Azithromycin Inhibits Expression of the GacA-Dependent Small RNAs RsmY and RsmZ in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
ABSTRACTAzithromycin at clinically relevant doses does not inhibit planktonic growth of the opportunistic pathogenPseudomonas aeruginosabut causes markedly reduced formation of biofilms and quorum-sensing-regulated extracellular virulence factors. In the Gac/Rsm signal transduction pathway, which acts upstream of the quorum-sensing machinery inP. aeruginosa, the GacA-dependent untranslated small RNAs RsmY and RsmZ are key regulatory elements. As azithromycin treatment and mutational inactivation ofgacAhave strikingly similar phenotypic consequences, the effect of azithromycin onrsmYandrsmZexpression was investigated. In planktonically growing cells, the antibiotic strongly inhibited the expression of both small RNA genes but did not affect the expression of the housekeeping geneproC. The azithromycin treatment resulted in reduced expression ofgacAandrsmA, which are known positive regulators ofrsmYandrsmZ, and of the PA0588-PA0584 gene cluster, which was discovered as a novel positive regulatory element involved inrsmYandrsmZexpression. Deletion of this cluster resulted in diminished ability ofP. aeruginosato produce pyocyanin and to swarm. The results of this study indicate that azithromycin inhibitsrsmYandrsmZtranscription indirectly by lowering the expression of positive regulators of these small RNA genes.