Comprehensive analysis of OmpR phosphorylation, dimerization, and DNA binding supports a canonical model for activation

Insights into DNA-binding motifs and mechanisms of Francisella tularensis novicida two-component system response regulator proteins QseB, KdpE, and BfpR

Two component system bacterial response regulators are typically DNA-binding proteins which enable the genetic regulation of many adaptive bacterial behaviors. Despite structural similarity across response regulator families, there is a diverse array of DNA-binding mechanisms. Bacteria usually encode several dozen two-component system response regulators, but Francisella tularensis only encodes three. Due to their simplified response regulatory network, Francisella species are a model for studying the role of response regulator proteins in virulence. Here, we show that Francisella response regulators QseB, KdpE, and BfpR all utilize different DNA-binding mechanisms. Our evidence suggests that QseB follows a simple mechanism whereby it binds a single inverted repeat sequence with a higher affinity upon phosphorylation. This behavior is independent of whether QseB is a positive or negative regulator of the gene as demonstrated by qseB and priM promoter sequences, respectively. Similarly, KdpE binds DNA more tightly upon phosphorylation, but also exhibits a cooperative binding isotherm. While we propose a KdpE binding site, it is possible that KdpE has a complex DNA-binding mechanism potentially involving multiple copies of KdpE being recruited to a promoter region. Finally, we show that BfpR appears to bind a region of its own promoter sequence with a lower affinity upon phosphorylation. Further structural and enzymatic work will need to be performed to deconvolute the KdpE and BfpR binding mechanisms.

Multifaceted regulation of siderophore synthesis by multiple regulatory systems in Shewanella oneidensis

Siderophore-dependent iron uptake is a mechanism by which microorganisms scavenge and utilize iron for their survival, growth, and many specialized activities, such as pathogenicity. The siderophore biosynthetic system PubABC in Shewanella can synthesize a series of distinct siderophores, yet how it is regulated in response to iron availability remains largely unexplored. Here, by whole genome screening we identify TCS components histidine kinase (HK) BarA and response regulator (RR) SsoR as positive regulators of siderophore biosynthesis. While BarA partners with UvrY to mediate expression of pubABC post-transcriptionally via the Csr regulatory cascade, SsoR is an atypical orphan RR of the OmpR/PhoB subfamily that activates transcription in a phosphorylation-independent manner. By combining structural analysis and molecular dynamics simulations, we observe conformational changes in OmpR/PhoB-like RRs that illustrate the impact of phosphorylation on dynamic properties, and that SsoR is locked in the 'phosphorylated' state found in phosphorylation-dependent counterparts of the same subfamily. Furthermore, we show that iron homeostasis global regulator Fur, in addition to mediating transcription of its own regulon, acts as the sensor of iron starvation to increase SsoR production when needed. Overall, this study delineates an intricate, multi-tiered transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory network that governs siderophore biosynthesis.

Residue coevolution and mutational landscape for OmpR and NarL response regulator subfamilies

DNA-binding response regulators (DBRRs) are a broad class of proteins that operate in tandem with their partner kinase proteins to form two-component signal transduction systems in bacteria. Typical DBRRs are composed of two domains where the conserved N-terminal domain accepts transduced signals and the evolutionarily diverse C-terminal domain binds to DNA. These domains are assumed to be functionally independent, and hence recombination of the two domains should yield novel DBRRs of arbitrary input/output response, which can be used as biosensors. This idea has been proved to be successful in some cases; yet, the error rate is not trivial. Improvement of the success rate of this technique requires a deeper understanding of the linker-domain and inter-domain residue interactions, which have not yet been thoroughly examined. Here, we studied residue coevolution of DBRRs of the two main subfamilies (OmpR and NarL) using large collections of bacterial amino acid sequences to extensively investigate the evolutionary signatures of linker-domain and inter-domain residue interactions. Coevolutionary analysis uncovered evolutionarily selected linker-domain and inter-domain residue interactions of known experimental structures, as well as previously unknown inter-domain residue interactions. We examined the possibility of these inter-domain residue interactions as contacts that stabilize an inactive conformation of the DBRR where DNA binding is inhibited for both subfamilies. The newly gained insights on linker-domain/inter-domain residue interactions and shared inactivation mechanisms improve the understanding of the functional mechanism of DBRRs, providing clues to efficiently create functional DBRR-based biosensors. Additionally, we show the feasibility of applying coevolutionary landscape models to predict the functionality of domain-swapped DBRR proteins. The presented result demonstrates that sequence information can be used to filter out bioengineered DBRR proteins that are predicted to be nonfunctional due to a high negative predictive value.

Acetylation of K188 and K192 inhibits the DNA-binding ability of NarL to regulate Salmonella virulence

Salmonella infection significantly increases nitrate levels in the intestine, immune cells, and immune organs of the host, and it can exploit nitrate as an electron acceptor to enhance its growth. In the presence of nitrate or nitrite, NarL, a regulatory protein of the Nar two-component system, is activated and regulates a number of genes involved in nitrate metabolism. However, research on NarL at the post-translational level is limited. In this study, we demonstrate that the DNA-binding sites K188 and 192 of NarL can be acetylated by bacterial metabolite acetyl phosphate and that the degree of acetylation has a considerable influence on the regulatory function of NarL. Specifically, acetylation of NarL negatively regulates the transcription of narG, narK, and napF, which affects the utilization of nitrate in Salmonella. Besides, both cell and mouse models show that acetylated K188 and K192 result in attenuated replication in RAW 264.7 cells, as well as impaired virulence in mouse model. Together, this research identifies a novel NarL acetylation mechanism that regulates Salmonella virulence, providing a new insight and target for salmonellosis treatment.IMPORTANCESalmonella is an important intracellular pathogen that can cause limited gastroenteritis and self-limiting gastroenteritis in immunocompetent humans. Nitrate, the highest oxidation state form of nitrogen, is critical in the formation of systemic infection in Salmonella. It functions as a signaling molecule that influences Salmonella chemotaxis, in addition to acting as a reduced external electron acceptor for Salmonella anaerobic respiration. NarL is an essential regulatory protein involved in nitrate metabolism in Salmonella, and comprehending its regulatory mechanism is necessary. Previous research has linked NarL phosphorylation to the formation of its dimer, which is required for NarL to perform its regulatory functions. Our research demonstrated that acetylation also affects the regulatory function of NarL. We found that acetylation affects Salmonella pathogenicity by weakening the ability of NarL to bind to the target sequence, further refining the mechanism of the anaerobic nitrate respiration pathway.

Substrate DNA Promoting Binding of Mycobacterium tuberculosis MtrA by Facilitating Dimerization and Interpretation of Affinity by Minor Groove Width

In order to deepen the understanding of the role and regulation mechanisms of prokaryotic global transcription regulators in complex processes, including virulence, the associations between the affinity and binding sequences of Mycobacterium tuberculosis MtrA have been explored extensively. Analysis of MtrA 294 diversified 26 bp binding sequences revealed that the sequence similarity of fragments was not simply associated with affinity. The unique variation patterns of GC content and periodical and sequential fluctuation of affinity contribution curves were observed along the sequence in this study. Furthermore, docking analysis demonstrated that the structure of the dimer MtrA-DNA (high affinity) was generally consistent with other OmpR family members, while Arg 219 and Gly 220 of the wing domain interacted with the minor groove. The results of the binding box replacement experiment proved that box 2 was essential for binding, which implied the differential roles of the two boxes in the binding process. Furthermore, the results of the substitution of the nucleotide at the 20th and/or 21st positions indicated that the affinity was negatively associated with the value of minor groove width precisely at the 21st position. The dimerization of the unphosphorylated MtrA facilitated by a low-affinity DNA fragment was observed for the first time. However, the proportion of the dimer was associated with the affinity of substrate DNA, which further suggested that the affinity was actually one characteristic of the stability of dimers. Based on the finding of 17 inter-molecule hydrogen bonds identified in the interface of the MtrA dimer, including 8 symmetric complementary ones in the conserved α4-β5-α5 face, we propose that hydrogen bonds should be considered just as important as salt bridges and the hydrophobic patch in the dimerization. Our comprehensive study on a large number of binding fragments with quantitative affinity values provided new insight into the molecular mechanism of dimerization, binding specificity and affinity determination of MtrA and clues for solving the puzzle of how global transcription factors regulate a large quantity of target genes.

Salmonella T3SS effector SseK1 arginine-glycosylates the two-component response regulator OmpR to alter bile salt resistance

Type III secretion system (T3SS) effector proteins are primarily recognized for binding host proteins to subvert host immune response during infection. Besides their known host target proteins, several T3SS effectors also interact with endogenous bacterial proteins. Here we demonstrate that the Salmonella T3SS effector glycosyltransferase SseK1 glycosylates the bacterial two-component response regulator OmpR on two arginine residues, R15 and R122. Arg-glycosylation of OmpR results in reduced expression of ompF, a major outer membrane porin gene. Glycosylated OmpR has reduced affinity to the ompF promoter region, as compared to the unglycosylated form of OmpR. Additionally, the Salmonella ΔsseK1 mutant strain had higher bile salt resistance and increased capacity to form biofilms, as compared to WT Salmonella, thus linking OmpR glycosylation to several important aspects of bacterial physiology.

Novel insights into construct toxicity, strain optimization, and primary sequence design for producing recombinant silk fibroin and elastin-like peptide in E. coli

Spider silk proteins (spidroins) are a remarkable class of biomaterials that exhibit a unique combination of high-value attributes and can be processed into numerous morphologies for targeted applications in diverse fields. Recombinant production of spidroins represents the most promising route towards establishing the industrial production of the material, however, recombinant spider silk production suffers from fundamental difficulties that includes low titers, plasmid instability, and translational inefficiencies. In this work, we sought to gain a deeper understanding of upstream bottlenecks that exist in the field through the production of a panel of systematically varied spidroin sequences in multiple E. coli strains. A restriction on basal expression and specific genetic mutations related to stress responses were identified as primary factors that facilitated higher titers of the recombinant silk constructs. Using these findings, a novel strain of E. coli was created that produces recombinant silk constructs at levels 4-33 times higher than standard BL21(DE3). However, these findings did not extend to a similar recombinant protein, an elastin-like peptide. It was found that the recombinant silk proteins, but not the elastin-like peptide, exert toxicity on the E. coli host system, possibly through their high degree of intrinsic disorder. Along with strain engineering, a bioprocess design that utilizes longer culturing times and attenuated induction was found to raise recombinant silk titers by seven-fold and mitigate toxicity. Targeted alteration to the primary sequence of the recombinant silk constructs was also found to mitigate toxicity. These findings identify multiple points of focus for future work seeking to further optimize the recombinant production of silk proteins and is the first work to identify the intrinsic disorder and subsequent toxicity of certain spidroin constructs as a primary factor related to the difficulties of production.

Targeting virulence regulation to disarm Acinetobacter baumannii pathogenesis

The development of anti-virulence drug therapy against Acinetobacter baumannii infections would provide an alternative to traditional antibacterial therapy that are increasingly failing. Here, we demonstrate that the OmpR transcriptional regulator plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of diverse A. baumannii clinical strains in multiple murine and G. mellonella invertebrate infection models. We identified OmpR-regulated genes using RNA sequencing and further validated two genes whose expression can be used as robust biomarker to quantify OmpR inhibition in A. baumannii. Moreover, the determination of the structure of the OmpR DNA binding domain of A. baumannii and the development of in vitro protein-DNA binding assays enabled the identification of an OmpR small molecule inhibitor. We conclude that OmpR is a valid and unexplored target to fight A. baumannii infections and we believe that the described platform combining in silico methods, in vitro OmpR inhibitory assays and in vivo G. mellonella surrogate infection model will facilitate future drug discovery programs.

Real-time detection of response regulator phosphorylation dynamics in live bacteria

Bacteria utilize two-component system (TCS) signal transduction pathways to sense and adapt to changing environments. In a typical TCS, a stimulus induces a sensor histidine kinase (SHK) to phosphorylate a response regulator (RR), which then dimerizes and activates a transcriptional response. Here, we demonstrate that oligomerization-dependent depolarization of excitation light by fused mNeonGreen fluorescent protein probes enables real-time monitoring of RR dimerization dynamics in live bacteria. Using inducible promoters to independently express SHKs and RRs, we detect RR dimerization within seconds of stimulus addition in several model pathways. We go on to combine experiments with mathematical modeling to reveal that TCS phosphosignaling accelerates with SHK expression but decelerates with RR expression and SHK phosphatase activity. We further observe pulsatile activation of the SHK NarX in response to addition and depletion of the extracellular electron acceptor nitrate when the corresponding TCS is expressed from both inducible systems and the native chromosomal operon. Finally, we combine our method with polarized light microscopy to enable single-cell measurements of RR dimerization under changing stimulus conditions. Direct in vivo characterization of RR oligomerization dynamics should enable insights into the regulation of bacterial physiology.

Bacterial two-component systems as sensors for synthetic biology applications

Two-component systems (TCSs) are a ubiquitous family of signal transduction pathways that enable bacteria to sense and respond to diverse physical, chemical, and biological stimuli outside and inside the cell. Synthetic biologists have begun to repurpose TCSs for applications in optogenetics, materials science, gut microbiome engineering, and soil nutrient biosensing, among others. New engineering methods including genetic refactoring, DNA-binding domain swapping, detection threshold tuning, and phosphorylation cross-talk insulation are being used to increase the reliability of TCS sensor performance and tailor TCS signaling properties to the requirements of specific applications. There is now potential to combine these methods with large-scale gene synthesis and laboratory screening to discover the inputs sensed by many uncharacterized TCSs and develop a large new family of genetically-encoded sensors that respond to an unrivaled breadth of stimuli.

Evaluation of type-B RR dimerization in poplar: A mechanism to preserve signaling specificity?

Plants possess specific signaling pathways, such as the MultiStep Phosphorelay (MSP), which is involved in cytokinin and ethylene sensing, and light, drought or osmotic stress sensing. These MSP comprise histidine-aspartate kinases (HKs) as receptors, histidine phosphotransfer (HPts) proteins acting as phosphorelay proteins, and response regulators (RRs), some of which act as transcription factors (type-B RRs). In previous studies, we identified partners of the poplar osmosensing signaling pathway, composed of two HKs, three main HPts, and six type-B RRs. To date, it is unresolved as to how cytokinin or osmotic stress signal specificity is achieved in the MSP in order to generate specific responses. Here, we present a large-scale interaction study of poplar type-B RR dimerization. Using the two-hybrid assay, we were able to show the homodimerization of type-B RRs, the heterodimerization of duplicated type-B RRs, and surprisingly, a lack of interaction between some type-B RRs belonging to different duplicates. The lack of interaction of the duplicates RR12-14 and RR18-19, which are involved in the osmosensing pathway has been confirmed by BiFC experiments. This study reveals, for the first time, an overview of type-B RR dimerization in poplar and makes way for the hypothesis that signal specificity for cytokinin or osmotic stress could be in part due to the fact that it is impossible for specific type-B RRs to heterodimerize.

OmpR coordinates the expression of virulence factors of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in the alimentary tract of Caenorhabditis elegans

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), an enteropathogen that colonizes in the intestine, causes severe diarrhea and hemorrhagic colitis in humans by the expression of the type III secretion system (T3SS) and Shiga-like toxins (Stxs). However, how EHEC can sense and respond to the changes in the alimentary tract and coordinate the expression of these virulence genes remains elusive. The T3SS-related genes are known to be regulated by the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE)-encoded regulators, such as Ler, as well as non-LEE-encoded regulators in response to different environmental cues. Herein, we report that OmpR, which participates in the adaptation of E. coli to osmolarity and pH alterations, is required for EHEC infection in Caenorhabditis elegans. OmpR protein was able to directly bind to the promoters of ler and stx1 (Shiga-like toxin 1) and regulate the expression of T3SS and Stx1, respectively, at the transcriptional level. Moreover, we demonstrated that the expression of ler in EHEC is in response to the intestinal environment and is regulated by OmpR in C. elegans. Taken together, we reveal that OmpR is an important regulator of EHEC which coordinates the expression of virulence factors during gastrointestinal infection in vivo.

Structural basis for promoter DNA recognition by the response regulator OmpR

OmpR, a response regulator of the EnvZ/OmpR two-component system (TCS), controls the reciprocal regulation of two porin proteins, OmpF and OmpC, in bacteria. During signal transduction, OmpR (OmpR-FL) undergoes phosphorylation at its conserved Asp residue in the N-terminal receiver domain (OmpRn) and recognizes the promoter DNA from its C-terminal DNA-binding domain (OmpRc) to elicit an adaptive response. Apart from that, OmpR regulates many genes in Escherichia coli and is important for virulence in several pathogens. However, the molecular mechanism of the regulation and the structural basis of OmpR-DNA binding is still not fully clear. In this study, we presented the crystal structure of OmpRc in complex with the F1 region of the ompF promoter DNA from E. coli. Our structural analysis suggested that OmpRc binds to its cognate DNA as a homodimer, only in a head-to-tail orientation. Also, the OmpRc apo-form showed a unique domain-swapped crystal structure under different crystallization conditions. Biophysical experimental data, such as NMR, fluorescent polarization and thermal stability, showed that inactive OmpR-FL (unphosphorylated) could bind to promoter DNA with a weaker binding affinity as compared with active OmpR-FL (phosphorylated) or OmpRc, and also confirmed that phosphorylation may only enhance DNA binding. Furthermore, the dimerization interfaces in the OmpRc-DNA complex structure identified in this study provide an opportunity to understand the regulatory role of OmpR and explore the potential for this "druggable" target.

Tools to map target genes of bacterial two-component system response regulators

Studies on bacterial physiology are incomplete without knowledge of the signalling and regulatory systems that a bacterium uses to sense and respond to its environment. Two-component systems (TCSs) are among the most prevalent bacterial signalling systems, and they control essential and secondary physiological processes; however, even in model organisms, we lack a complete understanding of the signals sensed, the phosphotransfer partners and the functions regulated by these systems. In this review, we discuss several tools to map the genes targeted by transcriptionally acting TCSs. Many of these tools have been used for studying individual TCSs across diverse species, but systematic approaches to delineate entire signalling networks have been very few. Since genome sequences and high-throughput technologies are now readily available, the methods presented here can be applied to characterize the entire DNA-binding TCS signalling network in any bacterial species and are especially useful for non-model environmental bacteria.

EnvZ/OmpR Two-Component Signaling: An Archetype System That Can Function Noncanonically

Two-component regulatory systems represent the major paradigm for signal transduction in prokaryotes. The simplest systems are composed of a sensor kinase and a response regulator. The sensor is often a membrane protein that senses a change in environmental conditions and is autophosphorylated by ATP on a histidine residue. The phosphoryl group is transferred onto an aspartate of the response regulator, which activates the regulator and alters its output, usually resulting in a change in gene expression. In this review, we present a historical view of the archetype EnvZ/OmpR two-component signaling system, and then we provide a new view of signaling based on our recent experiments. EnvZ responds to cytoplasmic signals that arise from changes in the extracellular milieu, and OmpR acts canonically (requiring phosphorylation) to regulate the porin genes and noncanonically (without phosphorylation) to activate the acid stress response. Herein, we describe how insights gleaned from stimulus recognition and response in EnvZ are relevant to nearly all sensor kinases and response regulators.

Structural Basis of Response Regulator Function

Response regulators function as the output components of two-component systems, which couple the sensing of environmental stimuli to adaptive responses. Response regulators typically contain conserved receiver (REC) domains that function as phosphorylation-regulated switches to control the activities of effector domains that elicit output responses. This modular design is extremely versatile, enabling different regulatory strategies tuned to the needs of individual signaling systems. This review summarizes structural features that underlie response regulator function. An abundance of atomic resolution structures and complementary biochemical data have defined the mechanisms for response regulator enzymatic activities, revealed trends in regulatory strategies utilized by response regulators of different subfamilies, and provided insights into interactions of response regulators with their cognate histidine kinases. Among the hundreds of thousands of response regulators identified, variations abound. This article provides a framework for understanding structural features that enable function of canonical response regulators and a basis for distinguishing noncanonical configurations.

An Osmoregulatory Mechanism Operating through OmpR and LrhA Controls the Motile-Sessile Switch in the Plant Growth-Promoting Bacterium Pantoea alhagi

Adaptation to osmotic stress is crucial for bacterial growth and survival in changing environments. Although a large number of osmotic stress response genes have been identified in various bacterial species, how osmotic changes affect bacterial motility, biofilm formation, and colonization of host niches remains largely unknown. In this study, we report that the LrhA regulator is an osmoregulated transcription factor that directly binds to the promoters of the flhDC, eps, and opgGH operons and differentially regulates their expression, thus inhibiting motility and promoting exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, synthesis of osmoregulated periplasmic glucans (OPGs), biofilm formation, and root colonization of the plant growth-promoting bacterium Pantoea alhagi LTYR-11Z. Further, we observed that the LrhA-regulated OPGs control RcsCD-RcsB activation in a concentration-dependent manner, and a high concentration of OPGs induced by increased medium osmolarity is maintained to achieve the high level of activation of the Rcs phosphorelay, which results in enhanced EPS synthesis and decreased motility in P. alhagi Moreover, we showed that the osmosensing regulator OmpR directly binds to the promoter of lrhA and promotes its expression, while lrhA expression is feedback inhibited by the activated Rcs phosphorelay system. Overall, our data support a model whereby P. alhagi senses environmental osmolarity changes through the EnvZ-OmpR two-component system and LrhA to regulate the synthesis of OPGs, EPS production, and flagellum-dependent motility, thereby employing a hierarchical signaling cascade to control the transition between a motile lifestyle and a biofilm lifestyle.IMPORTANCE Many motile bacterial populations form surface-attached biofilms in response to specific environmental cues, including osmotic stress in a range of natural and host-related systems. However, cross talk between bacterial osmosensing, swimming, and biofilm formation regulatory networks is not fully understood. Here, we report that the pleiotropic regulator LrhA in Pantoea alhagi is involved in the regulation of flagellar motility, biofilm formation, and host colonization and responds to osmotic upshift. We further show that this sensing relies on the EnvZ-OmpR two-component system that was known to detect changes in external osmotic stress. The EnvZ-OmpR-LrhA osmosensing signal transduction cascade is proposed to increase bacterial fitness under hyperosmotic conditions inside the host. Our work proposes a novel regulatory mechanism that links osmosensing and motile-sessile lifestyle transitions, which may provide new approaches to prevent or promote the formation of biofilms and host colonization in P. alhagi and other bacteria possessing a similar osmoregulatory mechanism.

The Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Cpx envelope stress system contributes to transcriptional activation of rovM

The Gram-negative enteropathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis possesses a number of regulatory systems that detect cell envelope damage caused by noxious extracytoplasmic stresses. The CpxA sensor kinase and CpxR response regulator two-component regulatory system is one such pathway. Active Cpx signalling upregulates various factors designed to repair and restore cell envelope integrity. Concomitantly, this pathway also down-regulates key determinants of virulence. In Yersinia, cpxA deletion accumulates high levels of phosphorylated CpxR (CpxR~P). Accumulated CpxR~P directly repressed rovA expression and this limited expression of virulence-associated processes. A second transcriptional regulator, RovM, also negatively regulates rovA expression in response to nutrient stress. Hence, this study aimed to determine if CpxR~P can influence rovA expression through control of RovM levels. We determined that the active CpxR~P isoform bound to the promoter of rovM and directly induced its expression, which naturally associated with a concurrent reduction in rovA expression. Site-directed mutagenesis of the CpxR~P binding sequence in the rovM promoter region desensitised rovM expression to CpxR~P. These data suggest that accumulated CpxR~P inversely manipulates the levels of two global transcriptional regulators, RovA and RovM, and this would be expected to have considerable influence on Yersinia pathophysiology and metabolism.

The EnvZ-OmpR Two-Component Signaling System Is Inactivated in a Mutant Devoid of Osmoregulated Periplasmic Glucans in Dickeya dadantii

Osmoregulated periplasmic glucans (OPGs) are general constituents of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-Proteobacteria. This polymer of glucose is required for full virulence of many pathogens including Dickeya dadantii (D. dadantii). The phytopathogenic enterobacterium D. dadantii causes soft-rot disease in a wide range of plants. An OPG-defective mutant is impaired in environment sensing. We previously demonstrated that (i) fluctuation of OPG concentration controlled the activation level of the RcsCDB system, and (ii) RcsCDB along with EnvZ/OmpR controlled the mechanism of OPG succinylation. These previous data lead us to explore whether OPGs are required for other two-component systems. In this study, we demonstrate that inactivation of the EnvZ/OmpR system in an OPG-defective mutant restores full synthesis of pectinase but only partial virulence. Unlike for the RcsCDB system, the EnvZ-OmpR system is not controlled by OPG concentration but requires OPGs for proper activation.

Small phospho-donors phosphorylate MorR without inducing protein conformational changes

Phosphorylation is an essential mechanism of protein control and plays an important role in biology. The two-component system (TCS) is a bacterial regulation mechanism mediated by a response regulator (RR) protein and a kinase protein, which synchronize the regulatory circuit according to the environment. Phosphorylation is a key element in TCS function as it controls RR activity. In the present study, we characterize the behavior of MorR, an RR associated with Mo homeostasis, upon acetylphosphate and phosphoramidate treatment in vitro. Our results show that MorR was phosphorylated by both phospho-donors. Fluorescence experiments showed that MorR tryptophan emission is quenched by phosphoramidate. Furthermore, theoretical and computational results demonstrate that phosphorylation by phosphoramidate is more favorable than that by acetylphosphate. In conclusion, phosphorylated MorR is a monomeric protein and phosphorylation does not appear to induce observable conformational changes in the protein structure.

The Structure of the Biofilm-controlling Response Regulator BfmR from Acinetobacter baumannii Reveals Details of Its DNA-binding Mechanism

The rise of drug-resistant bacterial infections coupled with decreasing antibiotic efficacy poses a significant challenge to global health care. Acinetobacter baumannii is an insidious, emerging bacterial pathogen responsible for severe nosocomial infections aided by its ability to form biofilms. The response regulator BfmR, from the BfmR/S two-component system, is the master regulator of biofilm initiation in A. baumannii and is a tractable therapeutic target. Here we present the structure of A. baumannii BfmR using a hybrid approach combining X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, chemical crosslinking mass spectrometry, and molecular modeling. We also show that BfmR binds the previously proposed bfmRS promoter sequence with moderate affinity. While BfmR shares many traits with other OmpR/PhoB family response regulators, some unusual properties were observed. Most importantly, we observe that when phosphorylated, BfmR binds this promoter sequence with a lower affinity than when not phosphorylated. All other OmpR/PhoB family members studied to date show an increase in DNA-binding affinity upon phosphorylation. Understanding the structural and biochemical mechanisms of BfmR will aid in the development of new antimicrobial therapies.

Fluorescence Measurement of Kinetics of CheY Autophosphorylation with Small Molecule Phosphodonors

The Escherichia coli chemotaxis protein CheY is a model receiver domain containing a native tryptophan residue that serves as a fluorescent probe for CheY autophosphorylation with small molecule phosphodonors. Here we describe fluorescence measurement of apparent bimolecular rate constants for reaction of wild type and mutant CheY with phosphodonors acetyl phosphate, phosphoramidate, or monophosphoimidazole. Step-by-step protocols to synthesize phosphoramidate (K⁺ salt) and monophosphoimidazole (Na⁺ salt), which are not commercially available, are provided. Key factors to consider in developing autophosphorylation assays for other response regulators are also discussed.

Characterization of the CrbS/R Two-Component System in Pseudomonas fluorescens Reveals a New Set of Genes under Its Control and a DNA Motif Required for CrbR-Mediated Transcriptional Activation

The CrbS/R system is a two-component signal transduction system that regulates acetate utilization in Vibrio cholerae, P. aeruginosa, and P. entomophila. CrbS is a hybrid histidine kinase that belongs to a recently identified family, in which the signaling domain is fused to an SLC5 solute symporter domain through aSTAC domain. Upon activation by CrbS, CrbR activates transcription of the acs gene, which encodes an acetyl-CoA synthase (ACS), and the actP gene, which encodes an acetate/solute symporter. In this work, we characterized the CrbS/R system in Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25. Through the quantitative proteome analysis of different mutants, we were able to identify a new set of genes under its control, which play an important role during growth on acetate. These results led us to the identification of a conserved DNA motif in the putative promoter region of acetate-utilization genes in the Gammaproteobacteria that is essential for the CrbR-mediated transcriptional activation of genes under acetate-utilizing conditions. Finally, we took advantage of the existence of a second SLC5-containing two-component signal transduction system in P. fluorescens, CbrA/B, to demonstrate that the activation of the response regulator by the histidine kinase is not dependent on substrate transport through the SLC5 domain.

Use of a Phosphorylation Site Mutant To Identify Distinct Modes of Gene Repression by the Control of Virulence Regulator (CovR) in Streptococcus pyogenes

Control of the virulence regulator/sensor kinase (CovRS) two-component system (TCS) serves as a model for investigating the impact of signaling pathways on the pathogenesis of Gram-positive bacteria. However, the molecular mechanisms by which CovR, an OmpR/PhoB family response regulator, controls virulence gene expression are poorly defined, partly due to the labile nature of its aspartate phosphorylation site. To better understand the regulatory effect of phosphorylated CovR, we generated the phosphorylation site mutant strain 10870-CovR-D53E, which we predicted to have a constitutive CovR phosphorylation phenotype. Interestingly, this strain showed CovR activity only for a subset of the CovR regulon, which allowed for classification of CovR-influenced genes into D53E-regulated and D53E-nonregulated groups. Inspection of the promoter sequences of genes belonging to each group revealed distinct promoter architectures with respect to the location and number of putative CovR-binding sites. Electrophoretic mobility shift analysis demonstrated that recombinant CovR-D53E protein retains its ability to bind promoter DNA from both CovR-D53E-regulated and -nonregulated groups, implying that factors other than mere DNA binding are crucial for gene regulation. In fact, we found that CovR-D53E is incapable of dimerization, a process thought to be critical to OmpR/PhoB family regulator function. Thus, our global analysis of CovR-D53E indicates dimerization-dependent and dimerization-independent modes of CovR-mediated repression, thereby establishing distinct mechanisms by which this critical regulator coordinates virulence gene expression.IMPORTANCEStreptococcus pyogenes causes a wide variety of diseases, ranging from superficial skin and throat infections to life-threatening invasive infections. To establish these various disease manifestations, Streptococcus pyogenes requires tightly coordinated production of its virulence factor repertoire. Here, the response regulator CovR plays a crucial role. As an OmpR/PhoB family member, CovR is activated by phosphorylation on a conserved aspartate residue, leading to protein dimerization and subsequent binding to operator sites. Our transcriptome analysis using the monomeric phosphorylation mimic mutant CovR-D53E broadens this general notion by revealing dimerization-independent repression of a subset of CovR-regulated genes. Combined with promoter analyses, these data suggest distinct mechanisms of CovR transcriptional control, which allow for differential expression of virulence genes in response to environmental cues.

Feedback Control of Two-Component Regulatory Systems

Two-component systems are a dominant form of bacterial signal transduction. The prototypical two-component system consists of a sensor that responds to a specific input(s) by modifying the output of a cognate regulator. Because the output of a two-component system is the amount of phosphorylated regulator, feedback mechanisms may alter the amount of regulator, and/or modify the ability of a sensor or other proteins to alter the phosphorylation state of the regulator. Two-component systems may display intrinsic feedback whereby the amount of phosphorylated regulator changes under constant inducing conditions and without the participation of additional proteins. Feedback control allows a two-component system to achieve particular steady-state levels, to reach a given steady state with distinct dynamics, to express coregulated genes in a given order, and to activate a regulator to different extents, depending on the signal acting on the sensor.

Computational Studies of the Active and Inactive Regulatory Domains of Response Regulator PhoP Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The response regulator PhoP is part of the PhoP/PhoQ two-component system, which is responsible for regulating the expression of multiple genes involved in controlling virulence, biofilm formation, and resistance to antimicrobial peptides. Therefore, modulating the transcriptional function of the PhoP protein is a promising strategy for developing new antimicrobial agents. There is evidence suggesting that phosphorylation-mediated dimerization in the regulatory domain of PhoP is essential for its transcriptional function. Disruption or stabilization of protein-protein interactions at the dimerization interface may inhibit or enhance the expression of PhoP-dependent genes. In this study, we performed molecular dynamics simulations on the active and inactive dimers and monomers of the PhoP regulatory domains, followed by pocket-detecting screenings and a quantitative hot-spot analysis in order to assess the druggability of the protein. Consistent with prior hypothesis, the calculation of the binding free energy shows that phosphorylation enhances dimerization of PhoP. Furthermore, we have identified two different putative binding sites at the dimerization active site (the α4-β5-α5 face) with energetic "hot-spot" areas, which could be used to search for modulators of protein-protein interactions. This study delivers insight into the dynamics and druggability of the dimerization interface of the PhoP regulatory domain, and may serve as a basis for the rational identification of new antimicrobial drugs.

Large-scale identification of coevolution signals across homo-oligomeric protein interfaces by direct coupling analysis

Proteins have evolved to perform diverse cellular functions, from serving as reaction catalysts to coordinating cellular propagation and development. Frequently, proteins do not exert their full potential as monomers but rather undergo concerted interactions as either homo-oligomers or with other proteins as hetero-oligomers. The experimental study of such protein complexes and interactions has been arduous. Theoretical structure prediction methods are an attractive alternative. Here, we investigate homo-oligomeric interfaces by tracing residue coevolution via the global statistical direct coupling analysis (DCA). DCA can accurately infer spatial adjacencies between residues. These adjacencies can be included as constraints in structure prediction techniques to predict high-resolution models. By taking advantage of the ongoing exponential growth of sequence databases, we go significantly beyond anecdotal cases of a few protein families and apply DCA to a systematic large-scale study of nearly 2,000 Pfam protein families with sufficient sequence information and structurally resolved homo-oligomeric interfaces. We find that large interfaces are commonly identified by DCA. We further demonstrate that DCA can differentiate between subfamilies with different binding modes within one large Pfam family. Sequence-derived contact information for the subfamilies proves sufficient to assemble accurate structural models of the diverse protein-oligomers. Thus, we provide an approach to investigate oligomerization for arbitrary protein families leading to structural models complementary to often-difficult experimental methods. Combined with ever more abundant sequential data, we anticipate that this study will be instrumental to allow the structural description of many heteroprotein complexes in the future.

An Adaptive Mutation in Enterococcus faecium LiaR Associated with Antimicrobial Peptide Resistance Mimics Phosphorylation and Stabilizes LiaR in an Activated State

The cyclic antimicrobial lipopeptide daptomycin (DAP) triggers the LiaFSR membrane stress response pathway in enterococci and many other Gram-positive organisms. LiaR is the response regulator that, upon phosphorylation, binds in a sequence-specific manner to DNA to regulate transcription in response to membrane stress. In clinical settings, non-susceptibility to DAP by Enterococcus faecium is correlated frequently with a mutation in LiaR of Trp73 to Cys (LiaR^W73C). We have determined the structure of the activated E. faecium LiaR protein at 3.2Å resolution and, in combination with solution studies, show that the activation of LiaR induces the formation of a LiaR dimer that increases LiaR affinity at least 40-fold for the extended regulatory regions upstream of the liaFSR and liaXYZ operons. In vitro, LiaR^W73C induces phosphorylation-independent dimerization of LiaR and provides a biochemical basis for non-susceptibility to DAP by the upregulation of the LiaFSR regulon. A comparison of the E. faecalis LiaR, E. faecium LiaR, and the LiaR homolog from Staphylococcus aureus (VraR) and the mutations associated with DAP resistance suggests that physicochemical properties such as oligomerization state and DNA specificity, although tuned to the biology of each organism, share some features that could be targeted for new antimicrobials.

Unexpected properties of sRNA promoters allow feedback control via regulation of a two-component system

Two-component systems (TCS) and small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are both widespread regulators of gene expression in bacteria. TCS are in most cases transcriptional regulators. A large class of sRNAs act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression that modulate the translation and/or stability of target-mRNAs. Many connections have been recently unraveled between these two types of regulators, resulting in mixed regulatory circuits with poorly characterized properties. This study focuses on the negative feedback circuit that exists between the EnvZ-OmpR TCS and the OmrA/B sRNAs. We have shown that OmpR directly activates transcription from the omrA and omrB promoters, allowing production of OmrA/B sRNAs that target multiple mRNAs, including the ompR-envZ mRNA. This control of ompR-envZ by the Omr sRNAs does not affect the amount of phosphorylated OmpR, i.e. the presumably active form of the regulator. Accordingly, expression of robust OmpR targets, such as the ompC or ompF porin genes, is not affected by OmrA/B. However, we find that several OmpR targets, including OmrA/B themselves, are sensitive to changing total OmpR levels. As a result, OmrA/B limit their own synthesis. These findings unravel an additional layer of control in the expression of some OmpR targets and suggest the existence of differential regulation within the OmpR regulon.

The Response Regulator BfmR Is a Potential Drug Target for Acinetobacter baumannii

Increasing antibiotic resistance in bacteria, particularly Gram-negative bacilli, has significantly affected the ability of physicians to treat infections, with resultant increased morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. In fact, some strains of bacteria are resistant to all available antibiotics, such as Acinetobacter baumannii, which is the focus of this report. Therefore, the development of new antibiotics active against these resistant strains is urgently needed. In this study, BfmR is further validated as an intriguing target for a novel class of antibiotics. Successful inactivation of BfmR would confer the multiple benefits of a decreased ability of A. baumannii to survive in human body fluids, increased sensitivity to complement-mediated bactericidal activity and, importantly, increased sensitivity to other antibiotics. Structural studies support the potential for this “druggable” target, as they identify the potential for small-molecule binding at functionally relevant sites. Next-phase high-throughput screening studies utilizing BfmR are warranted.

Identification and validation is the first phase of target-based antimicrobial development. BfmR (RstA), a response regulator in a two-component signal transduction system (TCS) in Acinetobacter baumannii, is an intriguing potential antimicrobial target. A unique characteristic of BfmR is that its inhibition would have the dual benefit of significantly decreasing in vivo survival and increasing sensitivity to selected antimicrobials. Studies on the clinically relevant strain AB307-0294 have shown BfmR to be essential in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that this phenotype in strains AB307-0294 and AB908 is mediated, in part, by enabling growth in human ascites fluid and serum. Further, BfmR conferred resistance to complement-mediated bactericidal activity that was independent of capsular polysaccharide. Importantly, BfmR also increased resistance to the clinically important antimicrobials meropenem and colistin. BfmR was highly conserved among A. baumannii strains. The crystal structure of the receiver domain of BfmR was determined, lending insight into putative ligand binding sites. This enabled an in silico ligand binding analysis and a blind docking strategy to assess use as a potential druggable target. Predicted binding hot spots exist at the homodimer interface and the phosphorylation site. These data support pursuing the next step in the development process, which includes determining the degree of inhibition needed to impact growth/survival and the development a BfmR activity assay amenable to high-throughput screening for the identification of inhibitors. Such agents would represent a new class of antimicrobials active against A. baumannii which could be active against other Gram-negative bacilli that possess a TCS with shared homology.

IMPORTANCE Increasing antibiotic resistance in bacteria, particularly Gram-negative bacilli, has significantly affected the ability of physicians to treat infections, with resultant increased morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. In fact, some strains of bacteria are resistant to all available antibiotics, such as Acinetobacter baumannii, which is the focus of this report. Therefore, the development of new antibiotics active against these resistant strains is urgently needed. In this study, BfmR is further validated as an intriguing target for a novel class of antibiotics. Successful inactivation of BfmR would confer the multiple benefits of a decreased ability of A. baumannii to survive in human body fluids, increased sensitivity to complement-mediated bactericidal activity and, importantly, increased sensitivity to other antibiotics. Structural studies support the potential for this “druggable” target, as they identify the potential for small-molecule binding at functionally relevant sites. Next-phase high-throughput screening studies utilizing BfmR are warranted.

Prokaryotic 2-component systems and the OmpR/PhoB superfamily

In bacteria, 2-component regulatory systems (TCSs) are the critical information-processing pathways that link stimuli to specific adaptive responses. Signals perceived by membrane sensors, which are generally histidine kinases, are transmitted by response regulators (RRs) to allow cells to cope rapidly and effectively with environmental challenges. Over the past few decades, genes encoding components of TCSs and their responsive proteins have been identified, crystal structures have been described, and signaling mechanisms have been elucidated. Here, we review recent findings and interesting breakthroughs in bacterial TCS research. Furthermore, we discuss structural features, mechanisms of activation and regulation, and cross-regulation of RRs, with a focus on the largest RR family, OmpR/PhoB, to provide a comprehensive overview of these critically important signaling molecules.

Stochastic simulation of prokaryotic two-component signalling indicates stochasticity-induced active-state locking and growth-rate dependent bistability

Signal transduction by prokaryotes almost exclusively relies on two-component systems for sensing and responding to (extracellular) signals. Here, we use stochastic models of two-component systems to better understand the impact of stochasticity on the fidelity and robustness of signal transmission, the outcome of autoregulatory gene expression and the influence of cell growth and division. We report that two-component systems are remarkably robust against copy number fluctuations of the signalling proteins they are composed of, which enhances signal transmission fidelity. Furthermore, we find that due to stochasticity these systems can get locked in an active state for extended time periods when (initially high) signal levels drop to zero. This behaviour can contribute to a bet-hedging adaptation strategy, aiding survival in fluctuating environments. Additionally, autoregulatory gene expression can cause two-component systems to become bistable at realistic parameter values. As a result, two sub-populations of cells can co-exist-active and inactive cells, which contributes to fitness in unpredictable environments. Bistability proved robust with respect to cell growth and division, and is tunable by the growth rate. In conclusion, our results indicate how single cells can cope with the inevitable stochasticity occurring in the activity of their two-component systems. They are robust to disadvantageous fluctuations that scramble signal transduction and they exploit beneficial stochasticity that generates fitness-enhancing heterogeneity across an isogenic population of cells.

The Escherichia coli NarL receiver domain regulates transcription through promoter specific functions

Background

The Escherichia coli response regulator NarL controls transcription of genes involved in nitrate respiration during anaerobiosis. NarL consists of two domains joined by a linker that wraps around the interdomain interface. Phosphorylation of the NarL N-terminal receiver domain (RD) releases the, otherwise sequestered, C-terminal output domain (OD) that subsequently binds specific DNA promoter sites to repress or activate gene expression. The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which the NarL OD and RD function independently to regulate transcription, and the affect of the linker on OD function.

Results

NarL OD constructs containing different linker segments were examined for their ability to repress frdA-lacZ or activate narG-lacZ reporter fusion genes. These in vivo expression assays revealed that the NarL OD, in the absence or presence of linker helix α6, constitutively repressed frdA-lacZ expression regardless of nitrate availability. However, the presence of the linker loop α5-α6 reversed this repression and also showed impaired DNA binding in vitro. The OD alone could not activate narG-lacZ expression; this activity required the presence of the NarL RD. A footprint assay demonstrated that the NarL OD only partially bound recognition sites at the narG promoter, and the binding affinity was increased by the presence of the phosphorylated RD. Analytical ultracentrifugation used to examine domain oligomerization showed that the NarL RD forms dimers in solution while the OD is monomeric.

Conclusions

The NarL RD operates as an on-off switch to occlude or release the OD in a nitrate-responsive manner, but has additional roles to directly stimulate transcription at promoters for which the OD lacks independent function. One such role of the RD is to enhance the DNA binding affinity of the OD to target promoter sites. The data also imply that NarL phosphorylation results in RD dimerization and in the separation of the entire linker region from the OD.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-015-0502-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The C-terminal extension of PrhG impairs its activation of hrp expression and virulence in Ralstonia solanacearum

Ralstonia solanacearum is the second most destructive bacterial plant pathogens worldwide and HrpG is the master regulator of its pathogenicity. PrhG is a close paralogue of HrpG and both belong to OmpR/PhoB family of two-component response regulators. Despite a high similarity (72% global identity and 96% similarity in helix-loop-helix domain), they display distinct roles in pathogenicity. HrpG is necessary for the bacterial growth in planta and pathogenicity, while PrhG is dispensable for bacterial growth in planta and contributes little to pathogenicity. The main difference between HrpG and PrhG is the 50-amino-acid-long C-terminal extension in PrhG (amino-acid residues 230-283), which is absent in HrpG. When this extension is deleted, truncated PrhGs (under the control of its native promoter) allowed complete recovery of bacterial growth in planta and wild-type virulence of hrpG mutant. This novel finding demonstrates that the extension region in PrhG is responsible for the functional difference between HrpG and PrhG, which may block the binding of PrhG to target promoters and result in impaired activation of hrp expression by PrhG and reduced virulence of R. solanacearum.

DNA consensus sequence motif for binding response regulator PhoP, a virulence regulator of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis has reemerged as a serious threat to human health because of the increasing prevalence of drug-resistant strains and synergetic infection with HIV, prompting an urgent need for new and more efficient treatments. The PhoP–PhoR two-component system of Mycobacterium tuberculosis plays an important role in the virulence of the pathogen and thus represents a potential drug target. To study the mechanism of gene transcription regulation by response regulator PhoP, we identified a high-affinity DNA sequence for PhoP binding using systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment. The sequence contains a direct repeat of two 7 bp motifs separated by a 4 bp spacer, TCACAGC(N₄)TCACAGC. The specificity of the direct-repeat sequence for PhoP binding was confirmed by isothermal titration calorimetry and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. PhoP binds to the direct repeat as a dimer in a highly cooperative manner. We found many genes previously identified to be regulated by PhoP that contain the direct-repeat motif in their promoter sequences. Synthetic DNA fragments at the putative promoter-binding sites bind PhoP with variable affinity, which is related to the number of mismatches in the 7 bp motifs, the positions of the mismatches, and the spacer and flanking sequences. Phosphorylation of PhoP increases the affinity but does not change the specificity of DNA binding. Overall, our results confirm the direct-repeat sequence as the consensus motif for PhoP binding and thus pave the way for identification of PhoP directly regulated genes in different mycobacterial genomes.

Allosteric activation of bacterial response regulators: the role of the cognate histidine kinase beyond phosphorylation

Response regulators are proteins that undergo transient phosphorylation, connecting specific signals to adaptive responses. Remarkably, the molecular mechanism of response regulator activation remains elusive, largely because of the scarcity of structural data on multidomain response regulators and histidine kinase/response regulator complexes. We now address this question by using a combination of crystallographic data and functional analyses in vitro and in vivo, studying DesR and its cognate sensor kinase DesK, a two-component system that controls membrane fluidity in Bacillus subtilis. We establish that phosphorylation of the receiver domain of DesR is allosterically coupled to two distinct exposed surfaces of the protein, controlling noncanonical dimerization/tetramerization, cooperative activation, and DesK binding. One of these surfaces is critical for both homodimerization- and kinase-triggered allosteric activations. Moreover, DesK induces a phosphorylation-independent activation of DesR in vivo, uncovering a novel and stringent level of specificity among kinases and regulators. Our results support a model that helps to explain how response regulators restrict phosphorylation by small-molecule phosphoryl donors, as well as cross talk with noncognate sensors.

The ability to sense and respond to environmental variations is an essential property for cell survival. Two-component systems mediate key signaling pathways that allow bacteria to integrate extra- or intracellular signals. Here we focus on the DesK/DesR system, which acts as a molecular thermometer in B. subtilis, regulating the cell membrane’s fluidity. Using a combination of complementary approaches, including determination of the crystal structures of active and inactive forms of the response regulator DesR, we unveil novel molecular mechanisms of DesR’s activation switch. In particular, we show that the association of the cognate histidine kinase DesK triggers DesR activation beyond the transfer of the phosphoryl group. On the basis of sequence and structural analyses of other two-component systems, this activation mechanism appears to be used in a wide range of sensory systems, contributing a further level of specificity control among different signaling pathways.

A biochemical characterization of the DNA binding activity of the response regulator VicR from Streptococcus mutans

Two-component systems (TCSs) are ubiquitous among bacteria and are among the most elegant and effective sensing systems in nature. They allow for efficient adaptive responses to rapidly changing environmental conditions. In this study, we investigated the biochemical characteristics of the Streptococcus mutans protein VicR, an essential response regulator that is part of the VicRK TCS. We dissected the DNA binding requirements of the recognition sequences for VicR in its phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms. In doing so, we were able to make predictions for the expansion of the VicR regulon within S. mutans. With the ever increasing number of bacteria that are rapidly becoming resistant to even the antibiotics of last resort, TCSs such as the VicRK provide promising targets for a new class of antimicrobials.

Transcriptional regulation of the Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans ygiW-qseBC operon by QseB and integration host factor proteins

The QseBC two-component system plays a pivotal role in regulating virulence and biofilm growth of the oral pathogen Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. We previously showed that QseBC autoregulates the ygiW-qseBC operon. In this study, we characterized the promoter that drives ygiW-qseBC expression. Using lacZ transcriptional fusion constructs and 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends, we showed that ygiW-qseBC expression is driven by a promoter that initiates transcription 53 bases upstream of ygiW and identified putative cis-acting promoter elements, whose function was confirmed using site-specific mutagenesis. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays, two trans-acting proteins were shown to interact with the ygiW-qseBC promoter. The QseB response regulator bound to probes containing the direct repeat sequence CTTAA-N6-CTTAA, where the CTTAA repeats flank the -35 element of the promoter. The ygiW-qseBC expression could not be detected in A. actinomycetemcomitans ΔqseB or ΔqseBC strains, but was restored to WT levels in the ΔqseBC mutant when complemented by single copy chromosomal insertion of qseBC. Interestingly, qseB partially complemented the ΔqseBC strain, suggesting that QseB could be activated in the absence of QseC. QseB activation required its phosphorylation since complementation did not occur using qseB(pho-), encoding a protein with the active site aspartate substituted with alanine. These results suggest that QseB is a strong positive regulator of ygiW-qseBC expression. In addition, integration host factor (IHF) bound to two sites in the promoter region and an additional site near the 5' end of the ygiW ORF. The expression of ygiW-qseBC was increased by twofold in ΔihfA and ΔihfB strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans, suggesting that IHF is a negative regulator of the ygiW-qseBC operon.

The influence of repressor DNA binding site architecture on transcriptional control

How the architecture of DNA binding sites dictates the extent of repression of promoters is not well understood. Here, we addressed the importance of the number and information content of the three direct repeats (DRs) in the binding and repression of the icdA promoter by the phosphorylated form of the global Escherichia coli repressor ArcA (ArcA-P). We show that decreasing the information content of the two sites with the highest information (DR1 and DR2) eliminated ArcA binding to all three DRs and ArcA repression of icdA. Unexpectedly, we also found that DR3 occupancy functions principally in repression, since mutation of this low-information-content site both eliminated DNA binding to DR3 and significantly weakened icdA repression, despite the fact that binding to DR1 and DR2 was intact. In addition, increasing the information content of any one of the three DRs or addition of a fourth DR increased ArcA-dependent repression but perturbed signal-dependent regulation of repression. Thus, our data show that the information content and number of DR elements are critical architectural features for maintaining a balance between high-affinity binding and signal-dependent regulation of icdA promoter function in response to changes in ArcA-P levels. Optimization of such architectural features may be a common strategy to either dampen or enhance the sensitivity of DNA binding among the members of the large OmpR/PhoB family of regulators as well as other transcription factors.

In Escherichia coli, the response regulator ArcA maintains homeostasis of redox carriers under O₂-limiting conditions through a comprehensive repression of carbon oxidation pathways that require aerobic respiration to recycle redox carriers. Although a binding site architecture comprised of a variable number of sequence recognition elements has been identified within the promoter regions of ArcA-repressed operons, it is unclear how this variable architecture dictates transcriptional regulation. By dissecting the role of multiple sequence elements within the icdA promoter, we provide insight into the design principles that allow ArcA to repress transcription within diverse promoter contexts. Our data suggest that the arrangement of recognition elements is tailored to achieve sufficient repression of a given promoter while maintaining appropriate signal-dependent regulation of repression, providing insight into how diverse binding site architectures link changes in O₂ with the fine-tuning of carbon oxidation pathway levels.

Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer system for measuring dynamic protein-protein interactions in bacteria

Protein-protein interactions are important for virtually every biological process, and a number of elegant approaches have been designed to detect and evaluate such interactions. However, few of these methods allow the detection of dynamic and real-time protein-protein interactions in bacteria. Here we describe a bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) system based on the bacterial luciferase LuxAB. We found that enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP) accepts the emission from LuxAB and emits yellow fluorescence. Importantly, BRET occurred when LuxAB and eYFP were fused, respectively, to the interacting protein pair FlgM and FliA. Furthermore, we observed sirolimus (i.e., rapamycin)-inducible interactions between FRB and FKBP12 and a dose-dependent abolishment of such interactions by FK506, the ligand of FKBP12. Using this system, we showed that osmotic stress or low pH efficiently induced multimerization of the regulatory protein OmpR and that the multimerization induced by low pH can be reversed by a neutralizing agent, further indicating the usefulness of this system in the measurement of dynamic interactions. This method can be adapted to analyze dynamic protein-protein interactions and the importance of such interactions in bacterial processes such as development and pathogenicity.

Real-time measurement of protein-protein interactions in prokaryotes is highly desirable for determining the roles of protein complex in the development or virulence of bacteria, but methods that allow such measurement are not available. Here we describe the development of a bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) technology that meets this need. The use of endogenous excitation light in this strategy circumvents the requirement for the sophisticated instrument demanded by standard fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Furthermore, because the LuxAB substrate decanal is membrane permeable, the assay can be performed without lysing the bacterial cells, thus allowing the detection of protein-protein interactions in live bacterial cells. This BRET system added another useful tool to address important questions in microbiological studies.

Dual-site phosphorylation of the control of virulence regulator impacts group a streptococcal global gene expression and pathogenesis

Phosphorylation relays are a major mechanism by which bacteria alter transcription in response to environmental signals, but understanding of the functional consequences of bacterial response regulator phosphorylation is limited. We sought to characterize how phosphorylation of the control of virulence regulator (CovR) protein from the major human pathogen group A Streptococcus (GAS) influences GAS global gene expression and pathogenesis. CovR mainly serves to repress GAS virulence factor-encoding genes and has been shown to homodimerize following phosphorylation on aspartate-53 (D53) in vitro. We discovered that CovR is phosphorylated in vivo and that such phosphorylation is partially heat-stable, suggesting additional phosphorylation at non-aspartate residues. Using mass spectroscopy along with targeted mutagenesis, we identified threonine-65 (T65) as an additional CovR phosphorylation site under control of the serine/threonine kinase (Stk). Phosphorylation on T65, as mimicked by the recombinant CovR T65E variant, abolished in vitro CovR D53 phosphorylation. Similarly, isoallelic GAS strains that were either unable to be phosphorylated at D53 (CovR-D53A) or had functional constitutive phosphorylation at T65 (CovR-T65E) had essentially an identical gene repression profile to each other and to a CovR-inactivated strain. However, the CovR-D53A and CovR-T65E isoallelic strains retained the ability to positively influence gene expression that was abolished in the CovR-inactivated strain. Consistent with these observations, the CovR-D53A and CovR-T65E strains were hypervirulent compared to the CovR-inactivated strain in a mouse model of invasive GAS disease. Surprisingly, an isoalleic strain unable to be phosphorylated at CovR T65 (CovR-T65A) was hypervirulent compared to the wild-type strain, as auto-regulation of covR gene expression resulted in lower covR gene transcript and CovR protein levels in the CovR-T65A strain. Taken together, these data establish that CovR is phosphorylated in vivo and elucidate how the complex interplay between CovR D53 activating phosphorylation, T65 inhibiting phosphorylation, and auto-regulation impacts streptococcal host-pathogen interaction.

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) causes a variety of human diseases ranging from mild throat infections to deadly invasive infections. The capacity of GAS to cause infections at such diverse locations is dependent on its ability to precisely control the production of a broad variety of virulence factors. The control of virulence regulator (CovR) is a master regulator of GAS genes encoding virulence factors. It is known that CovR can be phosphorylated on aspartate-53 in vitro and that such phosphorylation increases its regulatory activity, but what additional factors influence CovR-mediated gene expression have not been established. Herein we show for the first time that CovR is phosphorylated in vivo and that phosphorylation of CovR on threonine-65 by the threonine/serine kinase Stk prevents aspartate-53 phosphorylation, thereby decreasing CovR regulatory activity. Further, while CovR-mediated gene repression is highly dependent on aspartate-53 phosphorylation, CovR-mediated gene activation proceeds via a phosphorylation-independent mechanism. Modifications in CovR phosphorylation sites significantly affected the expression of GAS virulence factors during infection and markedly altered the ability of GAS to cause disease in mice. These data establish that multiple inter-related pathways converge to influence CovR phosphorylation, thereby providing new insight into the complex regulatory network used by GAS during infection.

Modulation of DNA binding by gene-specific transcription factors

The transcription of many genes, particularly in prokaryotes, is controlled by transcription factors whose activity can be modulated by controlling their DNA binding affinity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which DNA binding affinity is regulated is important, but because forming definitive conclusions usually requires detailed structural information in combination with data from extensive biophysical, biochemical, and sometimes genetic experiments, little is truly understood about this topic. This review describes the biological requirements placed upon DNA binding transcription factors and their consequent properties, particularly the ways that DNA binding affinity can be modulated and methods for its study. What is known and not known about the mechanisms modulating the DNA binding affinity of a number of prokaryotic transcription factors, including CAP and lac repressor, is provided.