a signal-dependent branch that positively regulated secondary metabolite genes and negatively regulated the type III secretion system. RetS functioned almost exclusively to repress secondary metabolite genes in cells in culture but not on leaves. SalA functioned as a central regulator of iron status, based on its reciprocal regulation of pyoverdine and achromobactin genes, and also sulfur uptake, suggesting a role in the iron-sulfur balance. Among the sigma factors examined, AlgU influenced many more genes than RpoS, and most AlgU-regulated genes depended on RpoN. RpoN differentially impacted many AlgU- and GacS-activated genes in cells recovered from apoplastic versus epiphytic sites, suggesting differences in environmental signals or bacterial stress status in these two habitats. Collectively, our findings illustrate a central role for GacS, SalA, RpoN and AlgU in global regulation in B728a in planta and a high level of plasticity in their response to distinct environmental signals.

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Analysis of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa regulon controlled by the sensor kinase KinB and sigma factor RpoN

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