The Yersinia pestis HmsCDE regulatory system is essential for blockage of the oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis), a classic plague vector

Summary The second messenger molecule cyclic diguanylate is essential for Yersinia pestis biofilm formation that is important for blockage‐dependent plague transmission from fleas to mammals. Two diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) HmsT and Y3730 (HmsD) are responsible for biofilm formation in vitro and bio...

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Published in:Environmental microbiology 2015-04, Vol.17 (4), p.947-959
Main Authors: Bobrov, Alexander G., Kirillina, Olga, Vadyvaloo, Viveka, Koestler, Benjamin J., Hinz, Angela K., Mack, Dietrich, Waters, Christopher M., Perry, Robert D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Base Sequence
Biofilms - growth & development
Cyclic GMP - analogs & derivatives
Cyclic GMP - biosynthesis
DNA, Bacterial - genetics
Escherichia coli Proteins - biosynthesis
Escherichia coli Proteins - genetics
Escherichia coli Proteins - metabolism
Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases - biosynthesis
Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases - genetics
Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases - metabolism
Plague - microbiology
Plague - transmission
Rats
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Signal Transduction - genetics
Xenopsylla - microbiology
Yersinia pestis - enzymology
Yersinia pestis - metabolism
Yersinia pestis - physiology
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Summary:Summary The second messenger molecule cyclic diguanylate is essential for Yersinia pestis biofilm formation that is important for blockage‐dependent plague transmission from fleas to mammals. Two diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) HmsT and Y3730 (HmsD) are responsible for biofilm formation in vitro and biofilm‐dependent blockage in the oriental rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis respectively. Here, we have identified a tripartite signalling system encoded by the y3729‐y3731 operon that is responsible for regulation of biofilm formation in different environments. We present genetic evidence that a putative inner membrane‐anchored protein with a large periplasmic domain Y3729 (HmsC) inhibits HmsD DGC activity in vitro while an outer membrane Pal‐like putative lipoprotein Y3731 (HmsE) counteracts HmsC to activate HmsD in the gut of X. cheopis. We propose that HmsE is a critical element in the transduction of environmental signal(s) required for HmsD‐dependent biofilm formation.
ISSN:1462-2912
1462-2920
DOI:10.1111/1462-2920.12419