title: The Agrobacterium tumefaciens rnd homolog is required for TraR-mediated quorum-dependent activation of Ti plasmid tra gene expression.
abstract: Conjugal transfer of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmids is regulated by quorum sensing via TraR and its cognate autoinducer, N-(3-oxo-octanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone. We isolated four Tn5-induced mutants of A. tumefaciens C58 deficient in TraR-mediated activation of tra genes on pTiC58DeltaaccR. These mutations also affected the growth of the bacterium but had no detectable influence on the expression of two tester gene systems that are not regulated by quorum sensing. In all four mutants Tn5 was inserted in a chromosomal open reading frame (ORF) coding for a product showing high similarity to RNase D, coded for by rnd of Escherichia coli, an RNase known to be involved in tRNA processing. The wild-type allele of the rnd homolog cloned from C58 restored the two phenotypes to each mutant. Several ORFs, including a homolog of cya2, surround A. tumefaciens rnd, but none of these genes exerted a detectable effect on the expression of the tra reporter. In the mutant, traR was expressed from the Ti plasmid at a level about twofold lower than that in NT1. The expression of tra, but not the growth rate, was partially restored by increasing the copy number of traR or by disrupting traM, a Ti plasmid gene coding for an antiactivator specific for TraR. The mutation in rnd also slightly reduced expression of two tested vir genes but had no detectable effect on tumor induction by this mutant. Our data suggest that the defect in tra gene induction in the mutants results from lowered levels of TraR. In turn, production of sufficient amounts of TraR apparently is sensitive to a cellular function requiring RNase D.
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Z Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Farrand
mesh_terms: D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000502:physiology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D006714:Homoserine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D008353:Mannitol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics*; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000378:metabolism; D043244:Ribonuclease III; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C080512:TraR protein, Agrobacterium tumefaciens; D014157:Transcription Factors; C074281:TraM protein, bacterial; C080518:N-(beta-oxooctan-1-oyl)homoserine lactone; D008353:Mannitol; D006714:Homoserine; C041352:mannopine; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D004722:Endoribonucleases; D043244:Ribonuclease III; C468366:ribonuclease III, E coli