Structure-guided disruption of the pseudopilus tip complex inhibits the Type II secretion in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa utilizes the Type II secretion system (T2SS) to translocate a wide range of large, structured protein virulence factors through the periplasm to the extracellular environment for infection. In the T2SS, five pseudopilins assemble into the pseudopilus that acts as a piston to extrude exoproteins out of cells. Through structure determination of the pseudopilin complexes of XcpVWX and XcpVW and function analysis, we have confirmed that two minor pseudopilins, XcpV and XcpW, constitute a core complex indispensable to the pseudopilus tip. The absence of either XcpV or -W resulted in the non-functional T2SS. Our small-angle X-ray scattering experiment for the first time revealed the architecture of the entire pseudopilus tip and established the working model. Based on the interaction interface of complexes, we have developed inhibitory peptides. The structure-based peptides not only disrupted of the XcpVW core complex and the entire pseudopilus tip in vitro but also inhibited the T2SS in vivo. More importantly, these peptides effectively reduced the virulence of P. aeruginosa towards Caenorhabditis elegans.

The aminoglycoside resistance-promoting AmgRS envelope stress-responsive two-component system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is zinc-activated and protects cells from zinc-promoted membrane damage.

Exposure of wild-type (WT) Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 to ZnCl2 (Zn) yielded a concentration-dependent increase in depolarization of the cytoplasmic membrane (CM), an indication that this metal is membrane-damaging. Consistent with this, Zn activated the AmgRS envelope stress-responsive two-component system (TCS) that was previously shown to be activated by and to protect P. aeruginosa from the membrane-damaging effects of aminoglycoside (AG) antibiotics. A mutant lacking amgR showed enhanced Zn-promoted CM perturbation and was Zn-sensitive, an indication that the TCS protected cells from the CM-damaging effects of this metal. In agreement with this, a mutant carrying an AmgRS-activating amgS mutation was less susceptible to Zn-promoted CM perturbation and more tolerant of elevated levels of Zn than WT. AG activation of AmgRS is known to drive expression of the AG resistance-promoting mexXY multidrug efflux operon, and while Zn similarly induced mexXY expression this was independent of AmgRS and reliant on a second TCS implicated in mexXY regulation, ParRS. MexXY did not, however, contribute to Zn resistance or protection from Zn-promoted CM damage. Despite its activation of AmgRS and induction of mexXY, Zn had a minimal impact on the AG resistance of WT P. aeruginosa although, given that Zn-tolerant AmgRS-activated amgS mutant strains are AG resistant, there is still the prospect of this metal promoting AG resistance development in this organism.

Meropenem potentiation of aminoglycoside activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa: involvement of the MexXY-OprM multidrug efflux system.

Objectives: To assess the ability of meropenem to potentiate aminoglycoside (AG) activity against laboratory and AG-resistant cystic fibrosis (CF) isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and to elucidate its mechanism of action. Methods: AG resistance gene deletions were engineered into P. aeruginosa laboratory and CF isolates using standard gene replacement technology. Susceptibility to AGs ± meropenem (at ½ MIC) was assessed using a serial 2-fold dilution assay. mexXY expression and MexXY-OprM efflux activity were quantified using quantitative PCR and an ethidium bromide accumulation assay, respectively. Results: A screen for agents that rendered WT P. aeruginosa susceptible to a sub-MIC concentration of the AG paromomycin identified the carbapenem meropenem, which potentiated several additional AGs. Meropenem potentiation of AG activity was largely lost in a mutant lacking the MexXY-OprM multidrug efflux system, an indication that it was targeting this efflux system in enhancing P. aeruginosa susceptibility to AGs. Meropenem failed to block AG induction of mexXY expression or MexXY-OprM efflux activity, suggesting that it may be interfering with some MexXY-dependent process linked to AG susceptibility. Meropenem potentiated AG activity versus AG-resistant CF isolates, enhancing susceptibility to at least one AG in all isolates and susceptibility to all tested AGs in 50% of the isolates. Notably, meropenem potentiation of AG activity was linked to MexXY in some but not all CF isolates in which this was examined. Conclusions: Meropenem potentiates AG activity against laboratory and CF strains of P. aeruginosa, both dependent on and independent of MexXY, highlighting the complexity of AG resistance in this organism.

Rifampicin potentiation of aminoglycoside activity against cystic fibrosis isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

OBJECTIVES: Rifampicin potentiates the activity of aminoglycosides (AGs) versus Pseudomonas aeruginosa by targeting the AmgRS two-component system. In this study we examine the impact of rifampicin on the AG susceptibility of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung isolates of P. aeruginosa and the contribution of AmgRS to AG resistance in these isolates. METHODS: amgR deletion derivatives of clinical isolates were constructed using standard gene replacement technology. Susceptibility to AGs ± rifampicin (at ½ MIC) was assessed using a serial 2-fold dilution assay. RESULTS: Rifampicin showed a variable ability to potentiate AG activity versus the CF isolates, enhancing AG susceptibility between 2- and 128-fold. Most strains showed potentiation for at least two AGs, with only a few strains showing no AG potentiation by rifampicin. Notably, loss of amgR increased AG susceptibility although rifampicin potentiation of AG activity was still observed in the ΔamgR derivatives. CONCLUSIONS: AmgRS contributes to AG resistance in CF isolates of P. aeruginosa and rifampicin shows a variable ability to potentiate AG activity against these, highlighting the complexity of AG resistance in such isolates.

Potentiation of Aminoglycoside Activity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by Targeting the AmgRS Envelope Stress-Responsive Two-Component System.

A screen for agents that potentiated the activity of paromomycin (PAR), a 4,5-linked aminoglycoside (AG), against wild-type Pseudomonas aeruginosa identified the RNA polymerase inhibitor rifampin (RIF). RIF potentiated additional 4,5-linked AGs, such as neomycin and ribostamycin, but not the clinically important 4,6-linked AGs amikacin and gentamicin. Potentiation was absent in a mutant lacking the AmgRS envelope stress response two-component system (TCS), which protects the organism from AG-generated membrane-damaging aberrant polypeptides and, thus, promotes AG resistance, an indication that RIF was acting via this TCS in potentiating 4,5-linked AG activity. Potentiation was also absent in a RIF-resistant RNA polymerase mutant, consistent with its potentiation of AG activity being dependent on RNA polymerase perturbation. PAR-inducible expression of the AmgRS-dependent genes htpX and yccA was reduced by RIF, suggesting that AG activation of this TCS was compromised by this agent. Still, RIF did not compromise the membrane-protective activity of AmgRS, an indication that it impacted some other function of this TCS. RIF potentiated the activities of 4,5-linked AGs against several AG-resistant clinical isolates, in two cases also potentiating the activity of the 4,6-linked AGs. These cases were, in one instance, explained by an observed AmgRS-dependent expression of the MexXY multidrug efflux system, which accommodates a range of AGs, with RIF targeting of AmgRS undermining mexXY expression and its promotion of resistance to 4,5- and 4,6-linked AGs. Given this link between AmgRS, MexXY expression, and pan-AG resistance in P. aeruginosa, RIF might be a useful adjuvant in the AG treatment of P. aeruginosa infections.

Polymyxin Susceptibility in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Linked to the MexXY-OprM Multidrug Efflux System.

The ribosome-targeting antimicrobial, spectinomycin (SPC), strongly induced the mexXY genes of the MexXY-OprM multidrug efflux system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and increased susceptibility to the polycationic antimicrobials polymyxin B and polymyxin E, concomitant with a decrease in expression of the polymyxin resistance-promoting lipopolysaccharide (LPS) modification loci, arnBCADTEF and PA4773-74. Consistent with the SPC-promoted reduction in arn and PA4773-74 expression being linked to mexXY, expression of these LPS modification loci was moderated in a mutant constitutively expressing mexXY and enhanced in a mutant lacking the efflux genes. Still, the SPC-mediated increase in polymyxin susceptibility was retained in mutants lacking arnB and/or PA4773-74, an indication that their reduced expression in SPC-treated cells does not explain the enhanced polymyxin susceptibility. That the polymyxin susceptibility of a mutant strain lacking mexXY was unaffected by SPC exposure, however, was an indication that the unknown polymyxin resistance 'mechanism' is also influenced by the MexXY status of the cell. In agreement with SPC and MexXY influencing polymyxin susceptibility as a result of changes in the LPS target of these agents, SPC treatment yielded a decline in common polysaccharide antigen (CPA) synthesis in wild-type P. aeruginosa but not in the ΔmexXY mutant. A mutant lacking CPA still showed the SPC-mediated decline in polymyxin MICs, however, indicating that the loss of CPA did not explain the SPC-mediated MexXY-dependent increase in polymyxin susceptibility. It is possible, therefore, that some additional change in LPS promoted by SPC-induced mexXY expression impacted CPA synthesis or its incorporation into LPS and that this was responsible for the observed changes in polymyxin susceptibility.

EsrC, an envelope stress-regulated repressor of the mexCD-oprJ multidrug efflux operon in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

mexCD-oprJ is an envelope stress-inducible multidrug efflux operon of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A gene encoding a homologue of the NfxB repressor of this operon, PA4596, occurs downstream of oprJ and was proposed as a second repressor of this efflux operon. Inactivation of this gene had no impact on mexCD-oprJ expression in cells not exposed to envelope stress although its loss under envelope stress conditions yielded a > 10-fold increase in mexCD-oprJ expression. Consistent with PA4596 functioning as a mexCD-oprJ repressor, the purified protein was able to bind to a DNA fragment carrying the mexCD-oprJ promoter region. Expression of PA4596 was induced under conditions of envelope stress dependent on the AlgU envelope stress sigma factor, consistent with PA4596 operating under envelope stress conditions where it possibly serves to moderate envelope stress-inducible mexCD-oprJ expression. nfxB mutants showed elevated PA4596 expression and purified NfxB bound to DNA encompassing the PA4596 upstream region, an indication that NfxB functions as a repressor of PA4596 expression. Elimination of PA4596 in P. aeruginosa lacking nfxB and hyperexpressing mexCD-oprJ had no additional impact on mexCD-oprJ expression, regardless of the presence of envelope stress, suggesting that PA4596 repressor activity may be dependent on NfxB. This envelope stress-regulated repressor of mexCD-oprJ has been renamed esrC.

Stress responses as determinants of antimicrobial resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: multidrug efflux and more.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a notoriously antimicrobial-resistant organism that is increasingly refractory to antimicrobial chemotherapy. While the usual array of acquired resistance mechanisms contribute to resistance development in this organism a multitude of endogenous genes also play a role. These include a variety of multidrug efflux loci that contribute to both intrinsic and acquired antimicrobial resistance. Despite their roles in resistance, however, it is clear that these efflux systems function in more than just antimicrobial efflux. Indeed, recent data indicate that they are recruited in response to environmental stress and, therefore, function as components of the organism's stress responses. In fact, a number of endogenous resistance-promoting genes are linked to environmental stress, functioning as part of known stress responses or recruited in response to a variety of environmental stress stimuli. Stress responses are, thus, important determinants of antimicrobial resistance in P. aeruginosa. As such, they represent possible therapeutic targets in countering antimicrobial resistance in this organism.

Mutational activation of the AmgRS two-component system in aminoglycoside-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The amgRS operon encodes a presumed membrane stress-responsive two-component system linked to intrinsic aminoglycoside resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Genome sequencing of a lab isolate showing modest pan-aminoglycoside resistance, strain K2979, revealed a number of mutations, including a substitution in amgS that produced an R182C change in the AmgS sensor kinase product of this gene. Introduction of this mutation into an otherwise wild-type strain recapitulated the resistance phenotype, while correcting the mutation in the resistant mutant abrogated the resistant phenotype, confirming that the amgS mutation is responsible for the aminoglycoside resistance of strain K2979. The amgSR182 mutation promoted an AmgR-dependent, 2- to 3-fold increase in expression of the AmgRS target genes htpX and PA5528, mirroring the impact of aminoglycoside exposure of wild-type cells on htpX and PA5528 expression. This suggests that amgSR182 is a gain-of-function mutation that activates AmgS and the AmgRS two-component system in promoting modest resistance to aminoglycosides. Screening of several pan-aminoglycoside-resistant clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa revealed three that showed elevated htpX and PA5528 expression and harbored single amino acid-altering mutations in amgS (V121G or D106N) and no mutations in amgR. Introduction of the amgSV121G mutation into wild-type P. aeruginosa generated a resistance phenotype reminiscent of the amgSR182 mutant and produced a 2- to 3-fold increase in htpX and PA5528 expression, confirming that it, too, is a gain-of-function aminoglycoside resistance-promoting mutation. These results highlight the contribution of amgS mutations and activation of the AmgRS two-component system to acquired aminoglycoside resistance in lab and clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa.

Functional characterization of the NfxB repressor of the mexCD-oprJ multidrug efflux operon of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The mexCD-oprJ multidrug efflux operon of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is regulated by the NfxB repressor. Two forms of NfxB have been reported [Shiba et al. (1995). J Bacteriol 177, 5872) although mutagenesis studies here confirm that the larger protein (199 amino acids, 22.4 kDa) is the functional repressor. NfxB binds upstream of the mexCD-oprJ transcription initiation site to a region containing two inverted repeats, both of which are required for binding. Two-hybrid assays confirmed that NfxB is a multimer, with the C-terminal two-thirds of the repressor required for multimerization. Random mutagenesis identified several mutations within the C-terminal region of NfxB required for multimerization, all of which mapped to a three-helix subdomain of the C-terminal region in a structural model of the repressor, which may thus represent the multimerization domain. These mutations compromised NfxB binding to its target DNA in electromobility shift assays, and their introduction into the chromosome of P. aeruginosa enhanced mexCD-oprJ expression and promoted multidrug resistance, consistent with the functional NfxB repressor being a multimer. Site-directed and spontaneous nfxB mutants showing increased mexCD-oprJ expression and multidrug resistance were also recovered, with mutations mapping to the three-helix subdomain again impacting multimerization and DNA binding. Mutations mapping to the N-terminal helix-turn-helix motif implicated in DNA binding did not impact multimerization although they did render the repressor insoluble and unsuitable for mobility shift assays. Size exclusion column chromatography demonstrated that wild-type NfxB forms tetramers in solution, although a mutant form of the repressor carrying a G192D substitution near the C terminus of the protein and compromised for DNA binding and repressor activity forms dimers. These results suggest that NfxB operates as a tetramer (dimer of dimers) and that the C terminus of the protein serves as a tetramerization domain.

Determinants of intrinsic aminoglycoside resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Screening of a transposon insertion mutant library of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for increased susceptibility to paromomycin identified a number of genes whose disruption enhanced susceptibility of this organism to multiple aminoglycosides, including tobramycin, amikacin, and gentamicin. These included genes associated with lipid biosynthesis or metabolism (lptA, faoA), phosphate uptake (pstB), and two-component regulators (amgRS, PA2797-PA2798) and a gene of unknown function (PA0392). Deletion mutants lacking these showed enhanced panaminoglycoside susceptibility that was reversed by the cloned genes, confirming their contribution to intrinsic panaminoglycoside resistance. None of these mutants showed increased aminoglycoside permeation of the cell envelope, indicating that increased susceptibility was not related to enhanced aminoglycoside uptake owing to a reduced envelope barrier function. Several mutants (pstB, faoA, PA0392, amgR) did, however, show increased cytoplasmic membrane depolarization relative to wild type following gentamicin exposure, consistent with the membranes of these mutants being more prone to perturbation, likely by gentamicin-generated mistranslated polypeptides. Mutants lacking any two of these resistance genes in various combinations invariably showed increased aminoglycoside susceptibility relative to single-deletion mutants, confirming their independent contribution to resistance and highlighting the complexity of the intrinsic aminoglycoside resistome in P. aeruginosa. Deletion of these genes also compromised the high-level panaminoglycoside resistance of clinical isolates, emphasizing their important contribution to acquired resistance.

Reduced expression of the rplU-rpmA ribosomal protein operon in mexXY-expressing pan-aminoglycoside-resistant mutants of pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pan-aminoglycoside-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutants expressing the mexXY components of the aminoglycoside-accommodating MexXY-OprM multidrug efflux system but lacking mutations in the mexZ gene encoding a repressor of this efflux system and in the mexXY promoter have been reported (S. Fraud and K. Poole, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 55:1068-1074, 2011). Genome sequencing of one of these mutants, K2966, revealed the presence of a mutation within the predicted promoter region of the rplU-rpmA operon encoding ribosomal proteins L21 and L27, consistent with an observed 2-fold decrease in expression of this operon in the mutant relative to wild-type P. aeruginosa PAO1. Moreover, correction of the mutation restored rplU-rpmA expression and, significantly, reversed the elevated mexXY expression and pan-aminoglycoside resistance of the mutant. Reduced rplU-rpmA expression was also observed in a second mexXY-expressing pan-aminoglycoside-resistant mutant, K2968, which, however, lacked a mutation in the rplU-rpmA promoter region. Restoration of rplU-rpmA expression in the K2968 mutant following chromosomal integration of the rplU-rpmA operon derived from wild-type P. aeruginosa failed, however, to reverse the elevated mexXY expression and pan-aminoglycoside resistance of this mutant, although it did so for K2966, suggesting that the mutation impacting rplU-rpmA expression in K2968 also impacts other mexXY-related genes. Increased mexXY expression owing to reduced rplU-rpmA expression in K2966 and K2968 was dependent on PA5471, whose expression was also elevated in these mutants. Thus, mutational disruption of ribosome function, by limiting expression of ribosomal constituents, promotes recruitment of mexXY and does so via PA5471, reminiscent of mexXY induction by ribosome-disrupting antimicrobial agents. Interestingly, reduced rplU-rpmA expression was also observed in a mexXY-expressing pan-aminoglycoside-resistant clinical isolate, suggesting that ribosome-perturbing mutations have clinical relevance in the recruitment of the MexXY-OprM aminoglycoside resistance determinant.

Bacterial stress responses as determinants of antimicrobial resistance.

Bacteria encounter a myriad of stresses in their natural environments, including, for pathogens, their hosts. These stresses elicit a variety of specific and highly regulated adaptive responses that not only protect bacteria from the offending stress, but also manifest changes in the cell that impact innate antimicrobial susceptibility. Thus exposure to nutrient starvation/limitation (nutrient stress), reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (oxidative/nitrosative stress), membrane damage (envelope stress), elevated temperature (heat stress) and ribosome disruption (ribosomal stress) all impact bacterial susceptibility to a variety of antimicrobials through their initiation of stress responses that positively impact recruitment of resistance determinants or promote physiological changes that compromise antimicrobial activity. As de facto determinants of antimicrobial, even multidrug, resistance, stress responses may be worthy of consideration as therapeutic targets.

Oxidative stress induction of the MexXY multidrug efflux genes and promotion of aminoglycoside resistance development in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Exposure to reactive oxygen species (ROS) (e.g., peroxide) was shown to induce expression of the PA5471 gene, which was previously shown to be required for antimicrobial induction of the MexXY components of the MexXY-OprM multidrug efflux system and aminoglycoside resistance determinant in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. mexXY was also induced by peroxide exposure, and this too was PA5471 dependent. The prospect of ROS promoting mexXY expression and aminoglycoside resistance recalls P. aeruginosa infection of the chronically inflamed lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, where the organism is exposed to ROS and where MexXY-OprM predominates as the mechanism of aminoglycoside resistance. While ROS did not enhance aminoglycoside resistance in vitro, long-term (8-day) exposure of P. aeruginosa to peroxide (mimicking chronic in vivo ROS exposure) increased aminoglycoside resistance frequency, dependent upon PA5471 and mexXY. This enhanced resistance frequency was also seen in a mutant strain overexpressing PA5471, in the absence of peroxide, suggesting that induction of PA5471 by peroxide was key to peroxide enhancement of aminoglycoside resistance frequency. Resistant mutants selected following peroxide exposure were typically pan-aminoglycoside-resistant, with mexXY generally required for this resistance. Moreover, PA5471 was required for mexXY expression and aminoglycoside resistance in these as well as several CF isolates examined.

mexEF-oprN multidrug efflux operon of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: regulation by the MexT activator in response to nitrosative stress and chloramphenicol.

A null mutation in the mexS gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa yielded an increased level of expression of a 3-gene operon containing a gene, xenB, whose product is highly homologous to a xenobiotic reductase in Pseudomonas fluorescens shown previously to remove nitro groups from trinitrotoluene and nitroglycerin (D. S. Blehert, B. G. Fox, and G. H. Chambliss, J. Bacteriol. 181:6254, 1999). This expression, which paralleled an increase in mexEF-oprN expression in the same mutant, was, like mexEF-oprN, dependent on the MexT LysR family positive regulator previously implicated in mexEF-oprN expression. As nitration is a well-known result of nitrosative stress, a role for xenB (and the coregulated mexEF-oprN) in a nitrosative stress response was hypothesized and tested. Using s-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) as a source of nitrosative stress, the expression of xenB and mexEF-oprN was shown to be GSNO inducible, although in the case of xenB, this was seen only for a mutant lacking MexEF-OprN. In both instances, this GSNO-inducible expression was dependent upon MexT. Chloramphenicol, a nitroaromatic antimicrobial that is a substrate for MexEF-OprN, was shown to induce mexEF-oprN but not xenB, again dependent upon the MexT regulator, possibly because it resembles a nitrosated nitrosative stress product accommodated by MexEF-OprN.

Effect of multidrug resistance-conferring mutations on the fitness and virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

BACKGROUND: Multidrug resistance has become a quandary in the treatment of bacterial infections. The effect of resistance mutations and the fitness cost on the pathogenicity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is not well established. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of multidrug resistance on the fitness and virulence of P. aeruginosa. METHODS: Fourteen P. aeruginosa strains with various resistance mechanisms were used. In vitro growth of these isolates was investigated in full-strength and 0.25-strength Mueller-Hinton broth (MHB). Exponential growth rates were estimated from serial bacterial burden over 24 h. In vitro growth of two multidrug-resistant strains (PAO1ΔmexRΔoprD and PA9019) was studied when each was grown in co-culture with wild-type strain PAO1. In vivo growth was compared between PAO1 and PAO1ΔmexRΔopD using a murine pneumonia model; virulence over 10 days was studied in six isolates. RESULTS: Significant reduction in growth rate was observed in selected mutants (P < 0.01). PAO1 out-competed PAO1ΔmexRΔoprD and PA9019 in vitro, and in vivo growth of PAO1 was faster than PAO1ΔmexRΔoprD. Compared with PAO1, PAO1ΔmexR and PAO1ΔoprD showed a slight reduction in mortality rate; significantly lower mortality was seen in PAO1ΔmexRΔoprD (P < 0.01). However, virulence of PA9019 was not significantly different from that of PAO1. CONCLUSIONS: Specific resistance mutations were associated with fitness cost in P. aeruginosa, and accumulation of such mutations was associated with a reduction in virulence. However, it was difficult to predict the impact in clinical isolates. Knowledge of multidrug resistance mechanisms and compensatory mutations would likely be helpful.

The crystal structure of MexR from Pseudomonas aeruginosa in complex with its antirepressor ArmR.

The intrinsic antimicrobial resistance of the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is compounded in mutant strains that overexpress multidrug efflux pumps such as the prominent drug-proton antiporter, MexAB-OprM. The primary regulator of the mexAB-oprM operon is the MarR family repressor, MexR. An additional repressor, NalC, also regulates mexAB-oprM by controlling expression of ArmR, an antirepressor peptide that is hypothesized to prevent the binding of MexR to its cognate DNA operator via an allosteric protein-peptide interaction. To better understand how ArmR modulates MexR, we determined the MexR-binding region of ArmR as its C-terminal 25 residues and solved the crystal structure of MexR in a 2:1 complex with this ArmR fragment at 1.8 A resolution. This structure reveals that the C-terminal residues of ArmR form a kinked alpha-helix, which occupies a pseudosymmetrical and largely hydrophobic binding cavity located at the centre of the MexR dimer. Although the ArmR-binding cavity partially overlaps with the small molecule effector-binding sites of other MarR family members, it possesses a larger and more complex binding surface to accommodate the greater size and specific physicochemical properties of a peptide effector. Comparison with the structure of apo-MexR reveals that ArmR stabilizes a dramatic conformational change that is incompatible with DNA-binding. Thus, this work defines the structural mechanism by which ArmR allosterically derepresses MexR-controlled gene expression in P. aeruginosa and reveals important insights into the regulation of multidrug resistance.

Increase in rhamnolipid synthesis under iron-limiting conditions influences surface motility and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Iron is an essential element for life but also serves as an environmental signal for biofilm development in the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Under iron-limiting conditions, P. aeruginosa displays enhanced twitching motility and forms flat unstructured biofilms. In this study, we present evidence suggesting that iron-regulated production of the biosurfactant rhamnolipid is important to facilitate the formation of flat unstructured biofilms. We show that under iron limitation the timing of rhamnolipid expression is shifted to the initial stages of biofilm formation (versus later in biofilm development under iron-replete conditions) and results in increased bacterial surface motility. In support of this observation, an rhlAB mutant defective in biosurfactant production showed less surface motility under iron-restricted conditions and developed structured biofilms similar to those developed by the wild type under iron-replete conditions. These results highlight the importance of biosurfactant production in determining the mature structure of P. aeruginosa biofilms under iron-limiting conditions.

Multidrug efflux systems play an important role in the invasiveness of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic human pathogen. Certain strains can transmigrate across epithelial cells, and their invasive phenotype is correlated with capacity to cause invasive human disease and fatal septicemia in mice. Four multidrug efflux systems have been described in P. aeruginosa, however, their contribution to virulence is unclear. To clarify the role of efflux systems in invasiveness, P. aeruginosa PAO1 wild-type (WT) and its efflux mutants were evaluated in a Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cell monolayer system and in a murine model of endogenous septicemia. All efflux mutants except a deltamexCD-oprJ deletion demonstrated significantly reduced invasiveness compared with WT. In particular, a deltamexAB-oprM deletion strain was compromised in its capacity to invade or transmigrate across MDCK cells, and could not kill mice, in contrast to WT which was highly invasive (P < 0.0006) and caused fatal infection (P < 0.0001). The other mutants, including deltamexB and deltamexXY mutants, were intermediate between WT and the deltamexAB-oprM mutant in invasiveness and murine virulence. Invasiveness was restored to the deltamexAB-oprM mutant by complementation with mexAB-oprM or by addition of culture supernatant from MDCK cells infected with WT. We conclude that the P. aeruginosa MexAB-OprM efflux system exports virulence determinants that contribute to bacterial virulence.

Translational control of the antibiotic inducibility of the PA5471 gene required for mexXY multidrug efflux gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The PA5471 gene required for induction of the MexXY multidrug efflux system in response to ribosome-targeting antimicrobials was itself shown to be inducible by ribosome-targeting antimicrobials (Y. Morita, M. L. Sobel, and K. Poole, J. Bacteriol. 188:1847-1855, 2006). Using a lacZ transcriptional reporter, drug inducibility of PA5471 was shown to require the entirety of the 367-bp PA5472-PA5471 intergenic region. A constitutive promoter activity was, however, localized to the first 75 bp of this region, within which a single PA5471 transcription initiation site was mapped. That 3' sequences of the intergenic region blocked PA5471 expression and made it antibiotic dependent was suggestive of an attenuation mechanism of control. A 13-amino-acid leader peptide (LP)-encoding open reading frame preceded by a Shine-Dalgarno sequence was identified ca. 250 bp upstream of the PA5471 coding sequence, and its expression and translation were confirmed using a lacZ translational reporter. Alteration of the initiation codon (M1T) or introduction of translational stop signals at codons 3 (Q3Am) and 8 (C8Op) of this LP sequence (PA5471.1) yielded high-level constitutive expression of PA5471, suggesting that interference with LP translation was linked to PA5471 gene expression. Consistent with this, a Q3K mutation in the LP sequence maintained the drug inducibility of PA5471 expression. Introduction of the LP Q3Am mutation into the chromosome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa yielded stronger expression of PA5471 than did antibiotic (chloramphenicol) exposure of wild-type P. aeruginosa, in agreement with lacZ transcriptional fusion data. Still, the Q3Am mutation yielded modest expression of mexXY, less than that seen for antibiotic-treated wild-type P. aeruginosa. These data suggest that PA5471 is not sufficient for MexXY recruitment in response to antibiotic exposure and that additional antibiotic-dependent effects are needed.