Identification and Regulation of the N-Acetylglucosamine Utilization Pathway of the Plant Pathogenic Bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris

Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, the causal agent of black rot disease of brassicas, is known for its ability to catabolize a wide range of plant compounds. This ability is correlated with the presence of specific carbohydrate utilization loci containing TonB-dependent transporters (CUT loci) devoted to scavenging specific carbohydrates. In this study, we demonstrate that there is an X. campestris pv. campestris CUT system involved in the import and catabolism of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). Expression of genes belonging to this GlcNAc CUT system is under the control of GlcNAc via the LacI family NagR and GntR family NagQ regulators. Analysis of the NagR and NagQ regulons confirmed that GlcNAc utilization involves NagA and NagB-II enzymes responsible for the conversion of GlcNAc-6-phosphate to fructose-6-phosphate. Mutants with mutations in the corresponding genes are sensitive to GlcNAc, as previously reported for Escherichia coli. This GlcNAc sensitivity and analysis of the NagQ and NagR regulons were used to dissect the X. campestris pv. campestris GlcNAc utilization pathway. This analysis revealed specific features, including the fact that uptake of GlcNAc through the inner membrane occurs via a major facilitator superfamily transporter and the fact that this amino sugar is phosphorylated by two proteins belonging to the glucokinase family, NagK-IIA and NagK-IIB. However, NagK-IIA seems to play a more important role in GlcNAc utilization than NagK-IIB under our experimental conditions. The X. campestris pv. campestris GlcNAc NagR regulon includes four genes encoding TonB-dependent active transporters (TBDTs). However, the results of transport experiments suggest that GlcNAc passively diffuses through the bacterial envelope, an observation that calls into question whether GlcNAc is a natural substrate for these TBDTs and consequently is the source of GlcNAc for this nonchitinolytic plant-associated bacterium.Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, the causal agent of black rot disease of brassicas, produces extracellular plant cell wall-degrading enzymes which contribute to its pathogenicity by facilitating its spread through plant tissues and give the bacterium access to a ready source of nutrients via the carbohydrate utilization loci containing TonB-dependent transporters (CUT loci) (7, 16, 35). The CUT loci are characterized by the presence of genes encoding regulators, degradative enzymes, inner membrane transporters, and outer membrane TonB-dependent transporters (TBDTs), which have been identified as active carbohydrate transporters (7, 33, 44). However, recently, an example of passive diffusion through a TBDT in Caulobacter crescentus was described (17). X. campestris pv. campestris has 72 TBDTs and belongs to a class of bacteria in which TBDTs are overrepresented (7). Our previous study suggested that there are several CUT loci or systems in this bacterium (7).N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is an amino sugar that is used for the synthesis of cell surface structures in bacteria and plays an important role in supplying carbon and energy by entering the glycolytic pathway after it is converted into fructose-6-phosphate (fructose-6P) (1, 9). In a recent comparative study of bacterial GlcNAc utilization pathways and regulatory networks, Yang and coworkers identified conserved and distinct features of the GlcNAc utilization pathway in proteobacteria (48). The expression of X. campestris pv. campestris GlcNAc-specific genes was proposed to be controlled by NagR and NagQ regulators belonging to the LacI and GntR families, respectively. In X. campestris pv. campestris strain ATCC 33913, one predicted binding motif specific for NagQ (designated the NagQ box) consists of two imperfect repeats of the TGGTATT sequence separated by 4 bp and is located upstream of the nagQ gene (XCC3414) (Fig. ​(Fig.1A)1A) (48). This gene is part of the nag cluster and is followed by genes encoding the major facilitator superfamily (MFS) inner membrane transporter NagP (XCC3413), the regulator NagR (XCC3412), the GlcN-6P deaminase NagB-II (XCC3411), and the GlcNAc-6P deacetylase NagA (XCC3410) (Fig. ​(Fig.1A).1A). NagR boxes contain the palindromic sequence AATGACARCGYTGTCATT (bold type indicates less highly conserved nucleotides) and are upstream of genes encoding two glucokinase-like NagK-II proteins (XCC2886 nagK-IIA] and XCC2943 nagK-IIB]), as well as 5 genes encoding TBDTs (XCC0531, XCC2887, XCC3045, XCC3408, and XCC2944 located downstream of XCC2943) (Fig. ​(Fig.1A).1A). All of the X. campestris pv. campestris genes located downstream of NagR or NagQ boxes were proposed to belong to a GlcNAc utilization pathway involved in uptake of GlcNAc through the bacterial envelope and subsequent phosphorylation, deacetylation, and deamination, which finally leads to the common metabolic intermediate fructose-6-phosphate (Fig. ​(Fig.1B)1B) (48). It was recently demonstrated that in C. crescentus the TBDT CC0446 gene, which is clustered with other nag genes, is responsible for the uptake of GlcNAc (17). The presence of TBDTs in the GlcNAc regulon, which has been observed in Alteromonadales and Xanthomonadales (48), suggests that genes belonging to the GlcNAc utilization pathway define a new CUT system.Open in a separate windowFIG. 1.X. campestris pv. campestris N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) utilization pathway. (A) Organization of genes in the proposed GlcNAc utilization pathway. NagR boxes are indicated by filled circles, and the NagQ box is indicated by an open circle. (B) GlcNAc is proposed to be transported through the outer membrane by TBDTs and then transported across the inner membrane by the MFS transporter NagP. GlcNAc would then be phosphorylated by nagK-II-encoded enzymes. Subsequent metabolism via the nagA-encoded (GlcNAc-6P deacetylase) and nagB-II-encoded (GlcN-6P deaminase) enzymes results in fructose 6-phosphate (Fru-6P) (48). MFS, major facilitator superfamily; PP, periplasm; TBDT, TonB-dependent transporter.Here we describe characterization of the X. campestris pv. campestris GlcNAc utilization pathway and regulatory network, which involves at least the repressors NagR and NagQ. TBDTs are associated with this pathway, confirming the presence of a GlcNAc CUT system in X. campestris pv. campestris. In this bacterium, GlcNAc entry and catabolism imply that novel families containing a GlcNAc inner membrane transporter and GlcNAc kinases are involved.