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Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are small genetic modules that are widely distributed in the genomes of bacteria and archaea and have been proposed to fulfill numerous functions. Here, we describe the identification and characterization of a type II TA system, comprising the  hicAB  locus in the human opportunistic pathogen  Pseudomonas aeruginosa . The  hicAB  locus consists of genes  hicA  and  hicB  encoding a toxin and its cognate antitoxin, respectively. BLAST analysis revealed that  hicAB  is prevalent in approximately 36% of  P. aeruginosa  strains and locates in the same genomic region. RT-PCR demonstrated that  hicAB  forms a bicistronic operon that is cotranscribed under normal growth conditions. Overproduction of HicA inhibited the growth of  Escherichia coli , and this effect could be counteracted by co-expression of HicB. The  Escherichia coli  kill/rescue assay showed that the effect of HicA is bacteriostatic, rather than bactericidal. Deletion of  hicAB  had no effect on the biofilm formation and virulence of  P. aeruginosa  in a mice infection model. Collectively, this study presents the first characterization of the HicAB system in the opportunistic pathogen  P. aeruginosa .

Identification and Characterization of the HicAB Toxin-Antitoxin System in the Opportunistic Pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa