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Transcriptional cross-activation between toxin-antitoxin systems of Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Bacterial toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are formed by potent regulatory or suicide factors (toxins) and their short-lived inhibitors (antitoxins). Antitoxins are DNA-binding proteins and auto-repress transcription of TA operons. Transcription of multiple TA operons is activated in temporarily non-growing persister cells that can resist killing by antibiotics. Consequently, the antitoxin levels of persisters must have been dropped and toxins are released of inhibition. RESULTS: Here, we describe transcriptional cross-activation between different TA systems of Escherichia coli. We find that the chromosomal relBEF operon is activated in response to production of the toxins MazF, MqsR, HicA, and HipA. Expression of the RelE toxin in turn induces transcription of several TA operons. We show that induction of mazEF during amino acid starvation depends on relBE and does not occur in a relBEF deletion mutant. Induction of TA operons has been previously shown to depend on Lon protease which is activated by polyphospate accumulation. We show that transcriptional cross-activation occurs also in strains deficient for Lon, ClpP, and HslV proteases and polyphosphate kinase. Furthermore, we find that toxins cleave the TA mRNA in vivo, which is followed by degradation of the antitoxin-encoding fragments and selective accumulation of the toxin-encoding regions. We show that these accumulating fragments can be translated to produce more toxin. CONCLUSION: Transcriptional activation followed by cleavage of the mRNA and disproportionate production of the toxin constitutes a possible positive feedback loop, which can fire other TA systems and cause bistable growth heterogeneity. Cross-interacting TA systems have a potential to form a complex network of mutually activating regulators in bacteria.

SUBMITTER: Kasari V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3598666 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Transcriptional cross-activation between toxin-antitoxin systems of Escherichia coli.

Kasari Villu V Mets Toomas T Tenson Tanel T Kaldalu Niilo N

BMC microbiology 20130221

<h4>Background</h4>Bacterial toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are formed by potent regulatory or suicide factors (toxins) and their short-lived inhibitors (antitoxins). Antitoxins are DNA-binding proteins and auto-repress transcription of TA operons. Transcription of multiple TA operons is activated in temporarily non-growing persister cells that can resist killing by antibiotics. Consequently, the antitoxin levels of persisters must have been dropped and toxins are released of inhibition.<h4>Result ...[more]

PMID: 23432955

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Project description:The roles of toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems in bacteria have been debated. Here, the role of five TA systems in regard to biofilm development was investigated (listed as toxin/antitoxin: MazF/MazE, RelE/RelB, ChpB, YoeB/YefM, and YafQ/DinJ). Although these multiple TA systems were reported previously to not impact bacterial fitness, we found that deletion of the five TA systems decreased biofilm formation initially (8 h) on three different surfaces and then increased biofilm formation (24 h) by decreasing biofilm dispersal. Whole-transcriptome profiling revealed that the deletion of the five TA systems induced expression of a single gene, yjgK, which encodes an uncharacterized protein; quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) confirmed consistent induction of this gene (at 8, 15, and 24 h). Corroborating the complex phenotype seen upon deleting the TA systems, overexpression of YjgK decreased biofilm formation at 8 h and increased biofilm formation at 24 h; deletion of yjgK also affected biofilm formation in the expected manner by increasing biofilm formation after 8 h and decreasing biofilm formation after 24 h. In addition, YjgK significantly reduced biofilm dispersal. Whole-transcriptome profiling revealed YjgK represses fimbria genes at 8 h (corroborated by qRT-PCR and a yeast agglutination assay), which agrees with the decrease in biofilm formation upon deleting the five TA systems at 8 h, as well as that seen upon overexpressing YjgK. Sand column assays confirmed that deleting the five TA systems reduced cell attachment. Furthermore, deletion of each of the five toxins increased biofilm formation at 8 h, and overexpression of the five toxins repressed biofilm formation at 8 h, a result that is opposite that of deleting all five TA systems; this suggests that complex regulation occurs involving the antitoxins. Also, the ability of the global regulator Hha to reduce biofilm formation was dependent on the presence of these TA systems. Hence, we suggest that one role of TA systems is to influence biofilm formation.

Project description:Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous in bacteria and archaea, where they play a pivotal role in the establishment and maintenance of dormancy. Under normal growth conditions, the antitoxin neutralizes the toxin. However, under conditions of stress, such as nutrient starvation or antibiotic treatment, cellular proteases degrade the antitoxin, and the toxin functions to arrest bacterial growth. We characterized the specificity determinants of the interactions between VapB antitoxins and VapC toxins from nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) in an effort to gain a better understanding of how antitoxins control toxin activity and bacterial persistence. We studied truncated and full-length antitoxins with single amino acid mutations in the toxin-binding domain. Coexpressing the toxin and antitoxin in Escherichia coli and measuring bacterial growth by dilution plating assayed the ability of the mutant antitoxins to neutralize the toxin. Our results identified two single amino acid residues (W48 and F52) in the C-terminal region of the VapB2 antitoxin necessary for its ability to neutralize its cognate VapC2 toxin. Additionally, we attempted to alter the specificity of VapB1 by making a mutation that would allow it to neutralize its noncognate toxin. A mutation in VapB1 to contain the tryptophan residue identified herein as important in the VapB2-VapC2 interaction resulted in a VapB1 mutant (the T47W mutant) that binds to and neutralizes both its cognate VapC1 and noncognate VapC2 toxins. This represents the first example of a single mutation causing relaxed specificity in a type II antitoxin.ImportanceToxin-antitoxin systems are of particular concern in pathogenic organisms, such as nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae, as they can elicit dormancy and persistence, leading to chronic infections and failure of antibiotic treatment. Despite the importance of the TA interaction, the specificity determinants for VapB-VapC complex formation remain uncharacterized. Thus, our understanding of how antitoxins control toxin-induced dormancy and bacterial persistence requires thorough investigation of antitoxin specificity for its cognate toxin. This study characterizes the crucial residues of the VapB2 antitoxin from NTHi necessary for its interaction with VapC2 and provides the first example of a single amino acid change altering the toxin specificity of an antitoxin.

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Transcriptional cross-activation between toxin-antitoxin systems of Escherichia coli.

Publications

Transcriptional cross-activation between toxin-antitoxin systems of Escherichia coli.

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