scholarly journals Elucidation of regulatory modes for five two-component systems in Escherichia coli reveals novel relationships

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kumari Sonal Choudhary ◽  
Julia A. Kleinmanns ◽  
Katherine Decker ◽  
Anand V Sastry ◽  
Ye Gao ◽  
...  

AbstractEscherichia coli uses two-component systems (TCSs) to respond to environmental signals. TCSs affect gene expression and are parts of E. coli’s global transcriptional regulatory network (TRN). Here, we identified the regulons of five TCSs in E. coli MG1655: BaeSR and CpxAR, which were stimulated by ethanol stress; KdpDE and PhoRB, induced by limiting potassium and phosphate, respectively; and ZraSR, stimulated by zinc. We analyzed RNA-seq data using independent component analysis (ICA). ChIP-exo data was used to validate condition-specific target gene binding sites. Based on this data we (1) identify the target genes for each TCS; (2) show how the target genes are transcribed in response to stimulus; and (3) reveal novel relationships between TCSs, which indicate non-cognate inducers for various response regulators, such as BaeR to iron starvation, CpxR to phosphate limitation, and PhoB and ZraR to cell envelope stress. Our understanding of the TRN in E. coli is thus notably expanded.ImportanceE. coli is a common commensal microbe found in human gut microenvironment; however, some strains cause diseases like diarrhea, urinary tract infections and meningitis. E. coli’s two-component system (TCS) modulates target gene expression, specially related to virulence, pathogenesis and anti-microbial peptides, in response to environmental stimuli. Thus, it is of utmost importance to understand the transcriptional regulation of the TCSs to infer its environmental adaptation and disease pathogenicity. Utilizing a combinatorial approach integrating RNAseq, independent component analysis, ChIP-exo and data mining, we show that TCSs have five different modes of transcriptional regulation. Our data further highlights non-cognate inducers of TCSs emphasizing cross-regulatory nature of TCSs in E. coli and suggests that TCSs may have a role beyond their cognate functionalities. In summary, these results when further incorporated with genome scale metabolic models can lead to understanding of metabolic capabilities of bacteria and correctly predict complex phenotype under diverse conditions.

mSystems ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kumari Sonal Choudhary ◽  
Julia A. Kleinmanns ◽  
Katherine Decker ◽  
Anand V. Sastry ◽  
Ye Gao ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli uses two-component systems (TCSs) to respond to environmental signals. TCSs affect gene expression and are parts of E. coli’s global transcriptional regulatory network (TRN). Here, we identified the regulons of five TCSs in E. coli MG1655: BaeSR and CpxAR, which were stimulated by ethanol stress; KdpDE and PhoRB, induced by limiting potassium and phosphate, respectively; and ZraSR, stimulated by zinc. We analyzed RNA-seq data using independent component analysis (ICA). ChIP-exo data were used to validate condition-specific target gene binding sites. Based on these data, we do the following: (i) identify the target genes for each TCS; (ii) show how the target genes are transcribed in response to stimulus; and (iii) reveal novel relationships between TCSs, which indicate noncognate inducers for various response regulators, such as BaeR to iron starvation, CpxR to phosphate limitation, and PhoB and ZraR to cell envelope stress. Our understanding of the TRN in E. coli is thus notably expanded. IMPORTANCE E. coli is a common commensal microbe found in the human gut microenvironment; however, some strains cause diseases like diarrhea, urinary tract infections, and meningitis. E. coli’s two-component systems (TCSs) modulate target gene expression, especially related to virulence, pathogenesis, and antimicrobial peptides, in response to environmental stimuli. Thus, it is of utmost importance to understand the transcriptional regulation of TCSs to infer bacterial environmental adaptation and disease pathogenicity. Utilizing a combinatorial approach integrating RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), independent component analysis, chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with exonuclease treatment (ChIP-exo), and data mining, we suggest five different modes of TCS transcriptional regulation. Our data further highlight noncognate inducers of TCSs, which emphasizes the cross-regulatory nature of TCSs in E. coli and suggests that TCSs may have a role beyond their cognate functionalities. In summary, these results can lead to an understanding of the metabolic capabilities of bacteria and correctly predict complex phenotype under diverse conditions, especially when further incorporated with genome-scale metabolic models.


Microbiology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 156 (4) ◽  
pp. 1167-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola C. Reading ◽  
David Rasko ◽  
Alfredo G. Torres ◽  
Vanessa Sperandio

QseE is a sensor kinase that responds to epinephrine, sulfate and phosphate. QseE constitutes a two-component signalling system together with the QseF σ 54-dependent response regulator. Encoded within the same operon as qseEF is the qseG gene, which encodes a membrane protein involved in the translocation of a type III secretion effector protein of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) into epithelial cells. The qseEGF genes also form an operon with the glnB gene, which encodes the E. coli nitrogen sensor PII protein. Here we report a transcriptome analysis comparing qseE, qseF andqseG single mutants with the wild-type strain. This study revealed that the proteins encoded by these genes play a modest but significant role in iron uptake. Although QseEFG regulate genes involved in nitrogen utilization, these proteins do not play a notable role in nitrogen metabolism. In addition, QseEFG regulate transcription of the rcsBC and phoPQ two-component systems, linking several signal transduction pathways. The similarity of the microarray profiles of these mutants also indicates that these proteins work together. These data indicate that QseEFG are involved in the regulation of virulence and metabolism in EHEC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita A. Luu ◽  
Rebecca A. Schomer ◽  
Ceanne N. Brunton ◽  
Richard Truong ◽  
Albert P. Ta ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Soil bacteria adapt to diverse and rapidly changing environmental conditions by sensing and responding to environmental cues using a variety of sensory systems. Two-component systems are a widespread type of signal transduction system present in all three domains of life and typically are comprised of a sensor kinase and a response regulator. Many two-component systems function by regulating gene expression in response to environmental stimuli. The bacterial chemotaxis system is a modified two-component system with additional protein components and a response that, rather than regulating gene expression, involves behavioral adaptation and results in net movement toward or away from a chemical stimulus. Soil bacteria generally have 20 to 40 or more chemoreceptors encoded in their genomes. To simplify the identification of chemoeffectors (ligands) sensed by bacterial chemoreceptors, we constructed hybrid sensor proteins by fusing the sensor domains of Pseudomonas putida chemoreceptors to the signaling domains of the Escherichia coli NarX/NarQ nitrate sensors. Responses to potential attractants were monitored by β-galactosidase assays using an E. coli reporter strain in which the nitrate-responsive narG promoter was fused to lacZ. Hybrid receptors constructed from PcaY, McfR, and NahY, which are chemoreceptors for aromatic acids, tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, and naphthalene, respectively, were sensitive and specific for detecting known attractants, and the β-galactosidase activities measured in E. coli correlated well with results of chemotaxis assays in the native P. putida strain. In addition, a screen of the hybrid receptors successfully identified new ligands for chemoreceptor proteins and resulted in the identification of six receptors that detect propionate. IMPORTANCE Relatively few of the thousands of chemoreceptors encoded in bacterial genomes have been functionally characterized. More importantly, although methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins, the major type of chemoreceptors present in bacteria, are easily identified bioinformatically, it is not currently possible to predict what chemicals will bind to a particular chemoreceptor. Chemotaxis is known to play roles in biodegradation as well as in host-pathogen and host-symbiont interactions, but many studies are currently limited by the inability to identify relevant chemoreceptor ligands. The use of hybrid receptors and this simple E. coli reporter system allowed rapid and sensitive screening for potential chemoeffectors. The fusion site chosen for this study resulted in a high percentage of functional hybrids, indicating that it could be used to broadly test chemoreceptor responses from phylogenetically diverse samples. Considering the wide range of chemical attractants detected by soil bacteria, hybrid receptors may also be useful as sensitive biosensors.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara El Hajj ◽  
Camille Henry ◽  
Alexandra Vergnes ◽  
Laurent Loiseau ◽  
Brasseur Gael ◽  
...  

Two component systems (TCS) are signalling pathways that allow bacterial cells to sense, respond and adapt to fluctuating environments. Among the classical TCS of Escherichia coli, YedVW has been recently showed to be involved in the regulation of msrPQ, encoding for the periplasmic methionine sulfoxide reductase system. In this study, we demonstrate that hypochlorous acid (HOCl) induces the expression of msrPQ in a YedVW dependant manner, whereas H2O2, NO and paraquat (a superoxide generator) do not. Therefore, YedV appears to be an HOCl-sensing histidine kinase. Based on this finding, we proposed to rename this system HypVW.  Moreover, using a directed mutagenesis approach, we show that Met residues located in the periplasmic loop of HypV (formerly YedV) are important for its activity. Given that HOCl oxidizes preferentially Met residues, we bring evidences that HypV could be activated via the reversible oxidation of its methionine residues, thus conferring to MsrPQ a role in switching HypVW off. Based on these results, we propose that the activation of HypV by HOCl could occur through a Met redox switch. HypVW appears to be the first characterized TCS able to detect HOCl in E. coli. This study represents an important step in understanding the mechanisms of reactive chlorine species resistance in prokaryotes.


2007 ◽  
Vol 104 (47) ◽  
pp. 18712-18717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Eguchi ◽  
J. Itou ◽  
M. Yamane ◽  
R. Demizu ◽  
F. Yamato ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaihuai Li ◽  
Gaoge Xu ◽  
Bo Wang ◽  
Guichun Wu ◽  
Fengquan Liu

AbstractBacterial two-component systems (TCSs) sense and respond to environmental changes and modulate downstream gene expression. However, the mechanism of cross-talk between multiple TCSs is unclear. In this study, we report a previously uncharacterized mechanism by which the TCS protein RpfG interacts with hybrid two-component system (HyTCS) proteins HtsH1, HtsH2 and HtsH3 to regulate antibiotic biosynthesis in Lysobacter. RpfG, a phosphodiesterase (PDE), can degrade c-di-GMP to 5’-pGpG and can regulate antibiotic heat-stable antifungal factor (HSAF) biosynthesis in a PDE- independent manner. Thus, we wondered whether RpfG regulate HSAF biosynthesis through interactions with other factors. Subsequently, we demonstrated that RpfG interacts with three HyTCS proteins (HtsH1, HtsH2 and HtsH3), that can inhibit the PDE enzymatic activity of RpfG. Importantly, deletion of htsH1, htsH2 and htsH3 resulted in significantly decreased HSAF production, and we showed that HtsH1, HtsH2 and HtsH3 depend on their phosphorylation activity to directly regulate HSAF biosynthesis gene expression. Our results reveal that RpfG does not depend on PDE activity to regulate HSAF biosynthesis, rather it interacts with HtsH1, HtsH2 and HtsH3 to do so, a regulatory mechanism that may be a conserved paradigm in Lysobacter and Xanthomonas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie I. Chen ◽  
Francisco Javier Albicoro ◽  
Jun Zhu ◽  
Mark Goulian

ABSTRACT Polymyxins are a class of cyclic peptides with antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria. In Enterobacteriaceae, the PhoQ/PhoP and PmrB/PmrA two-component systems regulate many genes that confer resistance to both polymyxins and host antimicrobial peptides. The activities of these two-component systems are modulated by additional proteins that are conserved across Enterobacteriaceae, such as MgrB, a negative regulator of PhoQ, and PmrD, a “connector” protein that activates PmrB/PmrA in response to PhoQ/PhoP stimulation. Despite the conservation of many protein components of the PhoQ/PhoP-PmrD-PmrB/PmrA network, the specific molecular interactions and regulatory mechanisms vary across different genera. Here, we explore the role of PmrD in modulating this signaling network in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. We show that in K. pneumoniae, PmrD is not required for polymyxin resistance arising from mutation of mgrB—the most common cause of spontaneous polymyxin resistance in this bacterium—suggesting that direct activation of polymyxin resistance genes by PhoQ/PhoP plays a critical role in this resistance pathway. However, for conditions of low pH or intermediate iron concentrations, both of which stimulate PmrB/PmrA, we find that PmrD does contribute to resistance. We further show that in E. coli, PmrD functions as a connector between PhoQ/PhoP and PmrB/PmrA, in contrast with previous reports. In this case, activity also depends on PmrB/PmrA stimulation, or on very high activation of PhoQ/PhoP. Our results indicate that the importance of the PmrD connector in modulating the polymyxin resistance network depends on both the network organization and on the environmental conditions associated with PmrB stimulation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (23) ◽  
pp. 7363-7366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaling Liu ◽  
Robert A. Burne

ABSTRACT Induction of the agmatine deiminase system (AgDS) of Streptococcus mutans requires agmatine and is optimal at low pH. We show here that the VicRK, ComDE, and CiaRH two-component systems influence AgDS gene expression in response to acidic and thermal stresses.


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