Characterization of MexE-MexF-OprN, a positively regulated multidrug efflux system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Antibiotic-resistant mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were generated using chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin as selective agents. These mutants displayed a multidrug phenotype and overexpressed an outer membrane protein of 50 kDa, which was shown by Western blot analysis to correspond to OprN. A cosmid clone harbouring the oprN gene was isolated by partial complementation of a mutant deficient in OprM, the outer membrane component of the mexAB-oprM efflux operon. Antibiotic-accumulation studies indicated that OprN was part of an energy-dependent antibiotic-efflux system. Sequencing of a 6180bp fragment from the complementing cosmid revealed the presence of three open reading frames (ORFs), which exhibited amino acid similarity to the components of the mexAB-oprM and mexCD-oprJ efflux operons of P. aeruginosa. The ORFs were designated MexE, MexF and OprN. Mutation of the mexE gene eliminated the multidrug-resistance phenotype in an OprN-overexpressing strain, but did not affect the susceptibility profile of the wild-type strain. Expression of the mexEF-oprN operon was shown to be positively regulated by a protein encoded on a 1.5 kb DNA fragment located upstream of mexE and belonging to the LysR family of transcriptional activators. The presence of a plasmid containing this DNA fragment was sufficient to confer a multidrug phenotype onto the wild-type strain but not onto the mexE mutant. Evidence is provided to show that the mexEF-oprN operon may be involved in the excretion of intermediates for the biosynthesis of pyocyanin, a typical secondary metabolite of P. aeruginosa.
Köhler
T
T
Department of Genetics and Microbiology, Centre Médical Universitaire, Geneva, Switzerland. Kohler@cmu.unige.ch
Michéa-Hamzehpour
M
M
Henze
U
U
Gotoh
N
N
Curty
L K
LK
Pechère
J C
JC
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple / Q000235:genetics*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C105708:OprN protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa