Premium
A novel cyanide‐inducible gene cluster helps protect P seudomonas aeruginosa from cyanide
Author(s) -
Frangipani Emanuela,
PérezMartínez Isabel,
Williams Huw D.,
Cherbuin Gaëtan,
Haas Dieter
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
environmental microbiology reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.229
H-Index - 69
ISSN - 1758-2229
DOI - 10.1111/1758-2229.12105
Subject(s) - mutant , population , cyanide , gene , biology , gene cluster , hydrogen cyanide , potassium cyanide , genetics , biochemistry , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , demography , sociology
Summary P seudomonas aeruginosa produces the toxic secondary metabolite hydrogen cyanide ( HCN ) at high cell population densities and low aeration. Here, we investigated the impact of HCN as a signal in cell‐cell communication by comparing the transcriptome of the wild‐type strain PAO 1 to that of an HCN ‐negative mutant under cyanogenic conditions. HCN repressed four genes and induced 12 genes. While the individual functions of these genes are unknown, with one exception (i.e. a ferredoxin‐dependent reductase), a highly inducible six‐gene cluster ( PA 4129‐ PA 4134) was found to be crucial for protection of P . aeruginosa from external HCN intoxication. A double mutant deleted for PA 4129‐ PA 4134 and cioAB (encoding cyanide‐insensitive oxidase) did not grow with 100 μ M KCN , whereas the corresponding single mutants were essentially unaffected, suggesting a synergistic action of the PA 4129‐ PA 4134 gene products and cyanide‐insensitive oxidase.