SummaryAromatic and hydroaromatic compounds that are metabolized through the β-ketoadipate catabolic pathway serve as chemoattractants for Pseudomonas putida F1. A screen of P. putida F1 mutants, each lacking one of the genes encoding the 18 putative methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs), revealed that pcaY encodes the MCP required for metabolism-independent chemotaxis to vanillate, vanillin, 4-hydroxybenzoate, benzoate, protocatechuate, quinate, shikimate, as well as 10 substituted benzoates that do not serve as growth substrates for P. putida F1. Chemotaxis was induced during growth on aromatic compounds, and an analysis of a pcaYlacZ fusion revealed that pcaY is expressed in the presence of β-ketoadipate, a common intermediate in the pathway. pcaY expression also required the transcriptional activator PcaR, indicating that pcaY is a member of the pca regulon, which includes three unlinked gene clusters that encode five enzymes required for the conversion of 4-hydroxybenzoate to tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates as well as the major facilitator superfamily transport protein PcaK. The 4-hydroxybenzoate permease PcaK was shown to modulate the chemotactic response by facilitating the uptake of 4-hydroxybenzoate, which leads to the accumulation of β-ketoadipate, thereby increasing pcaY expression. The results show that chemotaxis, transport and metabolism of aromatic compounds are intimately linked in P. putida.

Soil bacteria adapt to diverse and rapidly changing environmental conditions by sensing and responding to environmental cues using a variety of sensory systems. Two-component systems are a widespread type of signal transduction system present in all three domains of life and typically are comprised of a sensor kinase and a response regulator. Many two-component systems function by regulating gene expression in response to environmental stimuli. The bacterial chemotaxis system is a modified two-component system with additional protein components and a response that, rather than regulating gene expression, involves behavioral adaptation and results in net movement toward or away from a chemical stimulus. Soil bacteria generally have 20 to 40 or more chemoreceptors encoded in their genomes. To simplify the identification of chemoeffectors (ligands) sensed by bacterial chemoreceptors, we constructed hybrid sensor proteins by fusing the sensor domains of Pseudomonas putida chemoreceptors to the signaling domains of the Escherichia coli NarX/NarQ nitrate sensors. Responses to potential attractants were monitored by β-galactosidase assays using an E. coli reporter strain in which the nitrate-responsive narG promoter was fused to lacZ. Hybrid receptors constructed from PcaY, McfR, and NahY, which are chemoreceptors for aromatic acids, tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, and naphthalene, respectively, were sensitive and specific for detecting known attractants, and the β-galactosidase activities measured in E. coli correlated well with results of chemotaxis assays in the native P. putida strain. In addition, a screen of the hybrid receptors successfully identified new ligands for chemoreceptor proteins and resulted in the identification of six receptors that detect propionate. IMPORTANCE Relatively few of the thousands of chemoreceptors encoded in bacterial genomes have been functionally characterized. More importantly, although methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins, the major type of chemoreceptors present in bacteria, are easily identified bioinformatically, it is not currently possible to predict what chemicals will bind to a particular chemoreceptor. Chemotaxis is known to play roles in biodegradation as well as in host-pathogen and host-symbiont interactions, but many studies are currently limited by the inability to identify relevant chemoreceptor ligands. The use of hybrid receptors and this simple E. coli reporter system allowed rapid and sensitive screening for potential chemoeffectors. The fusion site chosen for this study resulted in a high percentage of functional hybrids, indicating that it could be used to broadly test chemoreceptor responses from phylogenetically diverse samples. Considering the wide range of chemical attractants detected by soil bacteria, hybrid receptors may also be useful as sensitive biosensors.