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An upstream sequence modulates phenazine production at the level of transcription and translation in the biological control strain Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84.

ABSTRACT: Phenazines are bacterial secondary metabolites and play important roles in the antagonistic activity of the biological control strain P. chlororaphis 30-84 against take-all disease of wheat. The expression of the P. chlororaphis 30-84 phenazine biosynthetic operon (phzXYFABCD) is dependent on the PhzR/PhzI quorum sensing system located immediately upstream of the biosynthetic operon as well as other regulatory systems including Gac/Rsm. Bioinformatic analysis of the sequence between the divergently oriented phzR and phzX promoters identified features within the 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) of phzX that are conserved only among 2OHPCA producing Pseudomonas. The conserved sequence features are potentially capable of producing secondary structures that negatively modulate one or both promoters. Transcriptional and translational fusion assays revealed that deletion of 90-bp of sequence at the 5'-UTR of phzX led to up to 4-fold greater expression of the reporters with the deletion compared to the controls, which indicated this sequence negatively modulates phenazine gene expression both transcriptionally and translationally. This 90-bp sequence was deleted from the P. chlororaphis 30-84 chromosome, resulting in 30-84Enh, which produces significantly more phenazine than the wild-type while retaining quorum sensing control. The transcriptional expression of phzR/phzI and amount of AHL signal produced by 30-84Enh also were significantly greater than for the wild-type, suggesting this 90-bp sequence also negatively affects expression of the quorum sensing genes. In addition, deletion of the 90-bp partially relieved RsmE-mediated translational repression, indicating a role for Gac/RsmE interaction. Compared to the wild-type, enhanced phenazine production by 30-84Enh resulted in improvement in fungal inhibition, biofilm formation, extracellular DNA release and suppression of take-all disease of wheat in soil without negative consequences on growth or rhizosphere persistence. This work provides greater insight into the regulation of phenazine biosynthesis with potential applications for improved biological control.

SUBMITTER: Yu JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5815613 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The GacS/GacA two-component regulatory system activates the production of secondary metabolites including phenazines crucial for biological control activity in Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84. To better understand the role of the Gac system on phenazine regulation, transcriptomic analyses were conducted by comparing the wild-type strain to a gacA mutant. RNA-seq analysis identified 771 genes under GacA control, including many novel genes. Consistent with previous findings, phenazine biosynthetic genes were significantly downregulated in a gacA mutant. The transcript abundances of phenazine regulatory genes such as phzI, phzR, iopA, iopB, rpoS, and pip also were reduced. Moreover, the transcript abundance of three noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) including rsmX, rsmY, and rsmZ was significantly decreased by gacA mutation consistent with the presence of consensus GacA-binding sites associated with their promoters. Our results also demonstrated that constitutive expression of rsmZ from a non-gac regulated promoter resulted in complete restoration of N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) and phenazine production as well as the expression of other gac-dependent secondary metabolites in gac mutants. The role of RsmA and RsmE in phenazine production also was investigated. Overexpression of rsmE, but not rsmA, resulted in decreased AHL and phenazine production in P. chlororaphis, and only a mutation in rsmE bypassed the requirement for GacA in phenazine gene expression. In contrast, constitutive expression of the phzI/phzR quorum sensing system did not rescue phenazine production in the gacA mutant, indicating the direct posttranscriptional control by Gac on the phenazine biosynthetic genes. On the basis of these results, we propose a model to illustrate the hierarchic role of phenazine regulators modulated by Gac in the control of phenazine production. The transcriptomic analysis also was used to identify additional genes regulated by GacA that may contribute to the biological control capability of strain 30-84.

Project description:The GacS/GacA two component regulatory system globally activates the production of secondary metabolites including phenazines in Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84. To better understand the regulatory role of the Gac system, we conducted RNA-seq analyses to determine the regulon of the response regulator GacA. Transcriptome analyses identified over 700 genes differentially regulated by GacA. Consistent with our previous findings, phenazine biosynthetic genes were significantly down-regulated in a gacA mutant. The expression levels of phenazine regulatory genes such as phzI, phzR, iopA, iopB, rpoS and pip were also decreased. Moreover, the expression of three none-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) including rsmX, rsmY and rsmZ was significantly decreased by gacA mutation consistent with the presence of GacA binding sites in their promoters. Our results also demonstrated that over-expression of rsmZ from a non-gac regulated promoter resulted in the restoration of AHL and phenazine production as well as the expression of other secondary metabolites in gac mutants. The role of RsmA and RsmE in phenazine production was also investigated. Over-expression of rsmE, but not rsmA, resulted in decreased AHL production and phenazine gene expression in P. chlororaphis. Consistently, a mutation in rsmE bypassed the requirement of GacA in phenazine gene expression. On the contrary, constitutive expression of the phzI/phzR quorum sensing system was not able to rescue phenazine production in the gacA mutant indicating the direct impact of Gac system on the transcript stability of phenazine biosynthetic genes. Together, these results indicate that the Gac system regulates phenazine production at multiple levels and exerts its positive effect on AHL and phenazine biosynthesis via RsmZ and RsmE. A model is proposed to illustrate the GacA regulon in P. chlororaphis 30-84. A total of 6 samples were analyzed in AB medium + 2% casamino acids, Pseudomonas chlororaphis wild type strain (3 replicates); Pseudomonas chlororaphis gacA mutant (3 replicates).

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An upstream sequence modulates phenazine production at the level of transcription and translation in the biological control strain Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84.

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