ABSTRACT
The VanRS two-component signal transduction pathway fromEnterococcus faecium was reconstituted in vitro from partially purified components and shown to be inhibited by the halophenyl isothiazolone LY-266,400, inhibitor A, a compound shown previously to reduce expression of the AlgR1-AlgR2 two-component signal transduction pathway in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (S. Roychoudhury, N. A. Zielinski, A. J. Ninfa, N. E. Allen, L. N. Jungheim, T. I. Nicas, and A. M. Chakrabarty, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:965–969, 1993). Inhibitor A attenuates phosphoryl transfer from VanS∼P to VanR by its action on the ability of VanR to accept. We observed an apparent stimulatory effect of inhibitor A on VanS autophosphorylation which is attributable to the accumulation of VanS∼P as an intermediate unable to transfer Pi to the inhibited VanR. Thus, inhibitor A acts on the second of two sequential steps which lead to transcriptional activation of the VanHAXYZ gene cluster and the resultant expression of vancomycin resistance.
Structural Insight into Partner Specificity and Phosphoryl Transfer in Two-Component Signal Transduction
