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Multiple orphan histidine kinases interact directly with Spo0A to control the initiation of endospore formation in Clostridium acetobutylicum.

ABSTRACT: The phosphorylated Spo0A transcription factor controls the initiation of endospore formation in Clostridium acetobutylicum, but genes encoding key phosphorelay components, Spo0F and Spo0B, are missing in the genome. We hypothesized that the five orphan histidine kinases of C. acetobutylicum interact directly with Spo0A to control its phosphorylation state. Sequential targeted gene disruption and gene expression profiling provided evidence for two pathways for Spo0A activation, one dependent on a histidine kinase encoded by cac0323, the other on both histidine kinases encoded by cac0903 and cac3319. Purified Cac0903 and Cac3319 kinases autophosphorylated and transferred phosphoryl groups to Spo0A in vitro, confirming their role in Spo0A activation in vivo. A cac0437 mutant hyper-sporulated, suggesting that Cac0437 is a modulator that prevents sporulation and maintains cellular Spo0A?P homeostasis during growth. Accordingly, Cac0437 has apparently lost the ability to autophosphorylate in vitro; instead it catalyses the ATP-dependent dephosphorylation of Spo0A?P releasing inorganic phosphate. Direct phosphorylation of Spo0A by histidine kinases and dephosphorylation by kinase-like proteins may be a common feature of the clostridia that may represent the ancestral state before the great oxygen event some 2.4 billion years ago, after which additional phosphorelay proteins were recruited in the evolutionary lineage that led to the bacilli.

SUBMITTER: Steiner E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3097173 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Multiple orphan histidine kinases interact directly with Spo0A to control the initiation of endospore formation in Clostridium acetobutylicum.

Steiner Elisabeth E Dago Angel E AE Young Danielle I DI Heap John T JT Minton Nigel P NP Hoch James A JA Young Michael M

Molecular microbiology 20110314 3

The phosphorylated Spo0A transcription factor controls the initiation of endospore formation in Clostridium acetobutylicum, but genes encoding key phosphorelay components, Spo0F and Spo0B, are missing in the genome. We hypothesized that the five orphan histidine kinases of C. acetobutylicum interact directly with Spo0A to control its phosphorylation state. Sequential targeted gene disruption and gene expression profiling provided evidence for two pathways for Spo0A activation, one dependent on a ...[more]

PMID: 21401736

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Project description:The ability of the anaerobic gastrointestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile to survive outside the host relies on the formation of dormant endospores. Spore formation is contingent on the activation of a conserved transcription factor, Spo0A, by phosphorylation. Multiple kinases and phosphatases regulate Spo0A activity in other spore-forming organisms; however, these factors are not well conserved in C. difficile. Previously, we discovered that deletion of a predicted histidine kinase, CD1492, increases sporulation, indicating that CD1492 inhibits C. difficile spore formation. In this study, we investigate the functions of additional predicted orphan histidine kinases CD2492, CD1579, and CD1949, which are hypothesized to regulate Spo0A phosphorylation. Disruption of CD2492 also increased sporulation frequency, similarly to the CD1492 mutant and in contrast to a previous study. A CD1492 CD2492 mutant phenocopied the sporulation and gene expression patterns of the single mutants, suggesting that these proteins function in the same genetic pathway to repress sporulation. Deletion of CD1579 variably increased sporulation frequency; however, knockdown of CD1949 expression did not influence sporulation. We provide evidence that CD1492, CD2492, and CD1579 function as phosphatases, as mutation of the conserved histidine residue for phosphate transfer abolished CD2492 function, and expression of the CD1492 or CD2492 histidine site-directed mutants or the wild-type CD1579 allele in a parent strain resulted in a dominant-negative hypersporulation phenotype. Altogether, at least three predicted histidine kinases, CD1492, CD2492, and CD1579 (herein, PtpA, PtpB and PtpC), repress C. difficile sporulation initiation by regulating activity of Spo0A. IMPORTANCE The formation of inactive spores is critical for the long-term survival of the gastrointestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile. The onset of sporulation is controlled by the master regulator of sporulation, Spo0A, which is activated by phosphorylation. Multiple kinases and phosphatases control Spo0A phosphorylation; however, this regulatory pathway is not defined in C. difficile. We show that two predicted histidine kinase proteins, CD1492 (PtpA) and CD2492 (PtpB), function in the same regulatory pathway to repress sporulation by preventing Spo0A phosphorylation. We show that another predicted histidine kinase protein, CD1579 (PtpC), also represses sporulation and present evidence that a fourth predicted histidine kinase protein, CD1949, does not impact sporulation. These results support the idea that C. difficile inhibits sporulation initiation through multiple phosphatases.

Project description:Clostridium acetobutylicum, the endospore-forming anaerobe best known for its ABE (acetone-butanol-ethanol) fermentation, has received renewed attention recently for the biological production of butanol, both for bulk chemical production and as a potential biofuel. With butanol production in mind, most of the recent research on C. acetobutylicum has focused on increasing butanol production, tolerance to butanol, and optimizing it for various substrates. However, an equally important trait, though less understood, is its sporulation program, which it coupled to solvent formation. The model organism for endospore formation is Bacillus subtilis, but significant physiological, metabolic, and genomic differences exist between the two organisms. Despite these differences, the major sporulation-related transcription/sigma factors are conserved between the two species. These transcription/sigma factors are activated in a cascade manner such that Spo0A becomes active first, followed by M-OM-^CF, then M-OM-^CE, then M-OM-^CG, and finally M-OM-^CK. The goal of this study is to determine the regulons of 4 of these transcription/sigma factors (Spo0A, M-OM-^CF, M-OM-^CE, and M-OM-^CG) and compare them to those in B. subtilis. To accomplish this goal, individual mutant strains were created for Spo0A, M-OM-^CF, M-OM-^CE, and M-OM-^CG, in which the transcription/sigma factor is silenced. These mutants were then compared transcriptionally using microarrays to determine the regulon of each transcription/sigma factor. To help avoid false positives, comparisons were made between strains in which the downstream transcription/sigma factor is silenced (e.g., for the Spo0A regulon, the Spo0A mutant was compared against the M-OM-^CF mutant and the M-OM-^CE mutant, since they are both upregulated by Spo0A) rather than just the WT. For each regulon, 4 timepoints were taken, since it is very difficult to synchronize sporulation in C. acetobutylicum cultures, and dye-swaps were prepared for each timepoint. Four transcription/sigma factor regulons were investigated: Spo0A, M-OM-^CF, M-OM-^CE, and M-OM-^CG. For Spo0A, two comparison were made: Spo0A mutant vs M-OM-^CF mutant and Spo0A mutant vs M-OM-^CE mutant. For M-OM-^CF, two comparison were also made: M-OM-^CF mutant vs M-OM-^CE mutant and M-OM-^CF mutant vs M-OM-^CG mutant. Finally for M-OM-^CE and M-OM-^CG, only one comparison for each was made: M-OM-^CE mutant vs M-OM-^CG mutant and M-OM-^CG mutant vs wild-type, respectively. For each comparison, 4 timepoints were analyzed, and dye-swaps were prepared for each timepoint comparison. Timepoints were chosen based on when each transcription/sigma factor was expected to be active, based on a previous study [Jones, SW, et al. Genome Biol. 2008;9(7):R114.].

Dataset Information

Multiple orphan histidine kinases interact directly with Spo0A to control the initiation of endospore formation in Clostridium acetobutylicum.

Publications

Multiple orphan histidine kinases interact directly with Spo0A to control the initiation of endospore formation in Clostridium acetobutylicum.

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