The plant pathogen Streptomyces scabies 87-22 has a functional pyochelin biosynthetic pathway that is regulated by TetR-and AfsR-family proteins Siderophores are high-affinity iron-chelating compounds produced by bacteria for iron uptake that can act as important virulence determinants for both plant and animal pathogens. Genome sequencing of the plant pathogen Streptomyces scabies 87-22 revealed the presence of a putative pyochelin biosynthetic gene cluster (PBGC). Liquid chromatography (LC)-MS analyses of culture supernatants of S. scabies mutants, in which expression of the cluster is upregulated and which lack a key biosynthetic gene from the cluster, indicated that pyochelin is a product of the PBGC. LC-MS comparisons with authentic standards on a homochiral stationary phase confirmed that pyochelin and not enantio-pyochelin (ent-pyochelin) is produced by S. scabies. Transcription of the S. scabies PBGC occurs via~19 kb and~3 kb operons and transcription of the~19 kb operon is regulated by TetR-and AfsR-family proteins encoded by the cluster. This is the first report, to our knowledge, of pyochelin production by a Gram-positive bacterium; interestingly regulation of pyochelin production is distinct from characterized PBGCs in Gram-negative bacteria. Though pyochelin-mediated iron acquisition by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is important for virulence, in planta bioassays failed to demonstrate that pyochelin production by S. scabies is required for development of disease symptoms on excised potato tuber tissue or radish seedlings.
INTRODUCTIONThe genus Streptomyces is comprised of hundreds of species, most of which are soil-dwelling and saprophytic. The ability of these filamentous actinobacteria to produce biologically active secondary metabolites is well known; streptomycetes produce nearly two-thirds of the world's naturally occurring antibiotics (Bentley et al., 2002). Since soil is poor in nutrients but rich in microbial competitors, most secondary metabolites are thought to serve as antimicrobial agents. However, secondary metabolites have other roles, one of which is iron acquisition. Iron is relatively unavailable to soil bacteria due to the low solubility of the Fe 3+ ion under aerobic conditions at neutral pH. The most common way that bacteria cope with low bioavailability of iron is the production of ironchelating compounds called siderophores (Guerinot, 1994). Production of siderophores by saprophytic Streptomyces species has been known since the 1960s; desferrioxamine siderophores are produced by multiple Streptomyces species ( Barona-Gó mez et al., 2004Bickel et al., 1960;Imbert et al., 1995;Schupp et al., 1988). Recently, streptomycetes have been found to produce siderophores other than desferrioxamines. Streptomyces sp. Tü 6125 produces enterobactin, a catecholate-type siderophore typically produced by members of the family Enterobacteriaceae (Fiedler et al., 2001). Streptomyces sp. ATCC 700974 and Streptomyces griseus produce griseobactin, a siderophore containing catechol, threonine and arginine t...