No abstract

The stringent response (SR) is a regulatory mechanism that enables bacteria to adapt to nutrient stress through the production of the alarmone (p)ppGpp. The aim of the current study was to understand how the SR affects the antifungal (AF) activity of Pseudomonas chlororaphis PA23. Two SR mutants were generated, PA23relA and PA23relAspoT, that no longer produced (p)ppGpp. Both mutants exhibited increased inhibition of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in vitro and elevated pyrrolnitrin (PRN), lipase and protease production. Phenazine (PHZ) levels, on the other hand, remained unchanged. Through transcriptional fusion analysis we discovered that prnA-lacZ (PRN) activity was increased in the SR mutants, whereas phzA-lacZ (PHZ) activity was equal to that of the wild-type. We also examined how the sigma factor RpoS impacts PA23-mediated antagonism. Similar to the SR mutants, an rpoS mutant of PA23, called PA23rpoS, exhibited enhanced AF activity in vitro and increased expression of PRN, protease and lipase. However, PHZ production and expression of phzA-lacZ were dramatically reduced. Consistent with what has been reported for other bacteria, the SR exerted positive control over rpoS expression. In addition, providing rpoS in trans restored the SR phenotype to that of the wild-type. Collectively, our findings indicate that this global stress response impacts production of PA23 AF compounds via regulation of rpoS transcription and has an overall negative influence on S. sclerotiorum antagonism.

No abstract

The refractory nature of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is due in part to the presence of specialized cells, termed persisters, within the population. To identify genes involved in P. aeruginosa persister formation, a PAO1 transposon (Tn) library was challenged en masse with 1,000 g/ml of carbenicillin and was enriched for mutants that were able to survive in the presence of this antibiotic. For one mutant that was further characterized, the carbenicillin MIC was equal to that of PAO1, but persister formation exhibited a 20-fold increase after exposure to the antibiotic. Sequence analysis revealed that the Tn had inserted into PA4115, a gene encoding a putative lysine decarboxylase. A PA4115 mutant that produced 48-fold and 20-fold more survivors than PAO1 after 10-h exposures to carbenicillin and ticarcillin, respectively, was generated by allelic exchange. Furthermore, the rate of carboxypenicillin-induced lysis was reduced in the PA4115 mutant. Under certain pH conditions, lysine decarboxylase converts lysine to cadaverine. By measuring cadaverine production, we discovered that the PA4115 mutant had significantly reduced lysine decarboxylase activity. To determine if reduced cadaverine levels are responsible for the increase in carbenicillin and ticarcillin persistence, viability and lysis assays were performed in the presence of exogenous cadaverine. Cadaverine increased the rate of killing and lysis of the PA4115 mutant in the presence of both antibiotics. These findings suggest that cadaverine may be able to enhance the effectiveness of carboxypenicillins against P. aeruginosa by reducing persister formation.

The stringent response (SR) enables bacteria to adapt to nutrient limitation through production of the nucleotides guanosine tetraphosphate and guanosine pentaphosphate, collectively known as (p)ppGpp. Two enzymes are responsible for the intracellular pools of (p)ppGpp: RelA acts as a synthetase, while SpoT can function as either a synthetase or a hydrolase. We investigated how the SR affects the ability of the biological control agent Pseudomonas sp. strain DF41 to inhibit the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary. Strain DF41 relA and relA spoT mutants were generated and found to exhibit increased antifungal activity. Strain DF41 produces a lipopeptide (LP) molecule that is essential for Sclerotinia biocontrol. LP production and protease activity were both elevated in the relA and relA spoT mutants. Addition of relA but not spoT in trans restored the mutant phenotype to that of the parent. Next, we investigated whether an association exists between the SR and known regulators of biocontrol, including the Gac system and RpoS. A gacS mutant of strain DF41 produced less (p)ppGpp and exhibited a 1.7-fold decrease in relA expression compared to the wild type, suggesting that relA forms part of the Gac regulon. We discovered that rpoS transcription was reduced significantly in the SR mutants. Furthermore, rpoS provided in trans restored protease activity to wild-type levels but did not attenuate antifungal activity. Finally, relA expression was decreased in the mutants, indicating that the SR is required for maximum expression of relA.