TY - JOUR

T1 - The Escherichia coli MarA protein regulates the ycgZ-ymgABC operon to inhibit biofilm formation

AU - Kettles, Rachel A

AU - Tschowri, Natalia

AU - Lyons, Kevin J

AU - Sharma, Prateek

AU - Hengge, Regine

AU - Webber, Mark A

AU - Grainger, David C

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019 The Authors. Molecular Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Copyright: Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2019/11

Y1 - 2019/11

N2 - The Escherichia coli marRAB operon is a paradigm for chromosomally encoded antibiotic resistance. The operon exerts its effect via an encoded transcription factor called MarA that modulates efflux pump and porin expression. In this work, we show that MarA is also a regulator of biofilm formation. Control is mediated by binding of MarA to the intergenic region upstream of the ycgZ-ymgABC operon. The operon, known to influence the formation of curli fibres and colanic acid, is usually expressed during periods of starvation. Hence, the ycgZ-ymgABC promoter is recognised by σ38 (RpoS)-associated RNA polymerase (RNAP). Surprisingly, MarA does not influence σ38 -dependent transcription. Instead, MarA drives transcription by the housekeeping σ70 -associated RNAP. The effects of MarA on ycgZ-ymgABC expression are coupled with biofilm formation by the rcsCDB phosphorelay system, with YcgZ, YmgA and YmgB forming a complex that directly interacts with the histidine kinase domain of RcsC.

AB - The Escherichia coli marRAB operon is a paradigm for chromosomally encoded antibiotic resistance. The operon exerts its effect via an encoded transcription factor called MarA that modulates efflux pump and porin expression. In this work, we show that MarA is also a regulator of biofilm formation. Control is mediated by binding of MarA to the intergenic region upstream of the ycgZ-ymgABC operon. The operon, known to influence the formation of curli fibres and colanic acid, is usually expressed during periods of starvation. Hence, the ycgZ-ymgABC promoter is recognised by σ38 (RpoS)-associated RNA polymerase (RNAP). Surprisingly, MarA does not influence σ38 -dependent transcription. Instead, MarA drives transcription by the housekeeping σ70 -associated RNAP. The effects of MarA on ycgZ-ymgABC expression are coupled with biofilm formation by the rcsCDB phosphorelay system, with YcgZ, YmgA and YmgB forming a complex that directly interacts with the histidine kinase domain of RcsC.

KW - Bacterial Proteins/genetics

KW - Biofilms/growth & development

KW - DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics

KW - DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases/genetics

KW - Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial/genetics

KW - Escherichia coli/genetics

KW - Escherichia coli Proteins/genetics

KW - Multienzyme Complexes/genetics

KW - Phosphoprotein Phosphatases/genetics

KW - Porins/genetics

KW - Protein Kinases/genetics

KW - Sigma Factor/genetics

KW - Transcription, Genetic/genetics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073931774&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/mmi.14386

DO - 10.1111/mmi.14386

M3 - Article

C2 - 31518447

VL - 112

SP - 1609

EP - 1625

JO - Molecular microbiology

JF - Molecular microbiology

SN - 0950-382X

IS - 5

ER -