title: The Yersinia pestis HmsCDE regulatory system is essential for blockage of the oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis), a classic plague vector.
abstract: The second messenger molecule cyclic diguanylate is essential for Yersinia pestis biofilm formation that is important for blockage-dependent plague transmission from fleas to mammals. Two diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) HmsT and Y3730 (HmsD) are responsible for biofilm formation in vitro and biofilm-dependent blockage in the oriental rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis respectively. Here, we have identified a tripartite signalling system encoded by the y3729-y3731 operon that is responsible for regulation of biofilm formation in different environments. We present genetic evidence that a putative inner membrane-anchored protein with a large periplasmic domain Y3729 (HmsC) inhibits HmsD DGC activity in vitro while an outer membrane Pal-like putative lipoprotein Y3731 (HmsE) counteracts HmsC to activate HmsD in the gut of X. cheopis. We propose that HmsE is a critical element in the transduction of environmental signal(s) required for HmsD-dependent biofilm formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bobrov
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kirillina
authors.forename: Viveka
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vadyvaloo
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Koestler
authors.forename: Angela K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Hinz
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mack
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019761:Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010930:Plague / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D051381:Rats; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D058260:Xenopsylla / Q000382:microbiology*; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C062025:bis(3',5')-cyclic diguanylic acid; D019761:Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases; C060720:diguanylate cyclase; D006152:Cyclic GMP