scholarly journals Acquisition and Role of Molybdate in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

2014 ◽  
Vol 80 (21) ◽  
pp. 6843-6852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria G. Pederick ◽  
Bart A. Eijkelkamp ◽  
Miranda P. Ween ◽  
Stephanie L. Begg ◽  
James C. Paton ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIn microaerophilic or anaerobic environments,Pseudomonas aeruginosautilizes nitrate reduction for energy production, a process dependent on the availability of the oxyanionic form of molybdenum, molybdate (MoO42−). Here, we show that molybdate acquisition inP. aeruginosaoccurs via a high-affinity ATP-binding cassette permease (ModABC). ModA is a cluster D-III solute binding protein capable of interacting with molybdate or tungstate oxyanions. Deletion of themodAgene reduces cellular molybdate concentrations and results in inhibition of anaerobic growth and nitrate reduction. Further, we show that conditions that permit nitrate reduction also cause inhibition of biofilm formation and an alteration in fatty acid composition ofP. aeruginosa. Collectively, these data highlight the importance of molybdate for anaerobic growth ofP. aeruginosaand reveal novel consequences of nitrate reduction on biofilm formation and cell membrane composition.

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Xia ◽  
Mei Li ◽  
Zhenyang Tian ◽  
Gukui Chen ◽  
Chang Liu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTPseudomonas aeruginosais an opportunistic bacterial pathogen and is intrinsically resistant to a variety of antibiotics. Oligoribonuclease (Orn) is a 3′-to-5′ exonuclease that degrades nanoRNAs. The Orn controls biofilm formation by influencing the homeostasis of cyclic-di-GMP. Previously, we demonstrated that Orn contributes to the tolerance ofP. aeruginosato fluoroquinolone antibiotics by affecting the production of pyocins. In this study, we found that mutation in theorngene reduces bacterial tolerance to aminoglycoside and β-lactam antibiotics, which is mainly due to a defective response to oxidative stresses. The major catalase KatA is downregulated in theornmutant, and overexpression of thekatAgene restores the bacterial tolerance to oxidative stresses and the antibiotics. We further demonstrated that Orn influenced the translation of thekatAmRNA and narrowed down the region in thekatAmRNA that is involved in the regulation of its translation. Therefore, our results revealed a novel role of the Orn in bacterial tolerance to oxidative stresses as well as aminoglycoside and β-lactam antibiotics.


2011 ◽  
Vol 77 (15) ◽  
pp. 5238-5246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aamir Ghafoor ◽  
Iain D. Hay ◽  
Bernd H. A. Rehm

ABSTRACTPseudomonas aeruginosais an opportunistic human pathogen and has been established as a model organism to study bacterial biofilm formation. At least three exopolysaccharides (alginate, Psl, and Pel) contribute to the formation of biofilms in this organism. Here mutants deficient in the production of one or more of these polysaccharides were generated to investigate how these polymers interactively contribute to biofilm formation. Confocal laser scanning microscopy of biofilms formed in flow chambers showed that mutants deficient in alginate biosynthesis developed biofilms with a decreased proportion of viable cells than alginate-producing strains, indicating a role of alginate in viability of cells in biofilms. Alginate-deficient mutants showed enhanced extracellular DNA (eDNA)-containing surface structures impacting the biofilm architecture. PAO1 ΔpslAΔalg8overproduced Pel, and eDNA showing meshwork-like structures presumably based on an interaction between both polymers were observed. The formation of characteristic mushroom-like structures required both Psl and alginate, whereas Pel appeared to play a role in biofilm cell density and/or the compactness of the biofilm. Mutants producing only alginate, i.e., mutants deficient in both Psl and Pel production, lost their ability to form biofilms. A lack of Psl enhanced the production of Pel, and the absence of Pel enhanced the production of alginate. The function of Psl in attachment was independent of alginate and Pel. A 30% decrease in Psl promoter activity in the alginate-overproducing MucA-negative mutant PDO300 suggested inverse regulation of both biosynthesis operons. Overall, this study demonstrated that the various exopolysaccharides and eDNA interactively contribute to the biofilm architecture ofP. aeruginosa.


2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 1128-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucía Fernández ◽  
Elena B. M. Breidenstein ◽  
Diana Song ◽  
Robert E. W. Hancock

ABSTRACTPseudomonas aeruginosapossesses complex regulatory networks controlling virulence and survival under adverse conditions, including antibiotic pressure, which are interconnected and share common regulatory proteins. Here, we screen a panel of 13 mutants defective in intracellular proteases and demonstrate that, in addition to the known alterations in Lon and AsrA mutants, mutation of three protease-related proteins PfpI, ClpS, and ClpP differentially affected antibiotic resistance, swarming motility, and biofilm formation.


Microbiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 166 (8) ◽  
pp. 735-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Pezzoni ◽  
Ramón A. Pizarro ◽  
Cristina S. Costa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa , a versatile bacterium present in terrestrial and aquatic environments and a relevant opportunistic human pathogen, is largely known for the production of robust biofilms. The unique properties of these structures complicate biofilm eradication, because they make the biofilms very resistant to diverse antibacterial agents. Biofilm development and establishment is a complex process regulated by multiple regulatory genetic systems, among them is quorum sensing (QS), a mechanism employed by bacteria to regulate gene transcription in response to population density. In addition, environmental factors such as UVA radiation (400–315 nm) have been linked to biofilm formation. In this work, we further investigate the mechanism underlying the induction of biofilm formation by UVA, analysing the role of QS in this phenomenon. We demonstrate that UVA induces key genes of the Las and Rhl QS systems at the transcriptional level. We also report that pelA and pslA genes, which are essential for biofilm formation and whose transcription depends in part on QS, are significantly induced under UVA exposure. Finally, the results demonstrate that in a relA strain (impaired for ppGpp production), the UVA treatment does not induce biofilm formation or QS genes, suggesting that the increase of biofilm formation due to exposure to UVA in P. aeruginosa could rely on a ppGpp-dependent QS induction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Sanz-García ◽  
Carolina Alvarez-Ortega ◽  
Jorge Olivares-Pacheco ◽  
Paula Blanco ◽  
José Luis Martínez ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT High-throughput screening of transposon insertion libraries is a useful strategy for unveiling bacterial genes whose inactivation results in an altered susceptibility to antibiotics. A potential drawback of these studies is they are usually based on just one model antibiotic for each structural family, under the assumption that the results can be extrapolated to all members of said family. To determine if this simplification is appropriate, we have analyzed the susceptibility of mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to four aminoglycosides. Our results indicate that each mutation produces different effects on susceptibility to the tested aminoglycosides, with only two mutants showing similar changes in the susceptibility to all studied aminoglycosides. This indicates that the role of a particular gene in the resistome of a given antibiotic should not be generalized to other members of the same structural family. Five aminoglycoside-hypersusceptible mutants inactivating glnD, hflK, PA2798, PA3016, and hpf were chosen for further analysis in order to elucidate if lower aminoglycoside susceptibility correlates with cross-hypersusceptibility to other antibiotics and with impaired virulence. Our results indicate that glnD inactivation leads to increased cross-susceptibility to different antibiotics. The mutant in this gene is strongly impaired in virulence traits such as pyocyanin production, biofilm formation, elastase activity, and swarming motility and the ability to kill Caenorhabditis elegans. Thus, GlnD might be an interesting target for developing antibiotic coadjuvants with antiresistance and antivirulence properties against P. aeruginosa.


2012 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 1639-1649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kang-Mu Lee ◽  
Junhyeok Go ◽  
Mi Young Yoon ◽  
Yongjin Park ◽  
Sang Cheol Kim ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTPseudomonas aeruginosaundergoes cell elongation and forms robust biofilms during anaerobic respiratory growth using nitrate (NO3−) as an alternative electron acceptor. Understanding the mechanism of cell shape change induced upon anaerobiosis is crucial to the development of effective treatments againstP. aeruginosabiofilm infection. Here, we uncovered the molecular basis of anaerobiosis-triggered cell elongation and identified vitamin B12to be a molecule that can reinstate defective anaerobic growth ofP. aeruginosa. The ratio of total cellular DNA content to protein content was significantly decreased in the PAO1 strain grown under anaerobic conditions, indicating that DNA replication is impaired during anaerobic growth. Anaerobic growth of PAO1 reached a higher cell density in the presence of vitamin B12, an essential coenzyme of class II ribonucleotide reductase. In addition, cell morphology returned to a normal rod shape and transcription of stress-response genes was downregulated under the same anaerobic growth conditions. These results suggest that vitamin B12, the production of which was suppressed during anaerobic growth, can restore cellular machineries for DNA replication and therefore facilitate better anaerobic growth ofP. aeruginosawith normal cell division. Importantly, biofilm formation was substantially decreased when grown with vitamin B12, further demonstrating that anaerobiosis-induced cell elongation is responsible for robust biofilm formation. Taken together, our data reveal mechanistic details of a morphological change that naturally occurs during anaerobic growth ofP. aeruginosaand illustrates the ability of vitamin B12to modulate the biofilm-forming capacity ofP. aeruginosaunder such condition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 201 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia F. Nepper ◽  
Yin C. Lin ◽  
Douglas B. Weibel

ABSTRACTBiofilm formation is a complex process that requires a number of transcriptional, proteomic, and physiological changes to enable bacterial survival. The lipid membrane presents a barrier to communication between the machinery within bacteria and the physical and chemical features of their extracellular environment, and yet little is known about how the membrane influences biofilm development. We found that depleting the anionic phospholipid cardiolipin reduces biofilm formation inEscherichia colicells by as much as 50%. The absence of cardiolipin activates the regulation of colanic acid synthesis (Rcs) envelope stress response, which represses the production of flagella, disrupts initial biofilm attachment, and reduces biofilm growth. We demonstrate that a reduction in the concentration of cardiolipin impairs translocation of proteins across the inner membrane, which we hypothesize activates the Rcs pathway through the outer membrane lipoprotein RcsF. Our study demonstrates a molecular connection between the composition of membrane phospholipids and biofilm formation inE. coliand suggests that altering lipid biosynthesis may be a viable approach for altering biofilm formation and possibly other multicellular phenotypes related to bacterial adaptation and survival.IMPORTANCEThere is a growing interest in the role of lipid membrane composition in the physiology and adaptation of bacteria. We demonstrate that a reduction in the anionic phospholipid cardiolipin impairs biofilm formation inEscherichia colicells. Depleting cardiolipin reduced protein translocation across the inner membrane and activated the Rcs envelope stress response. Consequently, cardiolipin depletion produced cells lacking assembled flagella, which impacted their ability to attach to surfaces and seed the earliest stage in biofilm formation. This study provides empirical evidence for the role of anionic phospholipid homeostasis in protein translocation and its effect on biofilm development and highlights modulation of the membrane composition as a potential method of altering bacterial phenotypes related to adaptation and survival.


2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 1274-1285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Strehmel ◽  
Anke Neidig ◽  
Michael Nusser ◽  
Robert Geffers ◽  
Gerald Brenner-Weiss ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTPseudomonas aeruginosais an opportunistic human pathogen that is able to sense and adapt to numerous environmental stimuli by the use of transcriptional regulators, including two-component regulatory systems. In this study, we demonstrate that the sensor kinase PA4398 is involved in the regulation of swarming motility and biofilm formation inP. aeruginosaPA14. A PA4398−mutant strain was considerably impaired in swarming motility, while biofilm formation was increased by approximately 2-fold. The PA4398−mutant showed no changes in growth rate, rhamnolipid synthesis, or the production of the Pel exopolysaccharide but exhibited levels of the intracellular second messenger cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) 50% higher than those in wild-type cells. The role of PA4398 in gene regulation was investigated by comparing the PA4398−mutant to the wild-type strain by using microarray analysis, which demonstrated that 64 genes were up- or downregulated more than 1.5-fold (P< 0.05) under swarming conditions. In addition, more-sensitive real-time PCR studies were performed on genes known to be involved in c-di-GMP metabolism. Among the dysregulated genes were several involved in the synthesis and degradation of c-di-GMP or in the biosynthesis, transport, or function of the iron-scavenging siderophores pyoverdine and pyochelin, in agreement with the swarming phenotype observed. By analyzing additional mutants of selected pyoverdine- and pyochelin-related genes, we were able to show that not onlypvdQbut alsopvdR,fptA,pchA,pchD, andpchHare essential for the normal swarming behavior ofP. aeruginosaPA14 and may also contribute to the swarming-deficient phenotype of the PA4398−mutant in addition to elevated c-di-GMP levels.


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