Loss of the waaL O-antigen ligase prevents surface activation of the flagellar gene cascade in Proteus mirabilis.
Proteus mirabilis is a Gram-negative bacterium that undergoes a physical and biochemical change from a vegetative swimmer cell (a typical Gram-negative rod) to an elongated swarmer cell when grown on a solid surface. In this study, we report that a transposon insertion in the waaL gene, encoding O-antigen ligase, blocked swarming motility on solid surfaces but had little effect on swimming motility in soft agar. The waaL mutant was unable to differentiate into a swarmer cell. Differentiation was also prevented by a mutation in wzz, encoding a chain length determinant for O antigen, but not by a mutation in wzyE, encoding an enzyme that polymerizes enterobacterial common antigen, a surface polysaccharide different from the lipid A::core. In wild-type P. mirabilis, increased expression of the flhDC operon occurs after growth on solid surfaces and is required for the high-level expression of flagellin that is characteristic of swarmer cells. However, in both the waaL and the wzz mutants, the flhDC operon was not activated during growth on agar. A loss-of-function mutation in the rcsB response regulator or overexpression of flhDC restored swarming to the waaL mutant, despite the absence of O antigen. Therefore, although O antigen may serve a role in swarming by promoting wettability, the loss of O antigen blocks a regulatory pathway that links surface contact with the upregulation of flhDC expression.
Morgenstein
Randy M
RM
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Clemmer
Katy M
KM
Rather
Philip N
PN
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005407:Flagella / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D008025:Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009154:Mutation; D011513:Proteus mirabilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008025:Ligases
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