Differences in two Pseudomonas aeruginosa cbb3 cytochrome oxidases

Bacterial cytochrome cbb3 oxidases are members of the haeme-copper oxidase superfamily that are important for energy conservation by a variety of proteobacteria under oxygen-limiting conditions. The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is unusual in possessing two operons that each potentially encode a cbb3 oxidase (cbb3-1 or cbb3-2). Our results demonstrate that, unlike typical enzymes of this class, the cbb3-1 oxidase has an important metabolic function at high oxygen tensions. In highly aerated cultures, cbb3-1 abundance and expression were greater than that of cbb3-2, and only loss of cbb3-1 influenced growth. Also, the activity of cbb3-1, not cbb3-2, inhibited expression of the alternative oxidase CioAB and thus influenced a signal transduction pathway much like that found in the alpha-proteobacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Cbb3-2 appeared to play a more significant role under oxygen limitation by nature of its increased abundance and expression compared to highly aerated cultures, and the regulation of the cbb3-2 operon by the putative iron-sulphur protein Anr. These results indicate that each of the two P. aeruginosa cbb3 isoforms have assumed specialized energetic and regulatory roles.