A putative LysR-type transcriptional regulator inhibits biofilm synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Biofilm formation is an important virulence factor which is controlled by complex regulatory circuits in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this work, a biofilm hyper-producing strain, P2-7, was selected from a collection of transposon insertion mutants in which the PA2121 gene was disrupted. PA2121 was predicted as a putative LysR-type regulator. Analyses showed that it was involved in early biofilm formation, mature biofilm development, and colony morphology. Quantitative measurements revealed that PA2121 repressed biosynthesis of extracellular polysaccharides (alginate, psl and pel). Furthermore, it was observed that PA2121 was self-regulated, highly expressed in the early phase of biofilm development, and subject to the negative regulation by a biofilm synthesis regulator SrpA that binds directly to the PA2121 gene promoter. Collectively, this study proposes that PA2121 is a novel biofilm synthesis repressor (BsrA) in P. aeruginosa.     

QS系统中LasR和RhlR蛋白对铜绿假单胞菌生物被膜形成的影响以及免疫原性研究

为探讨铜绿假单胞菌 PAO1 中 lasR 和 rhlR 基因表达产物的分子生物学特性,研究它们对铜绿假单胞菌生物被膜形成的影响以及对小鼠的免疫保护效果,采用聚合酶链式反应 (PCR) 方法扩增铜绿假单胞菌标准株 PAO1 中的 lasR 和 rhlR 基因,全自动荧光测序仪测序,并用 Blast 方法检测克隆片段. 利用 pGEX4T-1 载体分别构建 lasR/rhlR-pGEX4T-1 重组质粒,在大肠杆菌 BL21(DE3)中诱导表达,并经过免疫印迹实验验证其生物学活性. 用硅胶膜培养法建立生物被膜模型,诱导转入了pGFPuv 质粒的铜绿假单胞菌 PAG0305 形成生物被膜,并测定 LasR 蛋白和 RhlR 蛋白对生物被膜形成的影响. 同时用纯化的重组蛋白免疫小鼠,菌落计数法检测免疫组和对照组鼠肺对铜绿假单胞菌的清除率. 以 PAO1 染色体 DNA 为模板的 PCR 结果显示,lasR 的全基因序列为 720 bp,rhlR 基因序列为 726 bp,经序列分析和同源性比较分别与 GenBank 中 lasR/rhlR 基因(登录号:M59425; AE004768) 的同源性为 100%. 大肠杆菌 BL21 (DE3) 分别转化重组质粒 lasR/rhlR-pGEX4T-1 后,经 IPTG诱导和 SDS- 聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳分析,表达的融合蛋白分子质量均为 54 ku 左右,与预期蛋白质分子质量相同. 荧光显微镜观察和测定结果表明,在硅胶膜上 PAG0305 能够形成典型的发荧光的生物被膜,LasR 或 RhlR 蛋白 (10 mg/L) 存在的情况下,PAG0305 生物被膜的形成速度在前三天比对照组平均提高 40.77%,而且两蛋白单独存在与同时存在时的作用相同. 体内实验中,免疫小鼠肺部对铜绿假单胞菌的清除率显著高于未经免疫的正常组 (P < 0.05). 上述结果表明:构建的lasR/rhlR-pGEX4T-1 重组质粒能够在大肠杆菌 BL21(DE3)中成功地表达并具有生物学活性. LasR/RhlR 蛋白在体外模型中能够加快铜绿假单胞菌生物被膜的形成速度,是调节铜绿假单胞菌生物被膜形成的重要因素之一. 免疫结果表明,重组蛋白对小鼠表现出一定的保护作用,这为进一步开展疫苗研究奠定了基础.     

The transcriptional regulator CzcR modulates antibiotic resistance and quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa responds to zinc, cadmium and cobalt by way of the CzcRS two-component system. In presence of these metals the regulatory protein CzcR induces the expression of the CzcCBA efflux pump, expelling and thereby inducing resistance to Zn, Cd and Co. Importantly, CzcR co-regulates carbapenem antibiotic resistance by repressing the expression of the OprD porin, the route of entry for these antibiotics. This unexpected co-regulation led us to address the role of CzcR in other cellular processes unrelated to the metal response. We found that CzcR affected the expression of numerous genes directly involved in the virulence of P. aeruginosa even in the absence of the inducible metals. Notably the full expression of quorum sensing 3-oxo-C12-HSL and C4-HSL autoinducer molecules is impaired in the absence of CzcR. In agreement with this, the virulence of the czcRS deletion mutant is affected in a C. elegans animal killing assay. Additionally, chromosome immunoprecipitation experiments allowed us to localize CzcR on the promoter of several regulated genes, suggesting a direct control of target genes such as oprD, phzA1 and lasI. All together our data identify CzcR as a novel regulator involved in the control of several key genes for P. aeruginosa virulence processes.     

Functional characterization of the dimerization domain of the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The functional properties of the recombinant C-terminal dimerization domain of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Fur (ferric uptake regulator) protein expressed in and purified from Escherichia coli have been evaluated. Sedimentation velocity measurements demonstrate that this domain is dimeric, and the UV CD spectrum is consistent with a secondary structure similar to that observed for the corresponding region of the crystallographically characterized wild-type protein. The thermal stability of the domain as determined by CD spectroscopy decreases significantly as pH is increased and increases significantly as metal ions are added. Potentiometric titrations (pH 6.5) establish that the domain possesses a high-affinity and a low-affinity binding site for metal ions. The high-affinity (sensory) binding site demonstrates association constants (K(A)) of 10(+/-7)x10(6), 5.7(+/-3)x10(6), 2.0(+/-2)x10(6) and 2.0(+/-3)x10(4) M(-1) for Ni2+, Zn2+, Co2+ and Mn2+ respectively, while the low-affinity (structural) site exhibits association constants of 1.3(+/-2)x10(6), 3.2(+/-2)x10(4), 1.76(+/-1)x10(5) and 1.5(+/-2)x10(3) M(-1) respectively for the same metal ions (pH 6.5, 300 mM NaCl, 25 degrees C). The stability of metal ion binding to the sensory site follows the Irving-Williams order, while metal ion binding to the partial sensory site present in the domain does not. Fluorescence experiments indicate that the quenching resulting from binding of Co2+ is reversed by subsequent titration with Zn2+. We conclude that the domain is a reasonable model for many properties of the full-length protein and is amenable to some analyses that the limited solubility of the full-length protein prevents.     

Quorum‐sensing regulator RhlR but not its autoinducer RhlI enables Pseudomonas to evade opsonization

When Drosophila melanogaster feeds on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, some bacteria cross the intestinal barrier and eventually proliferate in the hemocoel. This process is limited by hemocytes through phagocytosis. P. aeruginosa requires the quorum‐sensing regulator RhlR to elude the cellular immune response of the fly. RhlI synthesizes the autoinducer signal that activates RhlR. Here, we show that rhlI mutants are unexpectedly more virulent than rhlR mutants, both in fly and in nematode intestinal infection models, suggesting that RhlR has RhlI‐independent functions. We also report that RhlR protects P. aeruginosa from opsonization mediated by the Drosophila thioester‐containing protein 4 (Tep4). RhlR mutant bacteria show higher levels of Tep4‐mediated opsonization, as compared to rhlI mutants, which prevents lethal bacteremia in the Drosophila hemocoel. In contrast, in a septic model of infection, in which bacteria are introduced directly into the hemocoel, Tep4 mutant flies are more resistant to wild‐type P. aeruginosa, but not to the rhlR mutant. Thus, depending on the infection route, the Tep4 opsonin can either be protective or detrimental to host defense.