Pseudomonas aeruginosa relA Contributes to Virulence in Drosophila melanogaster
Author
Erickson, David L.; Lines, J. Louise; Pesci, Everett C.; Venturi, Vittorio; Storey, Douglas G.
Abstract
The stringent response is a mechanism by which bacteria adapt to nutritional deficiencies through the production of the guanine nucleotides ppGpp and pppGpp, produced by the RelA enzyme. We investigated the role of the relA gene in the ability of an extracellular pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to cause infection. Strains lacking the relA gene were created from the prototypical laboratory strain PAO1 as well as the mucoid cystic fibrosis isolate 6106, which lacks functional quorum-sensing systems. The absence of relA abolished the production of ppGpp and pppGpp under conditions of amino acid starvation. We found that strains lacking relA exhibited reduced virulence in a D. melanogaster feeding assay. In conditions of low magnesium, the relA gene enhanced production of the cell-cell signal N-[3-oxododecanoyl]-L-homoserine lactone, whereas relA reduced the production of the 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4-quinolone signal during serine hydroxamate induction of the stringent response. In the relA mutant, alterations in the Pseudomonas quinolone system pathways seemed to increase the production of pyocyanin and decrease the production of elastase. Deletion of relA also resulted in reduced levels of the RpoS sigma factor. These results suggest that adjustment of cellular ppGpp and pppGpp levels could be an important regulatory mechanism in P. aeruginosa adaptation in pathogenic relationships. Originally published Infection and Immunity, Vol. 72, No. 10, Oct 2004
Subject
Date
2004-10
Citation:
APA:
Erickson, David L., & Lines, J. Louise, & Pesci, Everett C., & Venturi, Vittorio, & Storey, Douglas G.. (October 2004).
Pseudomonas aeruginosa relA Contributes to Virulence in Drosophila melanogaster.
Infection and Immunity,
72(10),
5638-
5645. Retrieved from
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/3267
MLA:
Erickson, David L., and Lines, J. Louise, and Pesci, Everett C., and Venturi, Vittorio, and Storey, Douglas G..
"Pseudomonas aeruginosa relA Contributes to Virulence in Drosophila melanogaster". Infection and Immunity.
72:10. (5638-5645),
October 2004.
September 23, 2023.
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/3267.
Chicago:
Erickson, David L. and Lines, J. Louise and Pesci, Everett C. and Venturi, Vittorio and Storey, Douglas G.,
"Pseudomonas aeruginosa relA Contributes to Virulence in Drosophila melanogaster," Infection and Immunity 72, no.
10 (October 2004),
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/3267 (accessed
September 23, 2023).
AMA:
Erickson, David L., Lines, J. Louise, Pesci, Everett C., Venturi, Vittorio, Storey, Douglas G..
Pseudomonas aeruginosa relA Contributes to Virulence in Drosophila melanogaster. Infection and Immunity.
October 2004;
72(10):
5638-5645.
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/3267. Accessed
September 23, 2023.
Collections
Publisher
East Carolina University