The inner membrane protein, YhiM, is necessary for Escherichia coli (E. coli) survival in acidic conditions.
Escherichia coli must be able to survive extreme acidic conditions. We were interested in determining the role of the inner membrane protein YhiM in survival in acidic conditions. Previous data demonstrated that the yhiM gene was upregulated in acidic conditions (Tucker et al. in J Bacteriol. 184:6551-6558, 2002). We therefore tested tn10 insertions into the yhiM gene for their ability to survive at low pH (pH 2.5). We show that YhiM was required for survival at pH 2.5. We also tested the YhiM dependence of the different acid resistance pathways. YhiM was required for the RpoS, glutamine and lysine-dependent acid resistance pathways. In contrast, YhiM was not required for the arginine-dependent acid resistance pathway.
Department of Biology, Wabash College, 301 W. Wabash Avenue, Crawfordsville, IN 47933, USA.
Tuan M
TM
Nguyen
Rebecca L
RL
Sparks-Thissen
D000143:Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D001120:Arginine / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008239:Lysine / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics
D000143:Acids; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C579518:YhiM protein, E coli; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D001120:Arginine; D008239:Lysine