The Pseudomonas aeruginosa Two-Component Regulator AlgR Directly Activates rsmA Expression in a Phosphorylation-Independent Manner

• Published in: Journal of bacteriology Vol. 199; no. 18
• Main Authors: Stacey, Sean D, Williams, Danielle A, Pritchett, Christopher L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Microbiology 15-09-2017
• Subjects: Alginic acid; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Bacteriology; Chronic illnesses; Cystic fibrosis; Environmental effects; Gene expression; Infections; Pathogenesis; Phosphorylation; Post-transcription; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Sigma factor; Spotlight; Transcription; mucoid; RsmA; two-component regulatory systems; mucA; cystic fibrosis; AlgR; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; P. aeruginosa
• ISSN: 0021-9193; 1098-5530
• DOI: 10.1128/JB.00048-17

is an important pathogen of the immunocompromised, causing both acute and chronic infections. In cystic fibrosis (CF) patients,
causes chronic disease. The impressive sensory network of
allows the bacterium to sense and respond to a variety of stimuli found in diverse environments. Transcriptional regulators, including alternative sigma factors and response regulators, integrate signals changing gene expression, allowing
to cause infection. The two-component transcriptional regulator AlgR is important in
pathogenesis in both acute and chronic infections. In chronic infections, AlgR and the alternative sigma factor AlgU activate the genes responsible for alginate production. Previous work demonstrated that AlgU controls
expression. RsmA is a posttranscriptional regulator that is antagonized by two small RNAs, RsmY and RsmZ. In this work, we demonstrate that AlgR directly activates
expression from the same promoter as AlgU. In addition, phosphorylation was not necessary for AlgR activation of
using
and
mutant strains. AlgU and AlgR appear to affect the antagonizing small RNAs
and
indirectly. RsmA was active in a
mutant strain using leader fusions of two RsmA targets,
and
AlgU and AlgR were necessary for posttranscriptional regulation of
and
Altogether, our work demonstrates that the alginate regulators AlgU and AlgR are important in the control of the RsmA posttranscriptional regulatory system. These findings suggest that RsmA plays an unknown role in mucoid strains due to AlgU and AlgR activities.
infections are difficult to treat and frequently cause significant mortality in CF patients. Understanding the mechanisms of persistence is important. Our work has demonstrated that the alginate regulatory system also significantly impacts the posttranscriptional regulator system RsmA/Y/Z. We demonstrate that AlgR directly activates
expression, and this impacts the RsmA regulon. This leads to the possibility that the RsmA/Y/Z system plays a role in helping
persist during chronic infection. In addition, this furthers our understanding of the reach of the alginate regulators AlgU and AlgR.