Involvement of DNA helicases in chromate resistance by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

Chromate-hypersensitive mutants of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 strain were isolated using transposon insertion mutagenesis. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the regions interrupted within the PAO1 genome showed that mutant strains GGP-64 and AJ-22 were affected in open reading frames PA0967 and PA5345, which correspond to the ruvB and recG genes, respectively. These genes encode helicases RuvB and RecG involved in DNA replication, recombination and repair. The chromate resistance phenotype in mutants GGP-64 and AJ-22 was restored by cosmids bearing wild type ruvB or recG genes, respectively. Also, both mutant strains showed an increased susceptibility to the toxic oxyanions tellurite and selenite as well as to mitomycin C, but not to arsenite, paraquat and hydrogen peroxide. It was concluded that P. aeruginosa RuvB and RecG helicases are involved in repairing DNA damage caused by chromate or its derivatives.     

Snr,New Genetic Loci Common to the Nitrate Reduction Systems of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is able to both assimilate and dissimilate nitrate. On the basis of the characteristics of mutants unable to dissimilate or assimilate nitrate to nitrite, it was revealed that two different sets of genes (represented by Class I and Class II mutants) were shared between the nitrate-to-nitrite reduction steps of both pathways. The genes represented by Class I and II mutants have been separated into distinct genetic loci using two cosmids, pAD1695/96. The two different genetic loci have been designated snr (shared nitrate reduction) and mol (MoCo processing genes) based on the phenotypic characteristics of the mutants complemented. Restriction analyses of pAD1695/96 followed by subcloning confirmed the complementation results. The snr loci, which represent a unique and hitherto uninvestigated set of genes for nitrate reduction, were mapped on the P. aeruginosa chromosome by linkage analysis with sex factor FP2. Received: 22 November 1996 / Accepted: 3 December 1996     

Studies on the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 bacteriophage receptors

Receptor for phage PIK specific for Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO1 was studied. Phage PIK was strongly inactivated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in vitro, exhibiting a PhI50 of 4.8 micrograms/ml. Further it was noted that this inactivation by LPS was reduced to 50% by several mono- and disaccharides when tested in vitro. D-glucosamine, D-mannose and L-rhamnose were found to be most effective at the concentration of 0.045 M, 0.25 M and 0.35 M respectively. This suggests the possibility that phage PIK receptor in LPS contains D-mannose, L-rhamnose and D-glucosamine. Either one of the former two could be located at a terminal position alpha-linked to the adjacent residue or located internally in the polysaccharide chain linked through its C-4 position. A theoretical approach to the interpretation of phage cell interaction was also investigated.     

Quorum sensing regulates denitrification in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

Anaerobic growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 was affected by quorum sensing. Deletion of genes that produce N-acyl-l-homoserine lactone signals resulted in an increase in denitrification activity, which was repressed by exogenous signal molecules. The effect of the las quorum-sensing system was dependent on the rhl quorum-sensing system in regulating denitrification.     

Heat Production by the Denitrifying Bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens and the Dissimilatory Ammonium-Producing Bacterium Pseudomonas putrefaciens during Anaerobic Growth with Nitrate as the Electron Acceptor

The heat production rate and the simultaneous nitrate consumption and production and consumption of nitrite and nitrous oxide were monitored during the anaerobic growth of two types of dissimilatory nitrate reducers. Pseudomonas fluorescens, a denitrifier, consumed nitrate and accumulated small amounts of nitrite or nitrous oxide. The heat production rate increased steadily during the course of nitrate consumption and decreased rapidly concomitant with the depletion of the electron acceptors. A mean experimental enthalpy change value of −800 kJ/mol of nitrate and a mean growth yield value of 33 g (dry weight)/mol of nitrate consumed were obtained for different concentrations of nitrate. For Pseudomonas putrefaciens, a dissimilatory ammonium producer, the nitrate consumption resulted in an accumulation of nitrite and nitrous oxide. Nitrite consumption commenced after depletion of the nitrate; consequently, two phases were noted in the heat production rate curve during growth. A mean experimental enthalpy change value of −810 kJ/mol of nitrate was obtained for different concentrations of nitrate.     

Basic characterization of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 bacteriophage

A bacteriophage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 was characterized. Bacteriophage PIK was found to adsorb on the cell wall of the host organism. Electron microscopy of the phage PIK revealed that it had a bipyramidal hexagonal prismatic head of 110 nm in diameter, a tail which was 158 nm long and a tail plate of 47 nm width. This paper describes its basic characters, and a quantitative study was made of its adsorption to exponential phase cells of two different strains of P. aeruginosa. PIK was found to contain double stranded DNA and it appears to be virulent towards its host, P. aeruginosa PAO1. It was classified into the group of phages possessing a contractile tail.     

High frequency FP2 donor of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO

Summary After NG mutagenesis an FP2 donor was isolated which exhibited an enhanced conjugational capacity for chromosomal genes. The recombination frequency was increased by two orders of magnitude as compared to the parenal strain. In plate matings recombinants arose at a frequency up to 5×10^-1 per donor cell. Late markers also recombined efficiently.An Hfr state of the donor strain was supported by (i) the high recombination frequency, (ii) the incompatibility reaction with plasmid pRO271 (=FP2::Tn401) and (iii) the clearcut transfer kinetics in interrupted matings, even for a late marker.     

Genome Diversity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 Laboratory Strains

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 is the most commonly used strain for research on this ubiquitous and metabolically versatile opportunistic pathogen. Strain PAO1, a derivative of the original Australian PAO isolate, has been distributed worldwide to laboratories and strain collections. Over decades discordant phenotypes of PAO1 sublines have emerged. Taking the existing PAO1-UW genome sequence (named after the University of Washington, which led the sequencing project) as a blueprint, the genome sequences of reference strains MPAO1 and PAO1-DSM (stored at the German Collection for Microorganisms and Cell Cultures [DSMZ]) were resolved by physical mapping and deep short read sequencing-by-synthesis. MPAO1 has been the source of near-saturation libraries of transposon insertion mutants, and PAO1-DSM is identical in its SpeI-DpnI restriction map with the original isolate. The major genomic differences of MPAO1 and PAO1-DSM in comparison to PAO1-UW are the lack of a large inversion, a duplication of a mobile 12-kb prophage region carrying a distinct integrase and protein phosphatases or kinases, deletions of 3 to 1,006 bp in size, and at least 39 single-nucleotide substitutions, 17 of which affect protein sequences. The PAO1 sublines differed in their ability to cope with nutrient limitation and their virulence in an acute murine airway infection model. Subline PAO1-DSM outnumbered the two other sublines in late stationary growth phase. In conclusion, P. aeruginosa PAO1 shows an ongoing microevolution of genotype and phenotype that jeopardizes the reproducibility of research. High-throughput genome resequencing will resolve more cases and could become a proper quality control for strain collections.The metabolically versatile Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen of plants, animals, and humans and is ubiquitously distributed in soil and aquatic habitats. The common reference strain is P. aeruginosa PAO1, a spontaneous chloramphenicol-resistant mutant of the original PAO strain (earlier called “P. aeruginosa strain 1”) that had been isolated in 1954 from a wound in Melbourne, Australia (9, 10). This PAO1 strain from Bruce Holloway''s laboratory has become the reference strain for Pseudomonas genetics and functional analyses of the physiology and metabolism of this gammaproteobacterium. A genetic map of its chromosome was generated by exploiting the mechanisms of gene exchange in bacteria, i.e., transduction and conjugation (11). With the advent of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), a physical map of the PAO1 genome was constructed (32) and later merged with the genetic map information (12). By 2000 the PAO1 strain had been completely sequenced (36). Thereafter, the genome annotation has been continually updated and the database content and functionality have been expanded to facilitate accelerated discovery of P. aeruginosa drug targets and vaccine candidates (38). Two near-saturation libraries of transposon insertion mutants have been constructed in P. aeruginosa PAO1 as a global resource for the scientific community (14, 22).Comparison of the genome sequence with the physical map revealed a large, 2.2-Mb inversion between the sequenced PAO1-UW strain (36) and the original PAO1 strain (9, 10), indicating that PAO1 sublines maintained worldwide in numerous laboratories and strain collections had diversified their genomic sequence. Mutational events were already reported in the 1970s (10), and more recently sequence variations of MexT, which regulates the MexEF-OprN multidrug efflux system, were described (18, 24). Furthermore, a PAO1 subline from a German strain collection (PAO1-D) and another, independent PAO1 subline from a Japanese strain collection (PAO1-J) that had been stored by research groups in Germany and Japan, respectively, were found to be quorum-sensing-negative mutants that carried point mutations in the regulatory gene lasR (6). In addition, spontaneous secretion-defective vfr mutants from a PAO1 population were observed after several cycles of static growth (2). Similarly, we noted a difference in virulence in a mouse infection model (see below) between the MPAO1 and PAO1-DSM sublines that had been utilized for the construction of the transposon library (14) and the physical map (32), respectively. PAO1-DSM was indistinguishable in its SpeI-DpnI-SwaI-PacI physical map from the PAO1 subline that had been stored in the Holloway laboratory (12). Hence, we decided to compare the genomic sequence of the initially sequenced PAO1 subline PAO1-UW (36) with that of MPAO1 and PAO1-DSM. Combined physical mapping and DNA sequencing-by-synthesis revealed numerous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertions-deletions (indels) in the chromosomes that were associated with differences in fitness, antimicrobial susceptibility, and virulence of the sublines.     

Characterization of nutrient-induced dispersion in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm

The processes associated with early events in biofilm formation have become a major research focus over the past several years. Events associated with dispersion of cells from late stage biofilms have, however, received little attention. We demonstrate here that dispersal of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 from biofilms is inducible by a sudden increase in carbon substrate availability. Most efficient at inducing dispersal were sudden increases in availability of succinate > glutamate > glucose that led to approximately 80% reductions in surface-associated biofilm biomass. Nutrient-induced biofilm dispersion was associated with increased expression of flagella (fliC) and correspondingly decreased expression of pilus (pilA) genes in dispersed cells. Changes in gene expression associated with dispersion of P. aeruginosa biofilms were studied by using DNA microarray technology. Results corroborated proteomic data that showed gene expression to be markedly different between biofilms and newly dispersed cells. Gene families that were upregulated in dispersed cells included those for flagellar and ribosomal proteins, kinases, and phage PF1. Within the biofilm, genes encoding a number of denitrification pathways and pilus biosynthesis were also upregulated. Interestingly, nutrient-induced dispersion was associated with an increase in the number of Ser/Thr-phosphorylated proteins within the newly dispersed cells, and inhibition of dephosphorylation reduced the extent of nutrient-induced dispersion. This study is the first to demonstrate that dispersal of P. aeruginosa from biofilms can be induced by the addition of simple carbon sources. This study is also the first to demonstrate that dispersal of P. aeruginosa correlates with a specific dispersal phenotype.     

Outer membrane protein shifts in biocide-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

Benzisothiazolone (BIT), N-methylisothiazolone (MIT) and 5-chloro-N-methylisothiazolone (CMIT) are highly effective biocidal agents and are used as preservatives in a variety of cosmetic preparations. The isothiazolones have proven efficacy against many fungal and bacterial species including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However, some species are beginning to exhibit resistance towards this group of compounds after extended exposure. This experiment induced resistance in cultures of Ps. aeruginosa exposed to incrementally increasing sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the isothiazolones in their pure chemical forms. The induced resistance was observed as a gradual increase in MIC with each new passage. The MICs for all three test isothiazolones and a thiol-interactive control compound (thiomersal) increased by approximately twofold during the course of the experiment. The onset of resistance was also observed by reference to the altered presence of an outer membrane protein, designated the T-OMP, in SDS-PAGE preparations. T-OMP was observed to disappear from the biocide-exposed preparations and reappear when the resistance-induced cultures were passaged in the absence of biocide. This reappearance of T-OMP was not accompanied by a complete reversal of induced resistance, but by a small decrease in MIC. The induction of resistance towards one biocide resulted in the development of cross-resistance towards other members of the group and the control, thiomersal. It has been suggested that the disappearance of T-OMP from these preparations is associated with the onset of resistance to the isothiazolones in their Kathon form (CMIT and MIT).     

Size of the Chromosome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO

Electron microscope examination and velocity sedimentation analysis of the deoxyribonucleic acid released from Pseudomonas aeruginosa spheroplasts indicate that this organism carries the bulk of its genetic determinants in a single duplex deoxyribonucleic acid molecule having a molecular mass of 2.1 x 10(9) daltons.     

In vitro transcription analysis of rpoD in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

Thymidine kinase type II is an important part of the pyrimidine salvage pathway. The thymidine kinase gene from the thermophilic eubacterium Rhodothermus marinus was cloned, sequenced and overexpressed. The gene is 639 bp and encodes a protein of 213 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 23.6 kDa. It shows homology to other thymidine kinase proteins from eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms. The recombinant protein is inhibited by dNTPs but not by dNDPs. It is a tetramer in its native state. Its optimum temperature of activity is 65 degrees C and it has a half life of 15 min at 90 degrees C. This is the first thymidine kinase to be described from a thermophilic bacterium.     

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 kills Caenorhabditis elegans by cyanide poisoning

In this report we describe experiments to investigate a simple virulence model in which Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 rapidly paralyzes and kills the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Our results imply that hydrogen cyanide is the sole or primary toxic factor produced by P. aeruginosa that is responsible for killing of the nematode. Four lines of evidence support this conclusion. First, a transposon insertion mutation in a gene encoding a subunit of hydrogen cyanide synthase (hcnC) eliminated nematode killing. Second, the 17 avirulent mutants examined all exhibited reduced cyanide synthesis, and the residual production levels correlated with killing efficiency. Third, exposure to exogenous cyanide alone at levels comparable to the level produced by PAO1 killed nematodes with kinetics similar to those observed with bacteria. The killing was not enhanced if hcnC mutant bacteria were present during cyanide exposure. And fourth, a nematode mutant (egl-9) resistant to P. aeruginosa was also resistant to killing by exogenous cyanide in the absence of bacteria. A model for nematode killing based on inhibition of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase is presented. The action of cyanide helps account for the unusually broad host range of virulence of P. aeruginosa and may contribute to the pathogenesis in opportunistic human infections due to the bacterium.     

Regulation of proline catabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO

Mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa deficient in the utilization of l-proline as the only carbon and nitrogen source have been found to be defective either in proline dehydrogenase activity or in both proline dehydrogenase and ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase activities of the bifunctional proline degradative enzyme. The latter type of mutants was unable to utilize l-ornithine, indicating that a single ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase activity is involved in the degradation of ornithine and proline. Proline dehydrogenase and ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase activities were strongly and coordinately induced by proline. It was excluded that ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate acted as an inducer of the bifunctional enzyme and it was shown that the low level induction observed during growth on ornithine was due to the intracellular formation of proline. The formation of the proline degradative enzyme was shown to be subject to catabolite repression by citrate and nitrogen control.Abbreviations EMS Ethylmethane sulfonate - NG N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine - P Minimal medium P - Pro-DH Proline dehydro-genase - P5C ¹-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate - P5C-DH ¹-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase