A unique mode of cross regulation in a cell envelope stress signaling system [RNA-seq]
A multi-layered structure known as the cell envelope separates the controlled interior of Gram-negative bacteria from a fluctuating physical and chemical environment. Transcription of genes that determine cell envelope structure and function is commonly controlled by a class of environmental regulators known as two-component signal transduction systems (TCS), which are comprised of 1) sensor histidine kinases and 2) response regulators. To discover TCS genes that contribute to cell envelope function in the intracellular mammalian pathogen, Brucella ovis, we subjected a comprehensive collection of non-essential TCS mutants to compounds that disrupt cell membranes and the peptidoglycan cell wall. Our screen led to the discovery of three TCS proteins with unusual regulatory properties that coordinately function to confer resistance to cell envelope stress and to support B. ovis replication in the intracellular niche. This tripartite regulatory system consists of the conserved cell envelope regulator, CenR, and a previously uncharacterized TCS, EssRS. The CenR and EssR response regulators bind a shared set of sites on the B. ovis chromosomes to control transcription of an overlapping set of genes with cell envelope functions. CenR directly interacts with EssR and functions to stimulate phosphoryl transfer from the EssS kinase to EssR and control steady-state levels of EssR protein in the cell via a post-transcriptional mechanism. Our data provide evidence for a new mode of TCS cross-regulation in which a non-cognate response regulator both regulates activity and influences cellular levels of a cognate TCS system. Overall design: We compared the differential gene expression between ?cenR and WT and ?essRS and WT. Each strain had three replicates