The inner membrane protein, YhiM, is necessary for Escherichia coli (E. coli) survival in acidic conditions

• Published in: Archives of microbiology 2012-07, Vol.194 (7), p.637-641
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Tuan M., Sparks-Thissen, Rebecca L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acids; Acids - metabolism; Arginine - metabolism; Bacteriology; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Cell Biology; E coli; Ecology; Escherichia coli - genetics; Escherichia coli - metabolism; Escherichia coli Proteins - genetics; Escherichia coli Proteins - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Glucose; Glutamic Acid - metabolism; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Life Sciences; Lysine - metabolism; Membrane Proteins - genetics; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Microbial Ecology; Microbial Viability - genetics; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Mutation; Proteins; Short Communication; Stress, Physiological - genetics
• ISSN: 0302-8933; 1432-072X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00203-012-0798-x

Escherichia coli must be able to survive extreme acidic conditions. We were interested in determining the role of the inner membrane protein YhiM in survival in acidic conditions. Previous data demonstrated that the yhiM gene was upregulated in acidic conditions (Tucker et al. in J Bacteriol. 184:6551–6558, 2002 ). We therefore tested tn 10 insertions into the yhiM gene for their ability to survive at low pH (pH 2.5). We show that YhiM was required for survival at pH 2.5. We also tested the YhiM dependence of the different acid resistance pathways. YhiM was required for the RpoS, glutamine and lysine–dependent acid resistance pathways. In contrast, YhiM was not required for the arginine-dependent acid resistance pathway.