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A new regulatory element modulates homoserine lactone-mediated autoinduction of Ti plasmid conjugal transfer.

ABSTRACT: Conjugal transfer of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline-type Ti plasmid pTiC58 is induced by agrocinopines A and B, opines secreted by crown gall tumors induced by the bacterium. This regulation functions through the transcriptional repressor, AccR. However, actual transcription of the tra genes is regulated by autoinduction through the activator TraR and the substituted homoserine lactone second messenger, Agrobacterium autoinducer (AAI). We have identified a new regulatory element that modulates the response of TraR to AAI. The gene, called traM, suppresses TraR-AAI activation of transcription of tra genes carried on recombinant clones. The suppression could be relieved by increasing the expression of TraR but not by increasing AAI levels. traM is located between traR and traAF on pTiC58 and is transcribed in the clockwise direction. The 306-bp gene encodes an 11.2-kDa protein showing no significant relatedness to other proteins in the databases. Mutations in traM in pTiC58 conferred a transfer-constitutive phenotype, and strains harboring the Ti plasmid produced easily detectable amounts of AAI. These same mutations engineered into the transfer-constitutive Ti plasmid pTiC58 delta accR conferred a hyperconjugal phenotype and very high levels of AAI production. Expression of traM required TraR, indicating that transcription of the gene is regulated by the autoinduction system. TraM had no effect on the expression of traR, demonstrating that the suppressive effect is not due to repression of the gene encoding the activator. These results suggest that TraM is not a direct transcriptional regulator. Since the suppressive effect is demonstrable only when traM is overexpressed with respect to traR, we suggest that TraM functions to sequester TraR from the very small amounts of AAI produced under conditions when the agrocinopines are not present.

SUBMITTER: Hwang I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC176609 | biostudies-other | 1995 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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A new regulatory element modulates homoserine lactone-mediated autoinduction of Ti plasmid conjugal transfer.

Hwang I I Cook D M DM Farrand S K SK

Journal of bacteriology 19950101 2

Conjugal transfer of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline-type Ti plasmid pTiC58 is induced by agrocinopines A and B, opines secreted by crown gall tumors induced by the bacterium. This regulation functions through the transcriptional repressor, AccR. However, actual transcription of the tra genes is regulated by autoinduction through the activator TraR and the substituted homoserine lactone second messenger, Agrobacterium autoinducer (AAI). We have identified a new regulatory element that mod ...[more]

PMID: 7814335

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Project description:The growth of some strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae is inhibited by N-(3-hydroxy-7-cis tetradecenoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (3OH-C(14:1)-HSL), which was previously known as the small bacteriocin before its characterization as an N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL). Tn5-induced mutants of R. leguminosarum bv. viciae resistant to 3OH-C(14:1)-HSL were isolated, and mutations in two genes were identified. These genes, bisR and triR, which both encode LuxR-type regulators required for plasmid transfer, were found downstream of an operon containing trb genes involved in the transfer of the symbiotic plasmid pRL1JI. The first gene in this operon is traI, which encodes an AHL synthase, and the trbBCDEJKLFGHI genes were found between traI and bisR. Mutations in bisR, triR, traI, or trbL blocked plasmid transfer. Using gene fusions, it was demonstrated that bisR regulates triR in response to the presence of 3OH-C(14:1)-HSL. In turn, triR is then required for the induction of the traI-trb operon required for plasmid transfer. bisR also represses expression of cinI, which is chromosomally located and determines the level of production of 3OH-C(14:1)-HSL. The cloned bisR and triR genes conferred 3OH-C(14:1)-HSL sensitivity to strains of R. leguminosarum bv. viciae normally resistant to this AHL. Furthermore, bisR and triR made Agrobacterium tumefaciens sensitive to R. leguminosarum bv. viciae strains producing 3OH-C(14:1)-HSL. Analysis of patterns of growth inhibition using mutant strains and synthetic AHLs revealed that maximal growth inhibition required, in addition to 3OH-C(14:1)-HSL, the presence of other AHLs such as N-octanoyl-L-homoserine lactone and/or N-(3-oxo-octanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone. In an attempt to identify the causes of growth inhibition, a strain of R. leguminosarum bv. viciae carrying cloned bisR and triR was treated with an AHL extract containing 3OH-C(14:1)-HSL. N-terminal sequencing of induced proteins revealed one with significant similarity to the protein translation factor Ef-Ts.

Dataset Information

A new regulatory element modulates homoserine lactone-mediated autoinduction of Ti plasmid conjugal transfer.

Publications

A new regulatory element modulates homoserine lactone-mediated autoinduction of Ti plasmid conjugal transfer.

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