Brucella melitensis cyclic di-GMP phosphodiesterase BpdA controls expression of flagellar genes

J Bacteriol. 2011 Oct;193(20):5683-91. doi: 10.1128/JB.00428-11. Epub 2011 Aug 19.

Abstract

Brucella melitensis encounters a variety of conditions and stimuli during its life cycle--including environmental growth, intracellular infection, and extracellular dissemination--which necessitates flexibility of bacterial signaling to promote virulence. Cyclic-di-GMP is a bacterial secondary signaling molecule that plays an important role in adaptation to changing environments and altering virulence in a number of bacteria. To investigate the role of cyclic-di-GMP in B. melitensis, all 11 predicted cyclic-di-GMP-metabolizing proteins were separately deleted and the effect on virulence was determined. Three of these cyclic-di-GMP-metabolizing proteins were found to alter virulence. Deletion of the bpdA and bpdB genes resulted in attenuation of virulence of the bacterium, while deletion of the cgsB gene produced a hypervirulent strain. In a Vibrio reporter system to monitor apparent alteration in levels of cyclic-di-GMP, both BpdA and BpdB displayed a phenotype consistent with cyclic-di-GMP-specific phosphodiesterases, while CgsB displayed a cyclic-di-GMP synthase phenotype. Further analysis found that deletion of bpdA resulted in a dramatic decrease in flagellar promoter activities, and a flagellar mutant showed similar phenotypes to the bpdA and bpdB mutant strains in mouse models of infection. These data indicate a potential role for regulation of flagella in Brucella melitensis via cyclic-di-GMP.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 3',5'-Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterases / genetics
  • 3',5'-Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterases / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Brucella melitensis / enzymology*
  • Brucella melitensis / genetics
  • Brucella melitensis / metabolism
  • Brucella melitensis / pathogenicity
  • Brucellosis / microbiology
  • Cyclic GMP / analogs & derivatives
  • Cyclic GMP / metabolism
  • Flagella / genetics*
  • Flagella / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial*
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Virulence

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • bis(3',5')-cyclic diguanylic acid
  • 3',5'-Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterases
  • Cyclic GMP