铜绿假单胞菌PA1550基因对泳动及蹭动的影响

【目的】：研究与铜绿假单胞菌运动能力相关的基因。【方法】：以一株临床分离的铜绿假单胞菌PA68做受体菌,应用人工Mu转座技术建立了库容为2000的突变子文库,从中筛选出泳动能力和蹭动能力丧失或减弱的突变子,通过基因克隆、测序,GenBank BLAST比对测序结果,互补基因表达确定与铜绿假单胞菌运动能力相关的基因。【结果】：突变子Y46在丧失了泳动运动能力的同时,蹭动能力也发生了减弱。在Y46突变子中,Mu转座子插入到功能完全未知的基因PA1550中。对极性效应及PA1550所在操纵子的分析表明,Mu转座子对插入点下游的基因的转录并不造成影响。【结论】：PA1550与铜绿假单胞菌的泳动及蹭动能力有关。     

铜绿假单胞菌泳动能力相关新基因的筛选及鉴定

从Mu转座突变子文库中经过表型筛选,得到12株泳动(Swimming motility)能力缺陷的突变子,经Mu转座子插入位点的确认、基因克隆及测序分析发现其中10个突变子中Mu转座子分别插入到10个不同的与鞭毛运动和功能相关的基因中,2个突变子中Mu转座子插入到功能未知的新基因(PA2950和PA5022)中,电镜观察结果表明这2个突变株均具有完整的鞭毛,初步推测这2个基因可能是参与鞭毛泳动的能量代谢、趋化作用或信息传递的新基因。     

铜绿假单胞菌蹭行运动相关基因的研究

应用Mu转座重组技术研究铜绿假单胞菌 (Pseudomonasaeruginosa)蹭行运动 (Twitchingmotility)的相关基因。通过转座突变、表型筛选 ,得到 8个Twitchingmotility缺陷或减弱的突变子。经过基因克隆、核苷酸测序研究 ,鉴定转座子插入到基因组中的位置。结果表明 ,在其中 4个突变子中 ,转座子分别插入到与IV型菌毛生物合成和功能相关的 3个已知基因中 (其中有两个突变子转座子插入到同一基因的不同位置 ) ,它们是pilV ,pilQ ,algR。另外 4个突变子中 ,有 3个是转座子分别插入到基因pilL基因的前端 ,中部和后端 ,均引起Twitchingmotility功能缺失。另一个突变子中 ,转座子插入到基因PA1 82 1中 ,引起Twitchingmotility功能减弱。PilL和PA1 82 1的编码产物均属于 3 类蛋白质 ,它们的功能是根据其保守的氨基酸基序或基因序列与已知功能基因的相似性推测得出的。但缺乏详细的试验证据。研究结果为pilL控制Twichingmotility提供了有力的证据。并证实基因PA1 82 1与Twitchingmotility有关。将Mu转座重组技术应用到假单胞菌的研究中 ,国内外均未见报道。由于该技术具有随机单点插入的优点 ,克服了传统转座子能在染色体上迁移的缺点。保证了表型的改变与转座子插入位点的基因突变的一一对应关系。为进一步研究铜绿假     

铜绿假单胞菌水解弹性蛋白能力相关基因的筛选与鉴定

【目的】研究铜绿假单胞菌弹性蛋白水解能力相关基因。【方法】应用人工Mu转座技术构建铜绿假单胞菌野生型菌株PA68的转座突变文库,从2000多个突变子中筛选得到4株弹性蛋白水解能力改变的突变子,并通过克隆及测序获得转座子插入位点侧翼的序列。将铜绿假单胞菌弹性蛋白酶结构基因lasB的转录启始区序列整合入载体pDN19lacΩ并将该重组质粒电转化入野生型菌株PA68及4个突变株中,对报告基因在不同菌株中的表达水平进行测定。【结果】发现4个突变株中Mu转座子分别插入lasA、galU、xcpZ和ptsP 4个基因。ptsP基因失活的突变株中,lasB基因的转录水平是野生型菌株的7%,xcpZ和lasA基因的失活使lasB基因的转录水平分别降低为野生株的54%和75%,galU基因的插入失活使lasB基因的转录上升了1倍。【结论】推测ptsP和galU基因很可能直接或间接地调控着弹性蛋白酶的生物合成。     

铜绿假单胞菌多重耐药基因的筛选及鉴定

[目的]研究铜绿假单胞菌中与耐药性相关的基因.[方法]筛选转座突变体文库中对多种抗菌药物敏感的突变体,通过随机PCR、核苷酸测序及序列比对确定突变体中转座子的插入位点及其破坏的基因.[结果]筛选得到2株对多种抗菌药物敏感的突变体,其中被破坏的基因分别为功能未知的新基因PA2580和PA2800.[结论]PA2580和PA2800可能分别通过参与细胞氧化还原作用和细胞壁合成进而与铜绿假单胞菌耐药性相关.     

铜绿假单胞菌色素代谢相关基因的研究北大核心

首次应用Mu转座重组技术研究铜绿假单胞菌色素合成与调控的机制。通过一系列的表型筛选 ,得到 8株色素合成能力改变的突变子。经基因克隆、核苷酸测序研究 ,证明转座子分别插入到hmgA、ptsP、sucC、phzS、phzF1五个基因中。hmgA基因转座失活导致酪氨酸分解代谢中间产物尿黑酸的积累 ,后四种情况转座突变显著地影响了铜绿假单胞菌最重要的色素 绿脓素 (pyocyanin)的合成 ,其中PhzS和phzF1是绿脓素合成过程中的结构基因 ,ptsP基因是 1个磷酸转移酶系统的重要组分 ,sucC基因的产物是三羧酸循环中的琥珀酰辅酶A合成酶 。     

铜绿假单胞菌PAO1中c-di-GMP代谢相关基因PA0575对表型的影响

【背景】铜绿假单胞菌PAO1中存在与环鸟苷二磷酸(cyclic-di-guanosine monophosphate,c-di-GMP)代谢相关基因PA0575。【目的】探讨铜绿假单胞菌PAO1中环鸟苷二磷酸代谢相关基因PA0575对运动能力及生物膜的影响。【方法】通过PCR对菌株遗传背景进行确认;利用刚果红结合实验及电转PcdrA-gfp质粒间接测量胞内c-di-GMP水平;利用泳动性(swimming)、蜂群泳动(swarming)、蹭行运动(twiching)和生物膜定量实验对细菌进行表型分析,并在运动培养基中添加抗生素研究其对运动能力的影响;针对PA0575基因进行融合蛋白表达载体的构建,并对蛋白进行原核诱导表达。【结果】3株突变体菌株的转座子插入突变位点不一致,胞内c-di-GMP水平检测结果显示,PA0575-1菌株的c-di-GMP含量高于野生型PAO1菌株(P0.05),PA0575-2、PA0575-3菌株胞内c-di-GMP水平与野生型PAO1菌株无差异(P0.05)。运动能力检测实验中,与野生型PAO1菌株相比,PA0575-1菌株泳动性增强(P0.05);PA0575-2、PA0575-3菌株的泳动性、蜂群运动均增强(P0.05);该基因不同位点的突变均导致氯霉素对菌株的运动能力产生抑制作用。生物膜定量结果显示,与野生型PAO1菌株相比,细菌培养18 h后PA0575-1的生物膜含量降低(P0.05),PA0575-2、PA0575-3菌株的生物膜含量升高。最后成功构建了PA0575基因不同结构域的8个表达载体,并获得了异源表达蛋白。【结论】PA0575基因降低铜绿假单胞菌胞内c-di-GMP的水平,影响表型的同时也抑制了氯霉素抗性基因的表达。以上研究为PA0575基因对表型的影响奠定了基础。     

铜绿假单胞菌色素代谢相关基因的研究

首次应用Mu转座重组技术研究铜绿假单胞菌色素合成与调控的机制。通过一系列的表型筛选,得到8株色素合成能力改变的突变子。经基因克隆、核苷酸测序研究,证明转座子分别插入到hmgA、ptsP、sucC、phzS、phzF1五个基因中。hmgA基因转座失活导致酪氨酸分解代谢中间产物尿黑酸的积累,后四种情况转座突变显著地影响了铜绿假单胞菌最重要的色素绿脓素（pyocyanin）的合成,其中PhzS和phzF1是绿脓素合成过程中的结构基因,ptsP基因是1个磷酸转移酶系统的重要组分,sucC基因的产物是三羧酸循环中的琥珀酰辅酶A合成酶,对后两个基因在色素合成的调控方面可能起到重要作用的报道尚属首例。     

铜绿假单胞菌PAO1中c-di-GMP代谢相关基因PA2072的生物学分析

【背景】铜绿假单胞菌为革兰氏阴性杆菌,是医院感染的常见条件致病菌之一。广泛存在于细菌中的第二信使分子环鸟苷二磷酸(cyclic-di-guanosine monophosphate,c-di-GMP)对细菌生理生化功能具有重要的调节作用。铜绿假单胞菌PAO1中存在参与c-di-GMP代谢的基因PA2072。【目的】探讨铜绿假单胞菌PAO1中c-di-GMP代谢相关基因PA2072的生物学功能。【方法】运用PCR及分子克隆技术构建PA2072基因及各结构域的自杀载体,运用基因敲除方法获取PA2072基因的3个突变株;利用泳动性(swimming)、蜂群运动(swarming)、蹭行运动(twitching)和生物膜定量实验对细菌进行初步的表型分析,进一步通过刚果红染色法对菌株进行分析。【结果】成功构建PA2072基因敲除突变菌株及回补菌株;生物膜定量结果发现基因PA2072的敲除会影响细菌生物膜的形成,PA2072蛋白的不同结构域对生物膜的合成也起到了重要作用;细菌运动能力检测中发现PA2072相关基因的敲除对细菌运动能力也有一定影响。刚果红平板检测结果显示,与野生型PAO1菌株相比,P...     

铜绿假单胞菌新基因PA0058插入失活对氨基糖苷类抗生素耐药性的影响

【目的】铜绿假单胞菌是一种重要的条件致病菌,临床上常引起难治性和顽固性感染,随着各种抗生素的广泛使用,该菌对多种抗生素呈现耐药性,研究其耐药性机理有着重要意义。【方法】以一株临床分离株Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA68作为出发菌株,应用人工Mu转座技术构建突变文库并从中筛选得到一株对链霉素抗性明显增强的菌株M122,并对突变株M122进行测序分析及表型检测。通过Southern杂交实验证实转座子是否为单拷贝插入,对突变株M122的基因表达谱与野生型PA68菌株进行对比分析。【结果】确定了Mu转座子在M122基因组上为单拷贝插入,插入位点为基因PA0058的第214 bp处。对M122进行表型检测,发现其对多种氨基糖苷类抗生素的耐药性均得到增强,通过转入携带完整基因PA0058的表达质粒可以使突变株M122的耐药性有所降低,利用同源重组的方法,在模式菌株P.aeruginosa PAK中进行PA0058基因敲除,得到的敲除株具有链霉素耐药性升高的表型。基因PA0058的缺失引起多种基因表达水平改变,尤其是katB、ahpC、ahpF等抗氧化酶基因转录表达显著增高。【结论】首次发现铜绿假单胞菌PA0058基因的插入失活提高了细菌对氨基糖苷类抗生素的耐药性,且导致突变株M122中抗氧化酶基因转录表达水平的上调。     

Identification of a new gene PA5017 involved in flagella-mediated motility, chemotaxis and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Flagella-mediated motility is recognized as one of the major factors contributing to virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. During a screening of a mini-Mu transposon mutant library of P. aeruginosa PA68, a mutant partially deficient in swimming and swarming motility was identified in a new locus that encodes a predicted protein of unknown function annotated PA5017 in the P. aeruginosa PAO1 genome sequence. Chemotaxis plate assay indicated that inactivation of the PA5017 gene led to a decreased chemotactic response. Complementation of the PA5017 mutant with the wild-type PA5017 gene restored normal motility and chemotaxis phenotype. A promoter-lacZ reporter activity assay of the cheYZAB operon from chemotaxis gene cluster 1 showed that there was almost a twofold difference in expression levels of the wild-type PA68 and the PA5017 mutant. This suggested that the PA5017 affected expression of the cheYZAB operon negatively. Further study showed that inactivation of the PA5017 gene in PA68 led to increased biofilm formation in a static system and to the formation of a heterogeneous biofilm in a flow-chamber system. These results suggested that PA5017 possibly affected flagellum-dependent motility and in turn biofilm formation via the chemotaxis signal transduction pathway.     

Type IV pilus genes pilA and pilC of Pseudomonas stutzeri are required for natural genetic transformation, and pilA can be replaced by corresponding genes from nontransformable species

Pseudomonas stutzeri lives in terrestrial and aquatic habitats and is capable of natural genetic transformation. After transposon mutagenesis, transformation-deficient mutants were isolated from a P. stutzeri JM300 strain. In one of them a gene which coded for a protein with 75% amino acid sequence identity to PilC of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an accessory protein for type IV pilus biogenesis, was inactivated. The presence of type IV pili was demonstrated by susceptibility to the type IV pilus-dependent phage PO4, by occurrence of twitching motility, and by electron microscopy. The pilC mutant had no pili and was defective in twitching motility. Further sequencing revealed that pilC is clustered in an operon with genes homologous to pilB and pilD of P. aeruginosa, which are also involved in pilus formation. Next to these genes but transcribed in the opposite orientation a pilA gene encoding a protein with high amino acid sequence identity to pilin, the structural component of type IV pili, was identified. Insertional inactivation of pilA abolished pilus formation, PO4 plating, twitching motility, and natural transformation. The amounts of (3)H-labeled P. stutzeri DNA that were bound to competent parental cells and taken up were strongly reduced in the pilC and pilA mutants. Remarkably, the cloned pilA genes from nontransformable organisms like Dichelobacter nodosus and the PAK and PAO strains of P. aeruginosa fully restored pilus formation and transformability of the P. stutzeri pilA mutant (along with PO4 plating and twitching motility). It is concluded that the type IV pili of the soil bacterium P. stutzeri function in DNA uptake for transformation and that their role in this process is not confined to the species-specific pilin.     

Inhibition of swarming motility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by branched-chain fatty acids.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is capable of moving by swimming, swarming, and twitching motilities. In this study, we investigated the effects of fatty acids on Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 motilities. A branched-chain fatty acid (BCFA)--12-methyltetradecanoic acid (anteiso-C15:0)--has slightly repressed flagella-driven swimming motility and completely inhibited a more complex type of surface motility, i.e. swarming, at a concentration of 10 microg mL(-1). In contrast, anteiso-C15:0 exhibited no effect on pili-mediated twitching motility. Other BCFAs and unsaturated fatty acids tested in this study showed similar inhibitory effects on swarming motility, although the level of inhibition differed between these fatty acids. These fatty acids caused no significant growth inhibition in liquid cultures. Straight-chain saturated fatty acids such as palmitic acid were less effective in swarming inhibition. The wetness of the PAO1 colony was significantly reduced by the addition of anteiso-C15:0; however, the production of rhamnolipids as a surface-active agent was not affected by the fatty acid. In addition to motility repression, anteiso-C15:0 caused 31% repression of biofilm formation by PAO1, suggesting that BCFA could affect the multiple cellular activities of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.     

Identification of genes involved in swarming motility using a Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 mini-Tn5-lux mutant library

During a screening of a mini-Tn5-luxCDABE transposon mutant library of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 for alterations in swarming motility, 36 mutants were identified with Tn5 insertions in genes for the synthesis or function of flagellin and type IV pilus, in genes for the Xcp-related type II secretion system, and in regulatory, metabolic, chemosensory, and hypothetical genes with unknown functions. These mutants were differentially affected in swimming and twitching motility but in most cases had only a minor additional motility defect. Our data provide evidence that swarming is a more complex type of motility, since it is influenced by a large number of different genes in P. aeruginosa. Conversely, many of the swarming-negative mutants also showed an impairment in biofilm formation, indicating a strong relationship between these types of growth states.     

Swarming of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a complex adaptation leading to increased production of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance

In addition to exhibiting swimming and twitching motility, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is able to swarm on semisolid (viscous) surfaces. Recent studies have indicated that swarming is a more complex type of motility influenced by a large number of different genes. To investigate the adaptation process involved in swarming motility, gene expression profiles were analyzed by performing microarrays on bacteria from the leading edge of a swarm zone compared to bacteria growing in identical medium under swimming conditions. Major shifts in gene expression patterns were observed under swarming conditions, including, among others, the overexpression of a large number of virulence-related genes such as those encoding the type III secretion system and its effectors, those encoding extracellular proteases, and those associated with iron transport. In addition, swarming cells exhibited adaptive antibiotic resistance against polymyxin B, gentamicin, and ciprofloxacin compared to what was seen for their planktonic (swimming) counterparts. By analyzing a large subset of up-regulated genes, we were able to show that two virulence genes, lasB and pvdQ, were required for swarming motility. These results clearly favored the conclusion that swarming of P. aeruginosa is a complex adaptation process in response to a viscous environment resulting in a substantial change in virulence gene expression and antibiotic resistance.