Resurrection of flagellar motility through rewiring of the nitrogen regulation system
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ABSTRACT: Here we demonstrate by experimental evolution and genetics the rapid and repeatable evolutionary re-wiring of regulatory pathways, where the cellular nitrogen regulatory system acquired the ability to “cross-talk” with the flagellar regulon. This rewiring restored flagella to aflagellate strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens devoid of the master regulator fleQ via a repeatable two-step evolutionary pathway. Step 1 initiates cross-talk by increasing intracellular levels of phosphorylated NtrC , a distant homologue of FleQ, which begins to commandeer control of the fleQ regulon whilst constitutively activating nitrogen uptake and assimilation genes. Step 2 is a switch-of-function mutation (NtrC’) that further redirects NtrC towards activation of motility and away from nitrogen uptake. Evolved NtrC’ emerges with a novel function as a flagellar regulator. Our results demonstrate that natural selection can rapidly rewire regulatory networks in very few, repeatable mutational steps to adopt new functionality.
ORGANISM(S): Pseudomonas fluroscens
SUBMITTER: Tiffany Taylor
PROVIDER: E-MTAB-2788 | biostudies-arrayexpress |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress
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