title: HmsC, a periplasmic protein, controls biofilm formation via repression of HmsD, a diguanylate cyclase in Yersinia pestis.
abstract: Yersinia pestis, the cause of plague, forms a biofilm in the foregut of its flea vector to enhance transmission. Biofilm formation in Y. pestis is controlled by the intracellular levels of the second messenger molecule cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP). HmsT and Y3730, the two diguanylate cyclases (DGC) in Y. pestis, are responsible for the synthesis of c-di-GMP. Y3730, which we name here as HmsD, has little effect on in vitro biofilms, but has a major effect on biofilm formation in the flea. The mechanism by which HmsD plays differential roles in vivo and in vitro is not understood. In this study, we show that hmsD is part of a three-gene operon (y3729-31), which we designate as hmsCDE. Deletion of hmsC resulted in increased, hmsD-dependent biofilm formation, while deletion or overexpression of hmsE did not affect biofilm formation. Localization experiments suggest that HmsC resides in the periplasmic space. In addition, we provide evidence that HmsC might interact directly with the periplasmic domain of HmsD and cause the proteolysis of HmsD. We propose that HmsC senses the environmental signals, which in turn regulates HmsD, and controls the c-di-GMP synthesis and biofilm formation in Y. pestis.
authors.affiliation: MOH key laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 9, Dongdan Santiao, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, China.
authors.forename: Gai-Xian
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Hai-Qin
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xiao-Peng
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Yi-Cheng
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D033903:Periplasmic Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D019761:Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases / Q000502:physiology*; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D033903:Periplasmic Proteins; C062025:bis(3',5')-cyclic diguanylic acid; D019761:Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases; C060720:diguanylate cyclase; D006152:Cyclic GMP