A Fur-like protein PerR regulates two oxidative stress response related operons dpr and metQIN in Streptococcus suis.
BACKGROUND
Metal ions are important micronutrients in cellular metabolism, but excess ions that cause toxic reactive oxygen species are harmful to cells. In bacteria, Fur family proteins such as Fur, Zur and PerR manage the iron and zinc uptake and oxidative stress responses, respectively. The single Fur-like protein (annotated as PerR) in Streptococcus suis has been demonstrated to be involved in zinc and iron uptake in previous studies, but the reports on oxidative stress response and gene regulation are limited.


RESULTS
In the present study, the perR gene deletion mutant ΔperR was constructed in Streptococcus suis serotype 2 strain SC-19, and the mutant strain ΔperR exhibited less sensitivity to H2O2 stress compared to the wild-type. The dpr and metQIN were found to be upregulated in the ΔperR strain compared with SC-19. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that the promoters of dpr and metQIN could be bound by the PerR protein. These results suggest that dpr and metQIN are members of the PerR regulon of S. suis. dpr encodes a Dps-like peroxide resistance protein, and the dpr knockout strains (Δdpr and ΔdprΔperR) were highly sensitive to H2O2. MetQIN is a methionine transporter, and the increased utilization of methionine in the ΔperR strain indirectly affected the peroxide resistance. Using a promoter-EGFP gene fusion reporting system, we found that the PerR regulon was induced by H2O2, and the induction was modulated by metal ions. Finally, we found that the pathogenicity of the perR mutant was attenuated and easily cleared by mice.


CONCLUSIONS
These data strongly suggest that the Fur-like protein PerR directly regulates dpr and metQIN and plays a crucial role in oxidative stress response in S. suis.
Division of Animal Infectious Diseases in the State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Shizishan Street, Wuhan 430070, China.
Tengfei
T
Zhang
Yi
Y
Ding
Tingting
T
Li
Yun
Y
Wan
Wei
W
Li
Huanchun
H
Chen
Rui
R
Zhou
D054366:Agouti Signaling Protein; D000818:Animals; D019677:Artificial Gene Fusion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000633:toxicity; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D009876:Operon; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D018085:Regulon; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D017011:Streptococcus suis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D054366:Agouti Signaling Protein; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C414750:Dpr protein, Streptococcus; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; C515183:a protein, mouse; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; C122138:peroxide repressor proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide