scholarly journals The effect of ArcA on the growth, motility, biofilm formation, and virulence of Plesiomonas shigelloides

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junxiang Yan ◽  
Yuehua Li ◽  
Xueqian Guo ◽  
Xiaochen Wang ◽  
Fenxia Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The anoxic redox control binary system plays an important role in the response to oxygen as a signal in the environment. In particular, phosphorylated ArcA, as a global transcription factor, binds to the promoter regions of its target genes to regulate the expression of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism genes. However, the function of ArcA in Plesiomonas shigelloides is unknown. Results In the present study, P. shigelloides was used as the research object. The differences in growth, motility, biofilm formation, and virulence between the WT strain and the ΔarcA isogenic deletion mutant strain were compared. The data showed that the absence of arcA not only caused growth retardation of P. shigelloides in the log phase, but also greatly reduced the glucose utilization in M9 medium before the stationary phase. The motility of the ΔarcA mutant strain was either greatly reduced when grown in swim agar, or basically lost when grown in swarm agar. The electrophoretic mobility shift assay results showed that ArcA bound to the promoter regions of the flaK, rpoN, and cheV genes, indicating that ArcA directly regulates the expression of these three motility-related genes in P. shigelloides. Meanwhile, the ability of the ΔarcA strain to infect Caco-2 cells was reduced by 40%; on the contrary, its biofilm formation was enhanced. Furthermore, the complementation of the WT arcA gene from pBAD33-arcA+ was constructed and all of the above features of the pBAD33-arcA+ complemented strain were restored to the WT level. Conclusions We showed the effect of ArcA on the growth, motility, biofilm formation, and virulence of Plesiomonas shigelloides, and demonstrated that ArcA functions as a positive regulator controls the motility of P. shigelloides by directly regulating the expression of flaK, rpoN and cheV genes.

2018 ◽  
Vol 84 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiu Jiang ◽  
Zeyu Jin ◽  
Baolin Sun

ABSTRACT Phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) are amphipathic peptides that are produced by staphylococci and play important roles in Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation and dissemination. Although the multiple functions of PSMs have been recognized, the regulatory mechanisms controlling the expression of psm operons remain largely unknown. In this study, we identified MgrA in a DNA pulldown assay and further demonstrated, by electrophoretic mobility shift assays and DNase I footprinting assays, that MgrA could bind specifically to the promoter regions of psm operons. We then constructed an isogenic mgrA deletion strain and compared biofilm formation and detachment in the wild-type and isogenic mgrA deletion strains. Our results indicated that biofilm formation and detachment were significantly increased in the mgrA mutant strain. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR data indicated that MgrA repressed the transcription of psm operons in cultures and biofilms, suggesting that MgrA is a negative regulator of psm expression. Furthermore, we analyzed biofilm formation by the psm mutant strains, and we found that PSMs promoted biofilm structuring and development in the mgrA mutant strain. These findings reveal that MgrA negatively regulates biofilm formation and detachment by repressing the expression of psm operons through direct binding to the psm promoter regions.IMPORTANCE Staphylococcus aureus is a human and animal pathogen that can cause biofilm-associated infections. PSMs have multiple functions in biofilm development and virulence in staphylococcal pathogenesis. This study has revealed that MgrA can negatively regulate psm expression by binding directly to the promoter regions of psm operons. Furthermore, our results show that MgrA can modulate biofilm structuring and development by repressing the production of PSMs in S. aureus. Our findings provide novel insights into the regulatory mechanisms of S. aureus psm gene expression, biofilm development, and pathogenesis.


1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 5852-5860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédérique Verdier ◽  
Raquel Rabionet ◽  
Fabrice Gouilleux ◽  
Christian Beisenherz-Huss ◽  
Paule Varlet ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Two distinct genes encode the closely related signal transducer and activator of transcription proteins STAT5A and STAT5B. The molecular mechanisms of gene regulation by STAT5 and, particularly, the requirement for both STAT5 isoforms are still undetermined. Only a few STAT5 target genes, among them the CIS (cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein) gene, have been identified. We cloned the human CIS gene and studied the human CIS gene promoter. This promoter contains four STAT binding elements organized in two pairs. By electrophoretic mobility shift assay studies using nuclear extracts of UT7 cells stimulated with erythropoietin, we showed that these four sequences bound to STAT5-containing complexes that exhibited different patterns and affinities: the three upstream STAT binding sequences bound to two distinct STAT5-containing complexes (C0 and C1) and the downstream STAT box bound only to the slower-migrating C1 band. Using nuclear extracts from COS-7 cells transfected with expression vectors for the prolactin receptor, STAT5A, and/or STAT5B, we showed that the C1 complex was composed of a STAT5 tetramer and was dependent on the presence of STAT5A. STAT5B lacked this property and bound with a stronger affinity than did STAT5A to the four STAT sequences as a homodimer (C0 complex). This distinct biochemical difference between STAT5A and STAT5B was confirmed with purified activated STAT5 recombinant proteins. Moreover, we showed that the presence on the same side of the DNA helix of a second STAT sequence increased STAT5 binding and that only half of the palindromic STAT binding sequence was sufficient for the formation of a STAT5 tetramer. Again, STAT5A was essential for this cooperative tetrameric association. This property distinguishes STAT5A from STAT5B and could be essential to explain the transcriptional regulation diversity of STAT5.


2009 ◽  
Vol 192 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydgia A. Jackson ◽  
Thomas F. Ducey ◽  
Michael W. Day ◽  
Jeremy B. Zaitshik ◽  
Joshua Orvis ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT To ensure survival in the host, bacteria have evolved strategies to acquire the essential element iron. In Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the ferric uptake regulator Fur regulates metabolism through transcriptional control of iron-responsive genes by binding conserved Fur box (FB) sequences in promoters during iron-replete growth. Our previous studies showed that Fur also controls the transcription of secondary regulators that may, in turn, control pathways important to pathogenesis, indicating an indirect role for Fur in controlling these downstream genes. To better define the iron-regulated cascade of transcriptional control, we combined three global strategies—temporal transcriptome analysis, genomewide in silico FB prediction, and Fur titration assays (FURTA)—to detect genomic regions able to bind Fur in vivo. The majority of the 300 iron-repressed genes were predicted to be of unknown function, followed by genes involved in iron metabolism, cell communication, and intermediary metabolism. The 107 iron-induced genes encoded hypothetical proteins or energy metabolism functions. We found 28 predicted FBs in FURTA-positive clones in the promoters and within the open reading frames of iron-repressed genes. We found lower levels of conservation at critical thymidine residues involved in Fur binding in the FB sequence logos of FURTA-positive clones with intragenic FBs than in the sequence logos generated from FURTA-positive promoter regions. In electrophoretic mobility shift assay studies, intragenic FBs bound Fur with a lower affinity than intergenic FBs. Our findings further indicate that transcription under iron stress is indirectly controlled by Fur through 12 potential secondary regulators.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1232-1243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingru Wang ◽  
Xiaolong Shao ◽  
Yingchao Zhang ◽  
Yanan Zhu ◽  
Pan Yang ◽  
...  

The type III secretion system (T3SS) is the main machinery for Pseudomonas savastanoi and other gram-negative bacteria to invade plant cells. HrpR and HrpS form a hetero-hexamer, which activates the expression of HrpL, which induces all T3SS genes by binding to a ‘hrp box’ in promoters. However, the individual molecular mechanism of HrpR or HrpS has not been fully understood. Through chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled to high-throughput DNA sequencing, we found that HrpR, HrpS, and HrpL had four, 47, and 31 targets on the genome, respectively. HrpS directly bound to the promoter regions of a group of T3SS genes and non-T3SS genes. HrpS independently regulated these genes in a hrpL deletion strain. Additionally, a HrpS-binding motif (GTGCCAAA) was identified, which was verified by electrophoretic mobility shift assay and lux-reporter assay. HrpS also regulated motility and biofilm formation in P. savastanoi. The present study strongly suggests that HrpS alone can work as a global regulator on both T3SS and non-T3SS genes in P. savastanoi. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .


2006 ◽  
Vol 396 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferenc Marincs ◽  
Iain W. Manfield ◽  
Jonathan A. Stead ◽  
Kenneth J. Mcdowall ◽  
Peter G. Stockley

We have used DNA arrays to investigate the effects of knocking out the methionine repressor gene, metJ, on the Escherichia coli transcriptome. We assayed the effects in the knockout strain of supplying wild-type or mutant MetJ repressors from an expression plasmid, thus establishing a rapid assay for in vivo effects of mutations characterized previously in vitro. Repression is largely restricted to known genes involved in the biosynthesis and uptake of methionine. However, we identified a number of additional genes that are significantly up-regulated in the absence of repressor. Sequence analysis of the 5′ promoter regions of these genes identified plausible matches to met-box sequences for three of these, and subsequent electrophoretic mobility-shift assay analysis showed that for two such loci their repressor affinity is higher than or comparable with the known metB operator, suggesting that they are directly regulated. This can be rationalized for one of the loci, folE, by the metabolic role of its encoded enzyme; however, the links to the other regulated loci are unclear, suggesting both an extension to the known met regulon and additional complexity to the role of the repressor. The plasmid gene replacement system has been used to examine the importance of protein–protein co-operativity in operator saturation using the structurally characterized mutant repressor, Q44K. In vivo, there are detectable reductions in the levels of regulation observed, demonstrating the importance of balancing protein–protein and protein–DNA affinity.


Blood ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1457-1464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramiro Gisler ◽  
Sten Erik W. Jacobsen ◽  
Mikael Sigvardsson

Early B-cell factor (EBF) is a helix–loop–helix transcription factor suggested to be essential for B-cell development in the mouse. Several genetic targets for EBF have been identified in mice, among these the surrogate light chain λ5 and the signal-transducing molecules Igα (mb-1) and Igβ (B29). This article reports cloning of the human homologue of EBF, hEBF. This protein has 93% sequence and 98.8% amino acid homology with mouse EBF. The encoded protein binds DNA and is expressed in cells of the B lineage, but not in cell populations representing T lymphocytes or myeloid cells. It is also shown that EBF-binding sites are functionally conserved in the humanmb-1 and B29 promoters because hEBF interacts with these in the electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and have the ability to increase the activity of reporter constructs under the control of these promoters in nonlymphoid HeLa cells. A third genetic target for hEBF is the promoter of the human surrogate light chain14.1. This promoter contains 5 independent binding sites capable of interacting with hEBF in the EMSA, and the activity of the promoter was induced 24-fold in co-transfection experiments. These findings suggest that the human homologue of mouse EBF displays conserved biochemical features as well as genetic targets, indicating that this protein also has an important role in human B-cell development.


Blood ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1457-1464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramiro Gisler ◽  
Sten Erik W. Jacobsen ◽  
Mikael Sigvardsson

Abstract Early B-cell factor (EBF) is a helix–loop–helix transcription factor suggested to be essential for B-cell development in the mouse. Several genetic targets for EBF have been identified in mice, among these the surrogate light chain λ5 and the signal-transducing molecules Igα (mb-1) and Igβ (B29). This article reports cloning of the human homologue of EBF, hEBF. This protein has 93% sequence and 98.8% amino acid homology with mouse EBF. The encoded protein binds DNA and is expressed in cells of the B lineage, but not in cell populations representing T lymphocytes or myeloid cells. It is also shown that EBF-binding sites are functionally conserved in the humanmb-1 and B29 promoters because hEBF interacts with these in the electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and have the ability to increase the activity of reporter constructs under the control of these promoters in nonlymphoid HeLa cells. A third genetic target for hEBF is the promoter of the human surrogate light chain14.1. This promoter contains 5 independent binding sites capable of interacting with hEBF in the EMSA, and the activity of the promoter was induced 24-fold in co-transfection experiments. These findings suggest that the human homologue of mouse EBF displays conserved biochemical features as well as genetic targets, indicating that this protein also has an important role in human B-cell development.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 1724-1733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Honglin Chen ◽  
Jian Huang ◽  
Frederick Y. Wu ◽  
Gangling Liao ◽  
Lindsey Hutt-Fletcher ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) BamHI-A rightward transcripts, or BARTs, are a family of mRNAs expressed in all EBV latency programs, including EBV-infected B cells in healthy carriers. Despite their ubiquitous expression, the regulation and biological function of BARTs are still unclear. In this study, the BART 5′ termini were characterized by using a procedure that selects capped, full-length mRNAs. Two TATA-less promoter regions, designated P1 and P2, were mapped. P1 had relatively high basal activity in both epithelial and B cells, whereas P2 exhibited higher activity in epithelial cells. Upon EBV infection of B cells, transcription from P1 was detected soon after infection, while expression from P2 was delayed. Promoter-reporter assays in transiently transfected cells revealed that P1 and P2 were differentially regulated. Interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7) and IRF5 negatively regulated P1 activity. c-Myc and C/EBP family members positively regulated P2. Regulation of P2 by C/EBPs was characterized by electrophoretic mobility shift assay, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and reporter assays. More-abundant BART expression in epithelial cells correlated with the relative expression of positive and negative regulators in these cells.


2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (14) ◽  
pp. 3965-3974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shite Sebastian ◽  
Sarika Agarwal ◽  
John R. Murphy ◽  
Caroline Attardo Genco

ABSTRACT In this study, we have characterized the in vitro binding of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Fur to several well-defined iron transport genes, as well as to additional genes involved in major catabolic, secretory, and recombination pathways of gonococci. The gonococcal Fur protein was recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli HBMV119. Fur was isolated from inclusion bodies and partially purified by ion-exchange chromatography. Gonococcal Fur was found to bind to the promoter/operator region of a gene encoding the previously identified Fur-regulated periplasmic binding protein (FbpA) in a metal ion-dependent fashion, demonstrating that purified Fur is functional. In silico analysis of the partially completed gonococcal genome (FA1090) identified Fur boxes in the promoters of several genes, including tonB, fur, recN, secY, sodB, hemO, hmbR, fumC, a hypothetical gene (Fe-S homolog), and the opa family of genes. By using purified gonococcal Fur, we demonstrate binding to the operator regions of tonB, fur, recN, secY, sodB, hemO, hmbR, fumC, the Fe-S homolog gene, and the opa gene family as determined by an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. While gonococcal Fur was demonstrated to bind to the promoter regions of all 11 opa genes (opaA through -K), we did not detect binding of purified E. coli Fur with 8 of the 11 opa members, indicating that target DNA sequence specificities between these two closely related proteins exist. Furthermore, we observed differences in the relative strengths of binding of gonococcal Fur for these different genes, which most likely reflect a difference in affinity between gonococcal Fur and its DNA targets. This is the first report that definitively demonstrates the binding of gonococcal Fur to its own promoter/operator region, as well as to the opa family of genes that encode surface proteins. Our results demonstrate that the gonococcal Fur protein binds to the regulatory regions of a broad array of genes and indicates that the gonococcal Fur regulon is larger than originally proposed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 629
Author(s):  
Shih-Jie Chen ◽  
Hung-Yu Shu ◽  
Guang-Huey Lin

In this study, we show that Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606 harbors two sets of ohrR-ohr genes, respectively encoded in chromosomal DNA and a pMAC plasmid. We found no significant difference in organic hydroperoxide (OHP) resistance between strains with or without pMAC. However, a disk diffusion assay conducted by exposing wild-type, ∆ohrR-C, C represented gene on chromosome, or ∆ohr-C single mutants, or ∆ohrR-C∆ohr-C double mutants to tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBHP) found that the ohrR-p-ohr-p genes, p represented genes on pMAC plasmid, may be able to complement the function of their chromosomal counterparts. Interestingly, ∆ohr-C single mutants generated in A. baumannii ATCC 17978, which does not harbor pMAC, demonstrated delayed exponential growth and loss of viability following exposure to 135 μg of tBHP. In a survival assay conducted with Galleria mellonella larvae, these mutants demonstrated almost complete loss of virulence. Via an electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), we found that OhrR-C was able to bind to the promoter regions of both chromosomal and pMAC ohr-p genes, but with varying affinity. A gain-of-function assay conducted in Escherichia coli showed that OhrR-C was not only capable of suppressing transformed ohr-C genes but may also repress endogenous enzymes. Taken together, our findings suggest that chromosomal ohrR-C-ohr-C genes act as the major system in protecting A. baumannii ATCC 19606 from OHP stresses, but the ohrR-p-ohr-p genes on pMAC can provide a supplementary protective effect, and the interaction between these genes may affect other aspects of bacterial viability, such as growth and virulence.


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