The crystal structure of the pyoverdine outer membrane receptor FpvA from Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 3.6 angstroms resolution

The pyoverdine outer membrane receptor FpvA from Pseudomonas aeruginosa translocates ferric-pyoverdine across the outer membrane via an energy consuming mechanism that involves the inner membrane energy transducing complex of TonB-ExbB-ExbD and the proton motive force. We solved the crystal structure of FpvA loaded with iron-free pyoverdine at 3.6 angstroms resolution. The pyoverdine receptor is folded in two domains: a transmembrane 22-stranded beta-barrel domain occluded by an N-terminal domain containing a mixed four-stranded beta-sheet (the plug). The beta-strands of the barrel are connected by long extracellular loops and short periplasmic turns. The iron-free pyoverdine is bound at the surface of the receptor in a pocket lined with aromatic residues while the extracellular loops do not completely cover the pyoverdine binding site. The TonB box, which is involved in intermolecular contacts with the TonB protein of the inner membrane, is observed in an extended conformation. Comparison of this first reported structure of an iron-siderophore transporter from a bacterium other than Escherichia coli with the known structures of the E.coli TonB-dependent transporters reveals a high structural homology and suggests that a common sensing mechanism exists for the iron-loading status in all bacterial iron siderophore transporters.     

PchR-box recognition by the AraC-type regulator PchR of Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires the siderophore pyochelin as an effector

Under iron limitation, the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces the siderophore pyochelin. When secreted into the extracellular environment, pyochelin complexes ferric ions and delivers them, via the outer membrane receptor FptA, to the bacterial cytoplasm. Extracellular pyochelin also acts as a signalling molecule, inducing the expression of pyochelin biosynthesis and uptake genes by a mechanism involving the AraC-type regulator PchR. We have identified a 32 bp conserved sequence element (PchR-box) in promoter regions of pyochelin-controlled genes and we show that the PchR-box in the pchR-pchDCBA intergenic region is essential for the induction of the pyochelin biosynthetic operon pchDCBA and the repression of the divergently transcribed pchR gene. PchR was purified as a fusion with maltose-binding protein (MBP). Mobility shift assays demonstrated specific binding of MBP-PchR to the PchR-box in the presence, but not in the absence of pyochelin and iron. PchR-box mutations that interfered with pyochelin-dependent regulation in vivo, also affected pyochelin-dependent PchR-box recognition in vitro. We conclude that pyochelin, probably in its iron-loaded state, is the intracellular effector required for PchR-mediated regulation. The fact that extracellular pyochelin triggers this regulation suggests that the siderophore can enter the cytoplasm.     

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa pirA gene encodes a second receptor for ferrienterobactin and synthetic catecholate analogues

Actively secreted iron chelating agents termed siderophores play an important role in the virulence and rhizosphere competence of fluorescent pseudomonads, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa which secretes a high affinity siderophore, pyoverdine, and the low affinity siderophore, pyochelin. Uptake of the iron-siderophore complexes is an active process that requires specific outer membrane located receptors, which are dependent of the inner membrane-associated protein TonB and two other inner membrane proteins, ExbB and ExbC. P. aeruginosa is also capable of using a remarkable variety of heterologous siderophores as sources of iron, apparently by expressing their cognate receptors. Illustrative of this feature are the 32 (of which 28 putative) siderophore receptor genes observed in the P. aeruginosa PAO1 genome. However, except for a few (pyoverdine, pyochelin, enterobactin), the vast majority of P. aeruginosa siderophore receptor genes still remain to be characterized. Ten synthetic iron chelators of catecholate type stimulated growth of a pyoverdine/pyochelin deficient P. aeruginosa PAO1 mutant under condition of severe iron limitation. Null mutants of the 32 putative TonB-dependent siderophore receptor encoding genes engineered in the same genetic background were screened for obvious deficiencies in uptake of the synthetic siderophores, but none showed decreased growth stimulation in the presence of the different siderophores. However, a double knock-out mutant of ferrienterobactin receptor encoding gene pfeA (PA 2688) and pirA (PA0931) failed to be stimulated by 4 of the tested synthetic catecholate siderophores whose chemical structures resemble enterobactin. Ferric-enterobactin also failed to stimulate growth of the double pfeA-pirA mutant although, like its synthetic analogues, it stimulated growth of the corresponding single mutants. Hence, we confirmed that pirA represents a second P. aeruginosa ferric-enterobactin receptor. The example of these two enterobactin receptors probably illustrates a more general phenomenon of siderophore receptor redundancy in P. aeruginosa.     

Identification of rhtX and fptX, novel genes encoding proteins that show homology and function in the utilization of the siderophores rhizobactin 1021 by Sinorhizobium meliloti and pyochelin by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively

Rhizobactin 1021 is a hydroxymate siderophore produced by the soil bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti 2011. A regulon comprising rhtA, encoding the outer membrane receptor protein for the ferrisiderophore; the biosynthesis operon rhbABCDEF; and rhrA, the Ara-C-like regulator of the receptor and biosynthesis genes has been previously described. We report the discovery of a gene, located upstream of rhbA and named rhtX (for "rhizobactin transport"), which is required, in addition to rhtA, to confer the ability to utilize rhizobactin 1021 on a strain of S. meliloti that does not naturally utilize the siderophore. Rhizobactin 1021 is structurally similar to aerobactin, which is transported in Escherichia coli via the IutA outer membrane receptor and the FhuCDB inner membrane transport system. E. coli expressing iutA and fhuCDB was found to also transport rhizobactin 1021. We demonstrated that RhtX alone could substitute for FhuCDB to transport rhizobactin 1021 in E. coli. RhtX shows similarity to a number of uncharacterized proteins which are encoded proximal to genes that are either known to be or predicted to be involved in iron acquisition. Among these is PA4218 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is located close to the gene cluster that functions in pyochelin biosynthesis and outer membrane transport. PA4218 was mutated by allelic replacement, and the mutant was found to have a pyochelin utilization-defective phenotype. It is proposed that PA4218 be named fptX (for "ferripyochelin transport"). RhtX and FptX appear to be members of a novel family of permeases that function as single-subunit transporters of siderophores.     

Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 produces enantio-pyochelin, the optical antipode of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa siderophore pyochelin

The siderophore pyochelin is made by a thiotemplate mechanism from salicylate and two molecules of cysteine. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the first cysteine residue is converted to its D-isoform during thiazoline ring formation whereas the second cysteine remains in its L-configuration, thus determining the stereochemistry of the two interconvertible pyochelin diastereoisomers as 4'R, 2'R, 4'R (pyochelin I) and 4'R, 2'S, 4'R (pyochelin II). Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 was found to make a different stereoisomeric mixture, which promoted growth under iron limitation in strain CHA0 and induced the expression of its biosynthetic genes, but was not recognized as a siderophore and signaling molecule by P. aeruginosa. Reciprocally, pyochelin promoted growth and induced pyochelin gene expression in P. aeruginosa, but was not functional in P. fluorescens. The structure of the CHA0 siderophore was determined by mass spectrometry, thin-layer chromatography, NMR, polarimetry, and chiral HPLC as enantio-pyochelin, the optical antipode of the P. aeruginosa siderophore pyochelin. Enantio-pyochelin was chemically synthesized and confirmed to be active in CHA0. Its potential biosynthetic pathway in CHA0 is discussed.     

Synthesis and biological properties of thiazole-analogues of pyochelin,a siderophore of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pyochelin is a siderophore common to all strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa utilized by this Gram-negative bacterium to acquire iron(III). FptA is the outer membrane transporter responsible of ferric-pyochelin uptake in P. aeruginosa. We describe in this Letter the synthesis and the biological properties (⁵⁵Fe uptake, binding to FptA) of several thiazole analogues of pyochelin. Among them we report in this Letter the two first pyochelin analogues able to bind FptA without promoting any iron uptake in P. aeruginosa.     

Copurification of the FpvA ferric pyoverdin receptor of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with its iron-free ligand: implications for siderophore-mediated iron transport.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa FpvA receptor is a TonB-dependent outer membrane transport protein that catalyzes uptake of ferric pyoverdin across the outer membrane. Surprisingly, FpvA expressed in P. aeruginosa grown in an iron-deficient medium copurifies with a ligand X that we have characterized by UV, fluorescence, and mass spectrometry as being iron-free pyoverdin (apo-PaA). PaA was absent from FpvA purified from a PaA-deficient P. aeruginosa strain. The properties of ligand binding in vitro revealed very similar affinities of apo-PaA and ferric-PaA to FpvA. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer was used to study in vitro the formation of the FpvA-PaA-Fe complex in the presence of PaA-Fe or citrate-Fe. The circular dichroism spectrum of FpvA indicated a 57% beta-structure content typical of porins and in agreement with the 3D structures of the siderophore receptors FhuA and FepA. In the absence of the protease's inhibitors, a truncated form of FpvA lacking 87 amino acids at its N-terminus was purified. This truncated form still bound PaA, and its beta-sheet content was conserved. This N-terminal region displays significant homology to the N-terminal periplasmic extensions of FecA from Escherichia coli and PupB from Pseudomonas putida, which were previously shown to be involved in signal transduction. This suggests a similar function for FpvA. The mechanism of iron transport in P. aeruginosa via the pyoverdin pathway is discussed in the light of all these new findings.     

Recycling of pyoverdin on the FpvA receptor after ferric pyoverdin uptake and dissociation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Under iron-limiting conditions, Pseudomonas aeruginosa secretes a fluorescent siderophore called pyoverdin (PaA), which, after complexing iron, is transported back into the cells via its outer membrane receptor FpvA. The recent finding that all FpvA receptors on the bacterial cell surface are loaded with iron-free PaA under iron limiting conditions has raised questions about the mechanism by which P. aeruginosa transports efficiently iron. We used [(3)H]PaA' [(55)Fe]PaA-Fe, and a kinetically stable chromium-PaA complex to show that iron loading of the receptor occurs through a siderophore displacement mechanism in vivo. Moreover, the fluorescence properties of iron-free PaA revealed that, after PaA-Fe uptake and dissociation, the PaA molecule is recycled into the extracellular medium. We used fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between the PaA chromophore and the FpvA tryptophans in vivo to monitor the kinetics of PaA displacement by PaA-Fe at the cell surface, the dissociation of iron from the siderophore, and the recycling of PaA back to the receptor on the outer membrane of the bacteria in real time. The loading status of FpvA (PaA versus PaA-Fe) was shown to depend on the relative concentration of the two forms of pyoverdin in the growth medium.     

Cloning of the gene coding for the outer membrane receptor protein for ferric pseudobactin, a siderophore from a plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas strain

Plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas B10 produces its yellow-green, fluorescent siderophore (microbial iron transport agent) pseudobactin under iron-limiting conditions. A structural gene encoding the 85,000-Da putative outer membrane receptor protein for ferric pseudobactin was identified in a gene bank from Pseudomonas B10 prepared with the broad host-range conjugative cosmid cloning vector pLAFR1. Transposon Tn5 mutagenesis of recombinant plasmid pJLM300 localized the functional gene to a region of approximately 2.4 kilobases consistent with the apparent molecular weight of the receptor protein. Mobilization of pJLM300 into Pseudomonas A124 and A225, whose growth was inhibited by Pseudomonas B10 or pseudobactin, rendered these strains no longer susceptible to iron starvation by pseudobactin because they were now able to transport ferric pseudobactin. Pseudobactin biosynthetic genes flanked this receptor gene on both sides and were on separate operons. Transposon Tn5 insertion mutants of Pseudomonas B10 lacking this receptor protein were generated by a marker exchange technique and were defective in ferric pseudobactin transport. Such mutants could be complemented in trans by pJLM300. The production of pseudobactin, the receptor protein, and four other outer membrane proteins in Pseudomonas B10 was coordinately regulated by the level of intracellular iron.     

Lactoferrin receptors in Gram-negative bacteria: Insights into the iron acquisition process

One component of the anti-microbial function of lactoferrin (Lf) is its ability to sequester iron from potential pathogens. To overcome this iron limitation, a number of gram-negative bacterial pathogens have developed a mechanism for acquiring iron directly from this host glycoprotein. This mechanism involves surface receptors capable of specifically binding Lf from the host, removing iron and transporting it across the outer membrane. The iron is then bound by a periplasmic iron-binding protein, FbpA, and transported into the cell via an inner membrane complex comprised of FbpB and FbpC. The receptor has been shown to consist of two proteins, LbpA and LbpB. LbpB is bilobed lipoprotein anchored to the outer membrane via fatty acyl groups attached to the N-terminal cysteine. LbpA is a homologue of siderophore receptors, which consist of an N-terminal plug and a C-terminal beta-barrel region. We propose that the receptor proteins, LbpA and LbpB, induce conformational changes in human Lf (hLf) that lower its affinity for iron that binding by FbpA can drive the transport across the outer membrane, a mechanism shared with transferrin (Tf) receptors. The interaction between the receptor proteins and Lf is quite extensive and has been previously studied by using chimeric proteins comprised of Lf & Tf. In an attempt to evaluate the role of FbpA in the transport process, a series of site-directed mutants of FbpA were prepared and used to replace the wild-type protein in the iron acquisition pathway. The mutations were made in the iron-binding and anion-binding ligands of FbpA and were designed to result in altered binding properties. Protein crystallography of the iron-bound form of the Q58L mutant protein revealed that it was in the open conformation with iron coordinated by Y195 and Y196 from the C-terminal domain but not by the other iron-liganding amino acids from the N-terminal domain, H9 and E57. Replacement of the native FbpA in Neisseria meningitidis with wild-type or mutant Haemophilus influenzae FbpAs resulted in a defect in growth on Tf or Lf, suggesting that there may be a barrier to functional expression of H. influenzae FbpAs in Neisseria meningitidis. Thus mutants of the N. meningitidis FbpA are being prepared to replace wild-type protein in order to test their ability to mediate transport from hLf.     

Bacterial siderophores: the solution stoichiometry and coordination of the Fe(III) complexes of pyochelin and related compounds

Pyochelin, its analog 3′′-nor-NH-pyochelin, and the related methyl hydroxamate, 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydrothiazol-4-carboxylic acid methoxymethyl amide, have been prepared together with their Fe(III) complexes. The solution stoichiometry and the coordination of the three Fe(III) complexes in methanol or buffered (pH∼2) 50:50 (v/v) methanol–water mixtures were determined using various spectroscopic methods: UV–vis absorption, X-ray absorption, extended X-ray absorption fine structure and electron paramagnetic resonance. All three systems showed both a 1:1 and 2:1 ligand–Fe(III) stoichiometry, but presented different coordination properties. Conditional formation constants (pH∼2) were determined for both the 1:1 and 2:1 complexes in all three systems. Computation of the coordination-conformational energies by semiempirical methods indicated that the coordination in the case of the 2:1 complexes of pyochelin–Fe(III) and 3′′-nor-NH-pyochelin–Fe(III) was asymmetrical, with one molecule of pyochelin (or 3′′-nor-NH-pyochelin) tetradentately coordinated (O1, N1, N2 and O3) to the Fe(III), and the second molecule bound bidentately (O1, N1 or N2, O3), to complete the octahedral geometry. In contrast, two molecules of the methyl hydroxamate each provided a set of tridentate ligand atoms in the formation of the 2:1 ligand–Fe(III) complex. These results are consistent with the role of pyochelin in the uptake of iron by the FptA receptor in the outer membrane of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and in several gram-negative bacteria.     

Metal regulation of siderophore synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and functional effects of siderophore-metal complexes.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa synthesizes two siderophores, pyochelin and pyoverdin, characterized by widely different structures, physicochemical properties, and affinities for Fe(III). Titration experiments showed that pyochelin, which is endowed with a relatively low affinity for Fe(III), binds other transition metals, such as Cu(II), Co(II), Mo(VI), and Ni(II), with appreciable affinity. In line with these observations, Fe(III) and Co(II) at 10 microM or Mo(VI), Ni(II), and Cu(II) at 100 microM repressed pyochelin synthesis and reduced expression of iron-regulated outer membrane proteins of 75, 68, and 14 kDa. In contrast, pyoverdin synthesis and expression of the 80-kDa receptor protein were affected only by Fe(III). All of the metals tested, except Mo(VI), significantly promoted P. aeruginosa growth in metal-poor medium; Mo(VI), Ni(II), and Co(II) were more efficient as pyochelin complexes than the free metal ions and the siderophore. The observed correlation between the affinity of pyochelin for Fe(III), Co(II), and Mo(VI) and the functional effects of these metals indicates that pyochelin may play a role in their delivery to P. aeruginosa.     

Metal regulation of siderophore synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and functional effects of siderophore-metal complexes.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa synthesizes two siderophores, pyochelin and pyoverdin, characterized by widely different structures, physicochemical properties, and affinities for Fe(III). Titration experiments showed that pyochelin, which is endowed with a relatively low affinity for Fe(III), binds other transition metals, such as Cu(II), Co(II), Mo(VI), and Ni(II), with appreciable affinity. In line with these observations, Fe(III) and Co(II) at 10 microM or Mo(VI), Ni(II), and Cu(II) at 100 microM repressed pyochelin synthesis and reduced expression of iron-regulated outer membrane proteins of 75, 68, and 14 kDa. In contrast, pyoverdin synthesis and expression of the 80-kDa receptor protein were affected only by Fe(III). All of the metals tested, except Mo(VI), significantly promoted P. aeruginosa growth in metal-poor medium; Mo(VI), Ni(II), and Co(II) were more efficient as pyochelin complexes than the free metal ions and the siderophore. The observed correlation between the affinity of pyochelin for Fe(III), Co(II), and Mo(VI) and the functional effects of these metals indicates that pyochelin may play a role in their delivery to P. aeruginosa.     

From the periplasmic signaling domain to the extracellular face of an outer membrane signal transducer of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: crystal structure of the ferric pyoverdine outer membrane receptor

The pyoverdine outer membrane receptor, FpvA, from Pseudomonas aeruginosa translocates ferric pyoverdine across the outer membrane through an energy consuming mechanism using the proton motive force and the TonB-ExbB-ExbD energy transducing complex from the inner membrane. We solved the crystal structure of the full-length FpvA bound to iron-pyoverdine at 2.7 A resolution. Signal transduction to an anti-sigma protein of the inner membrane and to TonB-ExbB-ExbD involves the periplasmic domain, which displays a beta-alpha-beta fold composed of two alpha-helices sandwiched by two beta-sheets. One iron-pyoverdine conformer is bound at the extracellular face of FpvA, revealing the conformer selectivity of the binding site. The loop that contains the TonB box, involved in interactions with TonB, and connects the signaling domain to the plug domain of FpvA is not defined in the electron density following the binding of ferric pyoverdine. The high flexibility of this loop is probably necessary for signal transduction through the outer membrane.     

Iron transport-mediated antagonism between plant growth-promoting and plant-deleterious Pseudomonas strains

Both plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas B10 and its yellow-green, fluorescent iron transport agent (siderophore) pseudobactin enhance potato growth and biologically control certain soil-borne fungal diseases in part by depriving specific root-colonizing endemic microorganisms including phytopathogens of iron(III), thus inhibiting their growth. The present study examines this mode of iron deprivation. The growth inhibition of certain bean-deleterious fluorescent pseudomonads by specific bean-beneficial fluorescent pseudomonads is due in part to the inability of susceptible strains to utilize siderophores from beneficial strains to transport iron(III). Conversely, deleterious strains which were able to utilize siderophores from beneficial strains were not inhibited. The ability of a given pseudomonad to utilize another pseudomonad's siderophore may depend upon its possessing a specific outer membrane receptor protein for that pseudomonad's ferric siderophore. Siderophore-mediated competition for iron in microbial systems appears to be a widespread phenomenon.     

Quinolobactin, a new siderophore of Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 17400, the production of which is repressed by the cognate pyoverdine

Transposon mutant strain 3G6 of Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 17400 which was deficient in pyoverdine production, was found to produce another iron-chelating molecule; this molecule was identified as 8-hydroxy-4-methoxy-quinaldic acid (designated quinolobactin). The pyoverdine-deficient mutant produced a supplementary 75-kDa iron-repressed outer membrane protein (IROMP) in addition to the 85-kDa IROMP present in the wild type. The mutant was also characterized by substantially increased uptake of (59)Fe-quinolobactin. The 75-kDa IROMP was produced by the wild type after induction by quinolobactin-containing culture supernatants obtained from the pyoverdine-negative mutant or by purified quinolobactin. Conversely, adding purified wild-type pyoverdine to the growth medium resulted in suppression of the 75-kDa IROMP in the pyoverdine-deficient mutant; however, suppression was not observed when Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 pyoverdine, a siderophore utilized by strain 3G6, was added to the culture. Therefore, we assume that the quinolobactin receptor is the 75-kDa IROMP and that the quinolobactin-mediated iron uptake system is repressed by the cognate pyoverdine.