title: A Rhizobium radiobacter Histidine Kinase Can Employ Both Boolean AND and OR Logic Gates to Initiate Pathogenesis.
abstract: The molecular logic gates that regulate gene circuits are necessarily intricate and highly regulated, particularly in the critical commitments necessary for pathogenesis. We now report simple AND and OR logic gates to be accessible within a single protein receptor. Pathogenesis by the bacterium Rhizobium radiobacter is mediated by a single histidine kinase, VirA, which processes multiple small molecule host signals (phenol and sugar). Mutagenesis analyses converged on a single signal integration node, and finer functional analyses revealed that a single residue could switch VirA from a functional AND logic gate to an OR gate where each of two signals activate independently. Host range preferences among natural strains of R. radiobacter correlate with these gate logic strategies. Although the precise mechanism for the signal integration node requires further analyses, long-range signal transmission through this histidine kinase can now be exploited for synthetic signaling circuits.
authors: Departments of Chemistry and Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
authors: Fang
authors: F
authors: Fang
authors: Departments of Chemistry and Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
authors: Yi-Han
authors: YH
authors: Lin
authors: Departments of Chemistry and Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
authors: B Daniel
authors: BD
authors: Pierce
authors: Departments of Chemistry and Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. dlynn2@emory.edu.
authors: David G
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8804-6713
authors: DG
authors: Lynn
mesh_terms: D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000737:chemistry; D000071677:Histidine Kinase; D008128:Logic; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D010636:Phenols; D011494:Protein Kinases; D000071677:Histidine Kinase
keywords: Rhizobium radiobacter; VirA; histidine kinase; pathogenesis; two component signaling