Stringent Starvation Protein Regulates Prodiginine Biosynthesis via Affecting Siderophore Production in Pseudoalteromonas sp. Strain R3

• Published in: Applied and environmental microbiology 2021-03, Vol.87 (7), p.e02949-20
• Main Authors: Yin, Jianhua, Ding, Mengdan, Zha, Fanglan, Zhang, Jiadi, Meng, Qiu, Yu, Zhiliang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adhesins, Bacterial - genetics; Adhesins, Bacterial - metabolism; Bacteria; Biosynthesis; Clusters; DNA-directed RNA polymerase; Environmental factors; Environmental regulations; Histones; Homeostasis; Iron; Iron - metabolism; Iron deficiency; Metabolites; Nutrient deficiency; Physiological effects; Physiological factors; Physiology; Prodigiosin; Prodigiosin - analogs & derivatives; Prodigiosin - biosynthesis; Protein A; Protein biosynthesis; Proteins; Pseudoalteromonas; Pseudoalteromonas - genetics; Pseudoalteromonas - metabolism; Regulation; Regulatory mechanisms (biology); RNA polymerase; Secondary metabolites; Serratia; Siderophores - metabolism; Spotlight; Streptomyces; Transcription
• ISSN: 0099-2240; 1098-5336
• DOI: 10.1128/AEM.02949-20

Prodiginines are a family of red-pigmented secondary metabolites with multiple biological activities. The biosynthesis of prodiginines is affected by various physiological and environmental factors. Thus, prodiginine biosynthesis regulation is highly complex and multifaceted. Although the regulatory mechanism for prodiginine biosynthesis has been extensively studied in and species, little is known about that in the marine betaproteobacterium In this study, we report that stringent starvation protein A (SspA), an RNA polymerase-associated regulatory protein, is required for the biosynthesis of prodiginine in sp. strain R3. The strain lacking (Δ ) fails to produce prodiginine, which resulted from the downregulation of the prodiginine biosynthetic gene ( ) cluster. The effect of SspA on prodiginine biosynthesis is independent of histone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS) and RpoS (σ ). Further analysis demonstrates that the Δ strain has a significant decrease in the transcription of the siderophore biosynthesis gene ( ) cluster, leading to the inhibition of siderophore production and iron uptake. The Δ strain regains the ability to synthesize prodiginine by cocultivation with siderophore producers or the addition of iron. Therefore, we conclude that SspA-regulated prodiginine biosynthesis is due to decreased siderophore levels and iron deficiency. We further show that the iron homeostasis master regulator Fur is also essential for transcription and prodiginine biosynthesis. Overall, our results suggest that SspA indirectly regulates the biosynthesis of prodiginine, which is mediated by the siderophore-dependent iron uptake pathway. The red-pigmented prodiginines are attracting increasing interest due to their broad biological activities. As with many secondary metabolites, the biosynthesis of prodiginines is regulated by both environmental and physiological factors. At present, studies on the regulation of prodiginine biosynthesis are mainly restricted to and species. This work focused on the regulatory mechanism of prodiginine biosynthesis in sp. R3. We found that stringent starvation protein A (SspA) positively regulates prodiginine biosynthesis via affecting the siderophore-dependent iron uptake pathway. The connections among SspA, iron homeostasis, and prodiginine biosynthesis were investigated. These findings uncover a novel regulatory mechanism for prodigiosin biosynthesis.