Structural characterization of the heme-based oxygen sensor,AfGcHK, its interactions with the cognate response regulator, and their combined mechanism of action in a bacterial two-component signaling system

2016 ◽  
Vol 84 (10) ◽  
pp. 1375-1389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Stranava ◽  
Václav Martínek ◽  
Petr Man ◽  
Veronika Fojtikova ◽  
Daniel Kavan ◽  
...  
2006 ◽  
Vol 189 (4) ◽  
pp. 1342-1350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart J. McKessar ◽  
Regine Hakenbeck

ABSTRACT The two-component system TCS08 is one of the regulatory systems that is important for virulence of Streptococcus pneumoniae. In order to investigate the TCS08 regulon, we have analyzed transcription profiles of mutants derived from S. pneumoniae R6 by microarray analysis. Since deletion mutants are often without a significant phenotype, we constructed a mutation in the histidine kinase HK08, T133P, in analogy to the phosphatase mutation T230P in the H box of the S. pneumoniae CiaH kinase described recently (D. Zähner, K. Kaminski, M. van der Linden, T. Mascher, M. Merai, and R. Hakenbeck, J. Mol. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 4:211-216, 2002). In addition, a deletion mutation was constructed in rr08, encoding the cognate response regulator. The most heavily suppressed genes in the hk08 mutant were spr0276 to spr0282, encoding a putative cellobiose phosphoenolpyruvate sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS). Whereas the R6 Smr parent strain and the Δrr08 mutant readily grew on cellobiose, the hk08 mutant and selected mutants with deletions in the PTS cluster did not, strongly suggesting that TCS08 is involved in the catabolism of cellobiose. Homologues of the TCS08 system were found in closely related streptococci and other gram-positive cocci. However, the genes spr0276 to spr0282, encoding the putative cellobiose PTS, represent a genomic island in S. pneumoniae and homologues were found in Streptococcus gordonii only, suggesting that this system might contribute to the pathogenicity potential of the pneumococcus.


2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (8) ◽  
pp. 2068-2076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dagmar Beier ◽  
Rainer Frank

ABSTRACT Two-component systems are frequently involved in the adaptation of bacteria to changing environmental conditions at the level of transcriptional regulation. Here we report the characterization of members of the two-component systems of the gastric pathogenHelicobacter pylori deduced from the genome sequence of strain 26695. We demonstrate that the response regulators HP166, HP1043, and HP1021 have essential functions, as disruption of the corresponding genes is lethal for the bacteria, irrespective of the fact that HP1043 and HP1021 have nonconserved substitutions in crucial amino acids of their receiver domains. An analysis of the in vitro phosphorylation properties of the two-component proteins demonstrates that HP244-HP703 and HP165-HP166 are cognate histidine kinase-response regulator pairs. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the variability of the histidine kinase HP165 caused by a poly(C) tract of variable length close to the 3′ end of open reading frame 165/164 does not interfere with the kinase activity of the transmitter domain of HP165.


2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (23) ◽  
pp. 6673-6678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiola Janiak-Spens ◽  
David P. Sparling ◽  
Ann H. West

ABSTRACT Two-component regulatory systems that utilize a multistep phosphorelay mechanism often involve a histidine-containing phosphotransfer (HPt) domain. These HPt domains serve an essential role as histidine-phosphorylated protein intermediates during phosphoryl transfer from one response regulator domain to another. InSaccharomyces cerevisiae, the YPD1 protein facilitates phosphoryl transfer from a hybrid sensor kinase, SLN1, to two distinct response regulator proteins, SSK1 and SKN7. Because the phosphorylation state largely determines the functional state of response regulator proteins, we have carried out a comparative study of the phosphorylated lifetimes of the three response regulator domains associated with SLN1, SSK1, and SKN7 (R1, R2, and R3, respectively). The isolated regulatory domains exhibited phosphorylated lifetimes within the range previously observed for other response regulator domains (i.e., several minutes to several hours). However, in the presence of YPD1, we found that the half-life of phosphorylated SSK1-R2 was dramatically extended (almost 200-fold longer than in the absence of YPD1). This stabilization effect was specific for SSK1-R2 and was not observed for SLN1-R1 or SKN7-R3. Our findings suggest a mechanism by which SSK1 is maintained in its phosphorylated state under normal physiological conditions and demonstrate an unprecedented regulatory role for an HPt domain in a phosphorelay signaling system.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Stein ◽  
Aretha Fiebig ◽  
Sean Crosson

AbstractTwo-component signaling systems (TCSs) function to detect environmental cues and transduce this information into a change in transcription. In its simplest form, TCS-dependent regulation of transcription entails phosphoryl-transfer from a sensory histidine kinase to its cognate DNA-binding receiver protein. However, in certain cases, auxiliary proteins may modulate TCSs in response to secondary environmental cues. Caulobacter crescentus FixT is one such auxiliary regulator. FixT is composed of a single receiver domain and functions as a feedback inhibitor of the FixL-FixJ (FixLJ) TCS, which regulates the transcription of genes involved in adaptation to microaerobiosis. We sought to define the impact of fixT on Caulobacter cell physiology and to understand the molecular mechanism by which FixT represses FixLJ signaling. fixT deletion results in excess production of porphyrins and premature entry into stationary phase, demonstrating the importance of feedback inhibition of the FixLJ signaling system. Although FixT is a receiver domain, it does not affect dephosphorylation of the oxygen-sensor kinase FixL or phosphoryltransfer from FixL to its cognate receiver FixJ. Rather, FixT represses FixLJ signaling by inhibiting the FixL autophosphorylation reaction. We have further identified a 4-cysteine motif in Caulobacter FixT that binds an Fe-S cluster and protects the protein from degradation by the Lon protease. Our data support a model in which oxidation of this Fe-S cluster promotes degradation of FixT in vivo. This proteolytic mechanism facilitates clearance the of the FixT feedback inhibitor from the cell under normoxia and resets the FixLJ system for a future microaerobic signaling event.ImportanceTwo-component signal transduction systems (TCSs) are broadly conserved in the bacterial kingdom and generally contain two molecular components: a sensor histidine kinase and a receiver protein. Sensor histidine kinases alter their phosphorylation state in direct response to a physical or chemical cue, whereas receiver proteins “receive” the phosphoryl group from the kinase to regulate a change in cell physiology. We have discovered that a single-domain receiver protein, FixT, binds an Fe-S cluster and controls Caulobacter heme homeostasis though its function as a negative feedback regulator of the oxygen-sensor kinase, FixL. We provide evidence that the Fe-S cluster protects FixT from Lon-dependent proteolysis in the cell and endows FixT with the ability to function as a second, autonomous oxygen/redox sensor in the FixL-FixJ signaling pathway. This study introduces a novel mechanism of regulated TCS feedback control by an Fe-S-binding receiver domain.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riana Cockeran ◽  
Jenny A. Herbert ◽  
Timothy J. Mitchell ◽  
Thérèse Dix-Peek ◽  
Caroline Dickens ◽  
...  

Alterations in whole genome expression profiles following exposure of the pneumococcus (strain 172, serotype 23F) to cigarette smoke condensate (160 μg/mL) for 15 and 60 min have been determined using the TIGR4 DNA microarray chip. Exposure to CSC resulted in the significant (P<0.014–0.0006) upregulation of the genes encoding the two-component regulatory system 11 (TCS11), consisting of the sensor kinase,hk11, and its cognate response regulator,rr11, in the setting of increased biofilm formation. These effects of cigarette smoke on the pneumococcus may contribute to colonization of the airways by this microbial pathogen.


2012 ◽  
Vol 194 (23) ◽  
pp. 6537-6547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikhilesh S. Chand ◽  
Anne E. Clatworthy ◽  
Deborah T. Hung

ABSTRACTPseudomonas aeruginosais an opportunistic pathogen that is capable of causing both acute and chronic infections.P. aeruginosavirulence is subject to sophisticated regulatory control by two-component systems that enable it to sense and respond to environmental stimuli. We recently reported that the two-component sensor KinB regulates virulence in acuteP. aeruginosainfection. Furthermore, it regulates acute-virulence-associated phenotypes such as pyocyanin production, elastase production, and motility in a manner independent of its kinase activity. Here we show that KinB regulates virulence through the global sigma factor AlgU, which plays a key role in repressingP. aeruginosaacute-virulence factors, and through its cognate response regulator AlgB. However, we show that rather than phosphorylating AlgB, KinB's primary role in the regulation of virulence is to act as a phosphatase to dephosphorylate AlgB and alleviate phosphorylated AlgB's repression of acute virulence.


Microbiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 152 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Guiral ◽  
Vincent Hénard ◽  
Chantal Granadel ◽  
Bernard Martin ◽  
Jean-Pierre Claverys

Natural competence for genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae is controlled by the ComCDE signal-transduction pathway. Together, ComD, a membrane histidine kinase, and ComE, its cognate response regulator, constitute a typical two-component regulatory system involved in sensing the comC-encoded competence-stimulating peptide (CSP). The comCDE operon is strongly upregulated when CSP reaches a critical threshold, probably to coordinate competence induction throughout the population. During a study of the early regulation of the comCDE operon, a mutation which resulted in increased β-galactosidase production from a comC : : lacZ fusion was isolated. This mutation, which was characterized as a G→T change in the transcription terminator of the tRNAArg located immediately upstream of comCDE, is suggested to destabilize the terminator and to allow transcriptional readthrough of comCDE. Here, it is shown that, quite unexpectedly, the mutation confers reduced transformability. A series of experiments undertaken with the aim of understanding this surprising phenotype is described. Evidence is presented that increased basal-level expression of comDE impedes both spontaneous and CSP-induced competence in S. pneumoniae. There is a discussion of how an increased concentration of ComD and/or ComE could affect competence development.


2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (5) ◽  
pp. 1423-1426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter De Wulf ◽  
E. C. C. Lin

ABSTRACT In Escherichia coli, the CpxA-CpxR two-component signal transduction system and the ςE and ς32response pathways jointly regulate gene expression in adaptation to adverse conditions. These include envelope protein distress, heat shock, oxidative stress, high pH, and entry into stationary phase. Certain mutant versions of the CpxA sensor protein (CpxA* proteins) exhibit an elevated ratio of kinase to phosphatase activity on CpxR, the cognate response regulator. As a result, CpxA* strains display numerous phenotypes, many of which cannot be easily related to currently known functions of the CpxA-CpxR pathway. It is unclear whether CpxA* phenotypes are caused solely by hyperphosphorylation of CpxR. We here report that all of the tested CpxA* phenotypes depend on elevated levels of CpxR-P and not on cross-signalling of CpxA* to noncognate response regulators.


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