Role of Fur on cyanide tolerance of Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344 (original) (raw)

Characterization of a ferric uptake regulator (Fur)-mutant of the cyanotrophic bacterium Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344

Journal of Biotechnology, 2014

The Fur protein is the main sensor of cellular iron status in bacteria. In the present study, we inactivated the fur gene of Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344 and characterized the resulting mutant. Our findings provide experimental evidence that, cyanide generates an intracellular signal equivalent to that triggered by iron deprivation, as witnessed by the induction of prrF and fiuA (ferrichrome receptor) expression in the presence of cyanide. The fur mutant also displayed slow growth, especially in minimal culture medium, increased sensitivity to cyanide in LB medium and as expected, resistance to manganese ions. Moreover, the mutant exhibited enhanced iron accumulation and increased sensitivity to streptonigrin, as well as to some inducers of oxidative stress, such as paraquat and menadione, yet it remained resistant to hydrogen peroxide. Surprisingly, neither the wild type strain nor the fur mutant strain produced siderophores that could be detected using the universal CAS-agar method.

Iron regulation of siderophore biosynthesis and transport in Pseudomonas putida WCS358: involvement of a transcriptional activator and of the Fur protein

Molecular Microbiology, 1995

Pseudobactin 358 is the yellow-green fluorescent siderophore produced by Pseudomonas putida WCS358 in conditions of iron limitation. The genes encoding for siderophore biosynthesis are iron-regulated at the transcriptional level. Previous work has shown that a positive regulator, PfrA, is absolutely required for the activation under iron-limiting conditions of pseudobactin 358 biosynthesis. In this study we identified a set of Tn5 insertion mutants of strain WCS358 which lost the ability to activate an iron-regulated siderophore promoter. These mutants no longer produced pseudobactin 358. Molecular analysis revealed that they carried a Tn5 insertion in a gene, designated pfrl (Pseudotnorias ferric regulator), which codes for a protein (Pfrl) of 19.5 kDa. Pfrl contains a putative helix turn-helix motif typical of DNA-binding proteins and has homology to two DNA-binding transcriptional activators, Feel from Escherichia coli and Pupl from P. putida. The proposed roie of Pfrl in strain WCS358 is an activator protein regulating pseudobactin 358 biosynthesis under iron limitation. The pfri promoter region contains a sequence which displays high identity to the Fur-box consensus. This 19 bp consensus sequence is recognized by Fur, an iron-binding repressor protein found in many different bacteria. The E. coii Fur protein can bind to the pfr! promoter region, indicating that this activator gene is likely to be ironreguiated by Fur. We also report the identification and characterization of the P. putida WCS358 fur gene. The Fur protein of strain WCS358 is structurally and functionally similar to all other cloned Fur proteins from other bacterial species.

Metabolic adaptation of Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344 to cyanide: role of malate–quinone oxidoreductases, aconitase and fumarase isoenzymes

Biochemical Society Transactions, 2011

In general, the biodegradation of a toxic compound by a micro-organism requires the concurrence of, at least, two features in the biological system: first, the capability of the micro-organism to metabolize the toxic compound, and secondly, the capacity to resist its toxic effect. Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344 is a bacterium used in the biodegradation of cyanide because it is capable to use it as a nitrogen source. The present review is mainly focused on the putative role of iron-containing enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle in cyanide resistance by P. pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344.

The Effect of Iron Limitation on the Transcriptome and Proteome of Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-5

PLoS ONE, 2012

One of the most important micronutrients for bacterial growth is iron, whose bioavailability in soil is limited. Consequently, rhizospheric bacteria such as Pseudomonas fluorescens employ a range of mechanisms to acquire or compete for iron. We investigated the transcriptomic and proteomic effects of iron limitation on P. fluorescens Pf-5 by employing microarray and iTRAQ techniques, respectively. Analysis of this data revealed that genes encoding functions related to iron homeostasis, including pyoverdine and enantio-pyochelin biosynthesis, a number of TonB-dependent receptor systems, as well as some inner-membrane transporters, were significantly up-regulated in response to iron limitation. Transcription of a ribosomal protein L36-encoding gene was also highly up-regulated during iron limitation. Certain genes or proteins involved in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites such as 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG), orfamide A and pyrrolnitrin, as well as a chitinase, were over-expressed under iron-limited conditions. In contrast, we observed that expression of genes involved in hydrogen cyanide production and flagellar biosynthesis were down-regulated in an iron-depleted culture medium. Phenotypic tests revealed that Pf-5 had reduced swarming motility on semi-solid agar in response to iron limitation. Comparison of the transcriptomic data with the proteomic data suggested that iron acquisition is regulated at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels.

Putative small RNAs controlling detoxification of industrial cyanide-containing wastewaters by Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344

PLOS ONE, 2019

The alkaliphilic bacterium Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344 uses free cyanide and several metal−cyanide complexes as the sole nitrogen source and tolerates high concentrations of metals like copper, zinc and iron, which are present in the jewelry wastewaters. To understand deeply the regulatory mechanisms involved in the transcriptional regulation of cyanide-containing wastewaters detoxification by P. pseudoalcaligenes CECT5344, RNA-Seq has been performed from cells cultured with a cyanide-containing jewelry wastewater, sodium cyanide or ammonium chloride as the sole nitrogen source. Small RNAs (sRNAs) that may have potential regulatory functions under cyanotrophic conditions were identified. In total 20 sRNAs were identified to be differentially expressed when compared the jewelry residue versus ammonium as nitrogen source, 16 of which could be amplified successfully by RT-PCR. As predicted targets of these 16 sRNAs were several components of the nit1C gene cluster encoding the nitrilase NitC essential for cyanide assimilation, the cioAB gene cluster that codes for the cyanide-insensitive cytochrome bdtype terminal oxidase, the medium length-polyhydroxyalkanoates (ml-PHAs) gene cluster, and gene clusters related with a global nitrogen limitation response like those coding for glutamine synthase and urease. Other targets were non-clustered genes (or their products) involved in metal resistance and iron acquisition, such as metal extrusion systems and the ferric uptake regulatory (Fur) protein, and a GntR-like regulatory family member probably involved in the regulation of the cyanide assimilation process in the strain CECT5344. Induction of genes targeted by sRNAs in the jewelry residue was demonstrated by qRT-PCR.

Iron transport and regulation, cell signalling and genomics: lessons from Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas

Molecular Microbiology, 2002

Organization and evolutionary traits of surface signalling systems of P. aeruginosa and C. crescentus. A. Organisation of fecI (black arrow), fecR (grey arrow) and fecA (white arrow) homologues in the P.aeruginosa (PA) and C. crescentus (CC) genomes. Annotations are according to the P. aeruginosa and C. crescentus genome databases (www.pseudomonas.com and www.tigr.org respectively). Genes (not to scale) are oriented according to the direction of transcription. B. Co-evolution of the iron starvation sigma factors and cognate anti-sigmas. The trees have been adapted from those available at the COG (cluster of orthologous groups of proteins) database (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/COG). These are based on multiple sequence alignment of all members of COGs 1945 (RpoE orthologues) and 3712 (FecR orthologues), according to the criteria described in www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/COG/COGhelp.html. Only protein sequences from P.aeruginosa and C. crescentus were included in the figure. The branch linking the iron starvation subfamily of ECF sigma factors with other members of COG 1945 is indicated (¥). Double-headed arrows connect physically and evolutionarily linked sigma-anti-sigma units.

Iron transport and regulation, cell signalling and genomics: lessons from Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas: Iron starvation ECF factors

Molecular Microbiology, 2002

A variety of bacterial species secrete and take up chelating compounds that enable acquisition of iron (siderophores). It has become clear that a common feature in regulation of different iron acquisition systems is the involvement of alternative sigma factor proteins of the extracytoplasmic function (ECF) family. Two of these proteins, PvdS from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and FecI from Escherichia coli K-12, have been studied extensively. PvdS directs transcription of genes required for the biosynthesis of a siderophore, pyoverdine, and FecI causes ex-pression of genes for uptake of ferric citrate. FecI forms part of a signalling system that responds to the presence of ferric citrate. Here, we review recent advances in understanding of PvdS and of the Fec signalling system. PvdS and FecI are part of a distinct subfamily of ECF sigma factors involved in iron acquisition and hence named the iron-starvation sigmas. Analysis of microbial genome sequences shows that Fec-like signalling systems are present in a wide range of species and many such systems may be present in a single species. The availability of tools for large-scale genome analysis is likely to lead to rapid advances in our understanding of this expanding family of proteins.

Iron uptake and metabolism in pseudomonads

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2010

Pseudomonads are ubiquitous Gram-negative gamma proteobacteria known for their extreme versatility and adaptability. Some are plant pathogens (Pseudomonas syringae) which have to survive on the surface of leaves while others can colonize the rhizosphere or survive in soil (Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas putida), and one species, Pseudomonas entomophila, is an insect pathogen. The most investigated species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is known to be an opportunistic pathogen able to infect plants, nematodes, insects, and mammals, including humans. Like for other bacteria, iron is a key nutrient for pseudomonads. The fluorescent pseudomonads produce siderophores, the best known being the fluorescent high-affinity peptidic pyoverdines. Often diverse secondary siderophores of lower affinity are produced as well (pyochelin, pseudomonin, corrugatins and ornicorrugatins, yersiniabactin, and thioquinolobactin). Reflecting their large capacity of adaptation to changing environment and niche colonization, pseudomonads are able to obtain their iron from heme or from siderophores produced by other microorganisms (xenosiderophores) via the expression of outer membrane TonB-dependent receptors. As expected, iron uptake is exquisitely and hierarchically regulated in these bacteria. In this short review, the diversity of siderophores produced, receptors, and finally the way iron homeostasis is regulated in P. aeruginosa, P. syringae, P. putida, and P. fluorescens, will be presented and, when possible, put in relation with the lifestyle and the ecological niche.

Analysis of the draft genome of Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC17400 indicates a capacity to take up iron from a wide range of sources, including different exogenous pyoverdines

BioMetals, 2014

All fluorescent pseudomonads (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. putida, P. fluorescens, P. syringae and others) are known to produce the highaffinity peptidic yellow-green fluorescent siderophore pyoverdine. These siderophores have peptide chains that are quite diverse and more than 50 pyoverdine structures have been elucidated. In the majority of the cases, a Pseudomonas species is also able to produce a second siderophore of lower affinity for iron. Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 17400 has been shown to produce a unique second siderophore, (thio)quinolobactin, which has an antimicrobial activity against the phytopathogenic Oomycete Pythium debaryanum. We show that this strain has the capacity to utilize 16 different pyoverdines, suggesting the presence of several ferripyoverdine receptors. Analysis of the draft genome of P. fluorescens ATCC 17400 confirmed the presence of 55 TonB-dependent receptors, the largest so far for Pseudomonas, among which 15 are predicted to be ferripyoverdine receptors (Fpv). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of two different clades containing ferripyoverdine receptors, with sequences similar to the P. aeruginosa type II FpvA forming a separate cluster. Among the other receptors we confirmed the presence of the QbsI (thio)quinolobactin receptor, an ferri-achromobactin and an ornicorrugatin receptor, several catecholate and four putative heme receptors. Twenty five of the receptors genes were found to be associated with genes encoding extracytoplasmic sigma factors (ECF r) and transmembrane anti-r sensors.