title: Signal transduction in exopolysaccharide alginate synthesis: phosphorylation of the response regulator AlgR1 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli.
abstract: Synthesis of alginate by Pseudomonas aeruginosa correlates with its pathogenicity in the lungs of patients suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF). Alginate synthesis-encoding genes (alg) in P. aeruginosa are normally silent, but are specifically triggered in the CF lung environment. The promoter for the algD gene, located at the upstream end of the alg cluster, is activated by environmental factors such as high osmolarity, nutrient limitation and dehydration. Several regulatory proteins are known to control transcription from the algD promoter. Among these proteins is AlgR1 which is homologous to the phosphorylation-dependent response regulators of the two-component signal transduction system. In this paper, we report that AlgR2, an 18-kDa protein which in cooperation with AlgR1 regulates the algD promoter, undergoes phosphorylation in the presence of ATP. The phosphate group acquired by AlgR2 is then transferred to AlgR1. In addition, we show that AlgR1 can be phosphorylated by an AlgR2-analog in Escherichia coli. AlgR1 is isolated in a phosphorylatable 80-kDa complex in association with AlgR2 in P. aeruginosa and the AlgR2-analog in E. coli.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago 60612.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roychoudhury
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schlictman
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Chakrabarty
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000382:microbiology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C067678:AlgR1 protein, Pseudomonas syringae; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D011494:Protein Kinases; D001616:beta-Galactosidase