Faculty Bibliography

The widely conserved phage-shock-protein A (pspA) operon encodes an extracytoplasmic stress response system that is essential for virulence in Yersinia enterocolitica, and has been linked to other important phenotypes in Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica and Shigella flexneri. Regulation of pspA operon expression is mediated through a promoter upstream of pspA that depends on sigma factor RpoN (sigma(54)) and the enhancer binding protein PspF. PspA, PspB and PspC, encoded within the pspA operon, also regulate expression by participating in a putative signal transduction pathway that probably serves to modulate PspF activity. All of this suggests that appropriate expression of the pspA operon is critical. Previous genetic analysis of the Y. enterocolitica pspA operon suggested that an additional level of complexity might be mediated by PspF/RpoN-independent expression of some psp genes. Here, an rpoN null mutation and interposon analysis were used to confirm that PspF/RpoN-independent gene expression does originate within the psp locus. Molecular genetic approaches were used to systematically analyse the two large non-coding regions within the psp locus. Primer extension, control region deletion and site-directed mutagenesis experiments led to the identification of RpoN-independent promoters both upstream and downstream of pspA. The precise location of the PspF/RpoN-dependent promoter upstream of pspA was also determined. The discovery of these RpoN-independent promoters reveals yet another level of transcriptional complexity for the Y. enterocolitica pspA operon that may function to allow low-level constitutive expression of psp genes and/or additional regulation under some conditions

The phage-shock-protein (Psp) stress-response system is conserved in many bacteria and has been linked to important phenotypes in Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica and also Yersinia enterocolitica, where it is essential for virulence. It is activated by specific extracytoplasmic stress events such as the mislocalization of secretin proteins. From studies of the Psp system in E. coli, the cytoplasmic membrane proteins PspB and PspC have only been proposed to act as positive regulators of psp gene expression. However, in this study we show that PspB and PspC of Y. enterocolitica are dual function proteins, acting both as regulators and effectors of the Psp system. Consistent with the current model, they positively control psp gene expression in response to diverse inducing cues. PspB and PspC must work together to achieve this regulatory function, and bacterial two-hybrid (BACTH) analysis demonstrated a specific interaction between them, which was confirmed by in vivo cross-linking. We also show that PspB and PspC play a second role in supporting growth when a secretin protein is overexpressed. This function is independent from their role as regulators of psp gene expression. Furthermore, whereas PspB and PspC must work together for their regulatory function, they can apparently act independently to support growth during secretin production. This study expands the current understanding of the roles played by PspB and PspC, and demonstrates that they cannot be considered only as positive regulators of psp gene expression in Y. enterocolitica

We report a significantly improved system for studying single-copy lacZ operon fusions in Yersinia enterocolitica: a simple procedure for the stable integration of lacZ operon fusions into the ara locus and a strain with a deletion mutation that abolishes the low level of endogenous beta-galactosidase activity

The phage-shock-protein (Psp) system responds to extracytoplasmic stress that may reduce the energy status of the cell. It is conserved in many different bacteria and has been linked to several important phenotypes. Escherichia coli psp mutants have defects in maintenance of the proton-motive force, protein export by the sec and tat pathways, survival in stationary phase at alkaline pH, and biofilm formation. Yersinia enterocolitica psp mutants cannot grow when the secretin component of a type III secretion system is mislocalized, and have a severe virulence defect in animals. A Salmonella enterica psp mutation exacerbates some phenotypes of an rpoE null mutant and the psp genes of S. enterica and Shigella flexneri are highly induced during macrophage infection. PspA, the most abundant of the Psp proteins, is required for most of the phenotypes associated with the Psp system. Therefore, PspA is probably an effector that may play a role in maintaining cytoplasmic membrane integrity and/or the proton-motive force. However, PspA is not required for the ability to tolerate secretin mislocalization, which suggests an important physiological role for other Psp proteins. This article summarizes our current understanding of the Psp system: inducing signals, the underlying signal transduction mechanisms, the physiological roles it may play, and a genomic analysis of its conservation

An obvious goal in the study of bacteria that cause human disease is to identify the bacterial genes required for growth within the host. Historically, this has presented a significant technological challenge. However, with this goal in mind, the in vivo expression technology (IVET) and signature-tagged mutagenesis (STM) techniques were developed during the 1990s. These techniques have been used to identify virulence genes in the three human pathogenic Yersinia species, Y. enterocolitica, Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis, using variations of their mouse models of infection. In this review, each of these studies is described individually, including the pertinent details of how each was done, and a brief discussion of the genes identified. In addition, the results of these IVET and STM screens are compared, and the striking lack of overlap between the genes identified is discussed. Most of these studies were only recently published, which means that there have been few follow-up studies on some of the novel virulence genes identified. However, the Y. enterocolitica hreP, rscR and psp genes have become the subject of further studies, which are also summarized here. Finally, I briefly describe the use of the genome-wide (but not in vivo) technology, subtractive hybridization, to identify Yersinia virulence genes

The Yersinia enterocolitica phage shock protein (Psp) system is induced when the Ysc type III secretion system is produced or when only the YscC secretin component is synthesized. Some psp null mutants have a growth defect when YscC is produced and a severe virulence defect in animals. The Y. enterocolitica psp locus is made up of two divergently transcribed cistrons, pspF and pspABCDycjXF. pspA operon expression is dependent on RpoN (sigma(54)) and the enhancer-binding protein PspF. Previous data indicated that PspF also controls at least one gene that is not part of the psp locus. In this study we describe the identification of pspG, a new member of the PspF regulon. Predicted RpoN-binding sites upstream of the pspA genes from different bacteria have a common divergence from the consensus sequence, which may be a signature of PspF-dependent promoters. The Y. enterocolitica pspG gene was identified because its promoter also has this signature. Like the pspA operon, pspG is positively regulated by PspF, negatively regulated by PspA, and induced in response to the production of secretins. Purified His(6)-PspF protein specifically interacts with the pspA and pspG control regions. A pspA operon deletion mutant has a growth defect when the YscC secretin is produced and a virulence defect in a mouse model of infection. These phenotypes were exacerbated by a pspG null mutation. Therefore, PspG is the missing component of the Y. enterocolitica Psp regulon that was previously predicted to exist

Known inducers of the phage shock protein (Psp) system suggest that it is an extracytoplasmic stress response, as are the well-studied RpoE and Cpx systems. However, a random approach to identify conditions and proteins that induce the Psp system has not been attempted. It is also unknown whether the proteins or mutations that induce Psp are specific or if they also activate the RpoE and Cpx systems. This study addressed these issues for the Yersinia enterocolitica Psp system. Random transposon mutagenesis identified null mutations and overexpression mutations that increase Phi(pspA-lacZ) operon fusion expression. The results suggest that Psp may respond exclusively to extracytoplasmic stress. Null mutations affected glucosamine-6-phosphate synthetase (glmS), which plays a role in cell envelope biosynthesis, and the F0F1 ATPase (atp operon). The screen also revealed that in addition to several secretins, the overexpression of three novel putative inner membrane proteins (IMPs) induced the Psp response. We also compared induction of the Y. enterocolitica Psp, RpoE, and Cpx responses. Overexpression of secretins or the three IMPs or the presence of an atpB null mutation only induced the Psp response. Similarly, known inducers of the RpoE and Cpx responses did not significantly induce the Psp response. Only the glmS null mutation induced all three responses. Therefore, Psp is induced distinctly from the RpoE and Cpx systems. The specific IMP inducers may be valuable tools to probe specific signal transduction events of the Psp response in future studies

Periplasmic nitrate reductase (NapABC enzyme) has been characterized from a variety of proteobacteria, especially Paracoccus pantotrophus. Whole-genome sequencing of Escherichia coli revealed the structural genes napFDAGHBC, which encode NapABC enzyme and associated electron transfer components. E. coli also expresses two membrane-bound proton-translocating nitrate reductases, encoded by the narGHJI and narZYWV operons. We measured reduced viologen-dependent nitrate reductase activity in a series of strains with combinations of nar and nap null alleles. The napF operon-encoded nitrate reductase activity was not sensitive to azide, as shown previously for the P. pantotrophus NapA enzyme. A strain carrying null alleles of narG and narZ grew exponentially on glycerol with nitrate as the respiratory oxidant (anaerobic respiration), whereas a strain also carrying a null allele of napA did not. By contrast, the presence of napA+ had no influence on the more rapid growth of narG+ strains. These results indicate that periplasmic nitrate reductase, like fumarate reductase, can function in anaerobic respiration but does not constitute a site for generating proton motive force. The time course of phi(napF-lacZ) expression during growth in batch culture displayed a complex pattern in response to the dynamic nitrate/nitrite ratio. Our results are consistent with the observation that phi(napF-lacZ) is expressed preferentially at relatively low nitrate concentrations in continuous cultures (H. Wang, C.-P. Tseng, and R. P. Gunsalus, J. Bacteriol. 181:5303-5308, 1999). This finding and other considerations support the hypothesis that NapABC enzyme may function in E. coli when low nitrate concentrations limit the bioenergetic efficiency of nitrate respiration via NarGHI enzyme

The phage shock protein locus (pspFpspABCDE) of Escherichia coli has proved to be something of an enigma since its discovery. The physiological functions of the psp locus, including those of the predicted effector protein PspA, are unknown. In a previous genetic screen, we determined that a Yersinia enterocolitica pspC mutant was severely attenuated for virulence. In this study, the psp locus of Y. enterocolitica was characterized further. The pspC gene of Y. enterocolitica was found to be important for normal growth when the Ysc type III secretion system was expressed in the laboratory. This growth defect was specifically caused by production of the secretin protein, YscC. Expression of the psp genes was induced when the type III secretion system was functional or when only the yscC gene was expressed. This induction of psp gene expression required a functional pspC gene. Most significantly, evidence suggests that the expression of at least one gene that is not part of the psp locus is regulated by Psp proteins. This unidentified gene (or genes) may also be important for growth when the type III secretion system is expressed. These conclusions are supported by the effects of various psp mutations on virulence. This is the first indication that Psp proteins might be involved in the regulation of genes besides the psp locus itself