title: Differential regulation of the hmsCDE operon in Yersinia pestis and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis by the Rcs phosphorelay system.
abstract: Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, forms a biofilm in its flea vector to enhance transmission. Y. pestis biofilm development is positively regulated by hmsT and hmsD, encoding diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) involved in synthesis of the bacterial second messenger c-di-GMP. rcsA, encoding an auxiliary protein in Rcs phosphorelay, is nonfunctional in Y. pestis, while in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, rcsA is functional and represses biofilms. Previously we showed that Rcs phosphorelay negatively regulates transcription of hmsT in Y. pestis and its ancestor Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. In this study, we show that Rcs positively regulates hmsCDE operon (encoding HmsD) in Y. pestis; while in the presence of functional rcsA, Rcs represses hmsCDE operon in Y. pseudotuberculosis. Loss of rcsA's function in Y. pestis not only causes derepression of hmsT but also causes activation of hmsD, which may account for the increased biofilm formation in Y. pestis. In addition, differential regulation of the two DGCs, HmsT and HmsD by Rcs may help Y. pestis to adapt to different environment.
authors: 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: Xiao-Peng
authors: XP
authors: Guo
authors: 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: Gai-Xian
authors: GX
authors: Ren
authors: 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: Hui
authors: H
authors: Zhu
authors: 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: Xu-Jian
authors: XJ
authors: Mao
authors: 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: Yi-Cheng
authors: YC
authors: Sun
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D018441:Biofilms; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009876:Operon; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015011:Yersinia pseudotuberculosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins