A LuxR Homolog in a Cottonwood Tree Endophyte That Activates Gene Expression in Response to a Plant Signal or Specific Peptides

ABSTRACT Homologs of the LuxR acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum-sensing signal receptor are prevalent in Proteobacteria isolated from roots of the Eastern cottonwood tree, Populus deltoides. Many of these isolates possess an orphan LuxR homolog, closely related to OryR from the rice pathogen Xant...

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Autores principales: Amy L. Schaefer, Yasuhiro Oda, Bruna Goncalves Coutinho, Dale A. Pelletier, Justin Weiburg, Vittorio Venturi, E. Peter Greenberg, Caroline S. Harwood
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Publicado: American Society for Microbiology 2016
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:e0a7fcd67ae549798c9cb2544f984a892021-11-15T15:50:18ZA LuxR Homolog in a Cottonwood Tree Endophyte That Activates Gene Expression in Response to a Plant Signal or Specific Peptides10.1128/mBio.01101-162150-7511https://doaj.org/article/e0a7fcd67ae549798c9cb2544f984a892016-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01101-16https://doaj.org/toc/2150-7511ABSTRACT Homologs of the LuxR acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum-sensing signal receptor are prevalent in Proteobacteria isolated from roots of the Eastern cottonwood tree, Populus deltoides. Many of these isolates possess an orphan LuxR homolog, closely related to OryR from the rice pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae. OryR does not respond to AHL signals but, instead, responds to an unknown plant compound. We discovered an OryR homolog, PipR, in the cottonwood endophyte Pseudomonas sp. strain GM79. The genes adjacent to pipR encode a predicted ATP-binding cassette (ABC) peptide transporter and peptidases. We purified the putative peptidases, PipA and AapA, and confirmed their predicted activities. A transcriptional pipA-gfp reporter was responsive to PipR in the presence of plant leaf macerates, but it was not influenced by AHLs, similar to findings with OryR. We found that PipR also responded to protein hydrolysates to activate pipA-gfp expression. Among many peptides tested, the tripeptide Ser-His-Ser showed inducer activity but at relatively high concentrations. An ABC peptide transporter mutant failed to respond to leaf macerates, peptone, or Ser-His-Ser, while peptidase mutants expressed higher-than-wild-type levels of pipA-gfp in response to any of these signals. Our studies are consistent with a model where active transport of a peptidelike signal is required for the signal to interact with PipR, which then activates peptidase gene expression. The identification of a peptide ligand for PipR sets the stage to identify plant-derived signals for the OryR family of orphan LuxR proteins. IMPORTANCE We describe the transcription factor PipR from a Pseudomonas strain isolated as a cottonwood tree endophyte. PipR is a member of the LuxR family of transcriptional factors. LuxR family members are generally thought of as quorum-sensing signal receptors, but PipR is one of an emerging subfamily of LuxR family members that respond to compounds produced by plants. We found that PipR responds to a peptidelike compound, and we present a model for Pip system signal transduction. A better understanding of plant-responsive LuxR homologs and the compounds to which they respond is of general importance, as they occur in dozens of bacterial species that are associated with economically important plants and, as we report here, they also occur in members of certain root endophyte communities.Amy L. SchaeferYasuhiro OdaBruna Goncalves CoutinhoDale A. PelletierJustin WeiburgVittorio VenturiE. Peter GreenbergCaroline S. HarwoodAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmBio, Vol 7, Iss 4 (2016)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Microbiology
QR1-502
spellingShingle Microbiology
QR1-502
Amy L. Schaefer
Yasuhiro Oda
Bruna Goncalves Coutinho
Dale A. Pelletier
Justin Weiburg
Vittorio Venturi
E. Peter Greenberg
Caroline S. Harwood
A LuxR Homolog in a Cottonwood Tree Endophyte That Activates Gene Expression in Response to a Plant Signal or Specific Peptides
description ABSTRACT Homologs of the LuxR acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum-sensing signal receptor are prevalent in Proteobacteria isolated from roots of the Eastern cottonwood tree, Populus deltoides. Many of these isolates possess an orphan LuxR homolog, closely related to OryR from the rice pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae. OryR does not respond to AHL signals but, instead, responds to an unknown plant compound. We discovered an OryR homolog, PipR, in the cottonwood endophyte Pseudomonas sp. strain GM79. The genes adjacent to pipR encode a predicted ATP-binding cassette (ABC) peptide transporter and peptidases. We purified the putative peptidases, PipA and AapA, and confirmed their predicted activities. A transcriptional pipA-gfp reporter was responsive to PipR in the presence of plant leaf macerates, but it was not influenced by AHLs, similar to findings with OryR. We found that PipR also responded to protein hydrolysates to activate pipA-gfp expression. Among many peptides tested, the tripeptide Ser-His-Ser showed inducer activity but at relatively high concentrations. An ABC peptide transporter mutant failed to respond to leaf macerates, peptone, or Ser-His-Ser, while peptidase mutants expressed higher-than-wild-type levels of pipA-gfp in response to any of these signals. Our studies are consistent with a model where active transport of a peptidelike signal is required for the signal to interact with PipR, which then activates peptidase gene expression. The identification of a peptide ligand for PipR sets the stage to identify plant-derived signals for the OryR family of orphan LuxR proteins. IMPORTANCE We describe the transcription factor PipR from a Pseudomonas strain isolated as a cottonwood tree endophyte. PipR is a member of the LuxR family of transcriptional factors. LuxR family members are generally thought of as quorum-sensing signal receptors, but PipR is one of an emerging subfamily of LuxR family members that respond to compounds produced by plants. We found that PipR responds to a peptidelike compound, and we present a model for Pip system signal transduction. A better understanding of plant-responsive LuxR homologs and the compounds to which they respond is of general importance, as they occur in dozens of bacterial species that are associated with economically important plants and, as we report here, they also occur in members of certain root endophyte communities.
format article
author Amy L. Schaefer
Yasuhiro Oda
Bruna Goncalves Coutinho
Dale A. Pelletier
Justin Weiburg
Vittorio Venturi
E. Peter Greenberg
Caroline S. Harwood
author_facet Amy L. Schaefer
Yasuhiro Oda
Bruna Goncalves Coutinho
Dale A. Pelletier
Justin Weiburg
Vittorio Venturi
E. Peter Greenberg
Caroline S. Harwood
author_sort Amy L. Schaefer
title A LuxR Homolog in a Cottonwood Tree Endophyte That Activates Gene Expression in Response to a Plant Signal or Specific Peptides
title_short A LuxR Homolog in a Cottonwood Tree Endophyte That Activates Gene Expression in Response to a Plant Signal or Specific Peptides
title_full A LuxR Homolog in a Cottonwood Tree Endophyte That Activates Gene Expression in Response to a Plant Signal or Specific Peptides
title_fullStr A LuxR Homolog in a Cottonwood Tree Endophyte That Activates Gene Expression in Response to a Plant Signal or Specific Peptides
title_full_unstemmed A LuxR Homolog in a Cottonwood Tree Endophyte That Activates Gene Expression in Response to a Plant Signal or Specific Peptides
title_sort luxr homolog in a cottonwood tree endophyte that activates gene expression in response to a plant signal or specific peptides
publisher American Society for Microbiology
publishDate 2016
url https://doaj.org/article/e0a7fcd67ae549798c9cb2544f984a89
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