scholarly journals Feedback control of a two-component signaling system by an Fe-S-binding receiver domain

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Stein ◽  
Aretha Fiebig ◽  
Sean Crosson

AbstractTwo-component signaling systems (TCSs) function to detect environmental cues and transduce this information into a change in transcription. In its simplest form, TCS-dependent regulation of transcription entails phosphoryl-transfer from a sensory histidine kinase to its cognate DNA-binding receiver protein. However, in certain cases, auxiliary proteins may modulate TCSs in response to secondary environmental cues. Caulobacter crescentus FixT is one such auxiliary regulator. FixT is composed of a single receiver domain and functions as a feedback inhibitor of the FixL-FixJ (FixLJ) TCS, which regulates the transcription of genes involved in adaptation to microaerobiosis. We sought to define the impact of fixT on Caulobacter cell physiology and to understand the molecular mechanism by which FixT represses FixLJ signaling. fixT deletion results in excess production of porphyrins and premature entry into stationary phase, demonstrating the importance of feedback inhibition of the FixLJ signaling system. Although FixT is a receiver domain, it does not affect dephosphorylation of the oxygen-sensor kinase FixL or phosphoryltransfer from FixL to its cognate receiver FixJ. Rather, FixT represses FixLJ signaling by inhibiting the FixL autophosphorylation reaction. We have further identified a 4-cysteine motif in Caulobacter FixT that binds an Fe-S cluster and protects the protein from degradation by the Lon protease. Our data support a model in which oxidation of this Fe-S cluster promotes degradation of FixT in vivo. This proteolytic mechanism facilitates clearance the of the FixT feedback inhibitor from the cell under normoxia and resets the FixLJ system for a future microaerobic signaling event.ImportanceTwo-component signal transduction systems (TCSs) are broadly conserved in the bacterial kingdom and generally contain two molecular components: a sensor histidine kinase and a receiver protein. Sensor histidine kinases alter their phosphorylation state in direct response to a physical or chemical cue, whereas receiver proteins “receive” the phosphoryl group from the kinase to regulate a change in cell physiology. We have discovered that a single-domain receiver protein, FixT, binds an Fe-S cluster and controls Caulobacter heme homeostasis though its function as a negative feedback regulator of the oxygen-sensor kinase, FixL. We provide evidence that the Fe-S cluster protects FixT from Lon-dependent proteolysis in the cell and endows FixT with the ability to function as a second, autonomous oxygen/redox sensor in the FixL-FixJ signaling pathway. This study introduces a novel mechanism of regulated TCS feedback control by an Fe-S-binding receiver domain.

mBio ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Stein ◽  
Aretha Fiebig ◽  
Sean Crosson

ABSTRACT Two-component signaling systems (TCSs) function to detect environmental cues and transduce this information into a change in transcription. In its simplest form, TCS-dependent regulation of transcription entails phosphoryl-transfer from a sensory histidine kinase to its cognate DNA-binding receiver protein. However, in certain cases, auxiliary proteins may modulate TCSs in response to secondary environmental cues. Caulobacter crescentus FixT is one such auxiliary regulator. FixT is composed of a single receiver domain and functions as a feedback inhibitor of the FixL-FixJ (FixLJ) TCS, which regulates the transcription of genes involved in adaptation to microaerobiosis. We sought to define the impact of fixT on Caulobacter cell physiology and to understand the molecular mechanism by which FixT represses FixLJ signaling. fixT deletion results in excess production of porphyrins and premature entry into stationary phase, demonstrating the importance of feedback inhibition of the FixLJ signaling system. Although FixT is a receiver domain, it does not affect dephosphorylation of the oxygen sensor kinase FixL or phosphoryl-transfer from FixL to its cognate receiver FixJ. Rather, FixT represses FixLJ signaling by inhibiting the FixL autophosphorylation reaction. We have further identified a 4-cysteine motif in Caulobacter FixT that binds an Fe-S cluster and protects the protein from degradation by the Lon protease. Our data support a model in which the oxidation of this Fe-S cluster promotes the degradation of FixT in vivo. This proteolytic mechanism facilitates clearance of the FixT feedback inhibitor from the cell under normoxia and resets the FixLJ system for a future microaerobic signaling event. IMPORTANCE Two-component signal transduction systems (TCSs) are broadly conserved in the bacterial kingdom and generally contain two molecular components, a sensor histidine kinase and a receiver protein. Sensor histidine kinases alter their phosphorylation state in direct response to a physical or chemical cue, whereas receiver proteins “receive” the phosphoryl group from the kinase to regulate a change in cell physiology. We have discovered that a single-domain receiver protein, FixT, binds an Fe-S cluster and controls Caulobacter heme homeostasis though its function as a negative-feedback regulator of the oxygen sensor kinase FixL. We provide evidence that the Fe-S cluster protects FixT from Lon-dependent proteolysis in the cell and endows FixT with the ability to function as a second, autonomous oxygen/redox sensor in the FixL-FixJ signaling pathway. This study introduces a novel mechanism of regulated TCS feedback control by an Fe-S-binding receiver domain.


mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Andrés Valderrama ◽  
Helena Gómez-Álvarez ◽  
Zaira Martín-Moldes ◽  
M. Álvaro Berbís ◽  
F. Javier Cañada ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe have identified and characterized the AccS multidomain sensor kinase that mediates the activation of the AccR master regulator involved in carbon catabolite repression (CCR) of the anaerobic catabolism of aromatic compounds inAzoarcussp. CIB. A truncated AccS protein that contains only the soluble C-terminal autokinase module (AccS′) accounts for the succinate-dependent CCR control. In vitroassays with purified AccS′ revealed its autophosphorylation, phosphotransfer from AccS′∼P to the Asp60 residue of AccR, and the phosphatase activity toward its phosphorylated response regulator, indicating that the equilibrium between the kinase and phosphatase activities of AccS′ may control the phosphorylation state of the AccR transcriptional regulator. Oxidized quinones, e.g., ubiquinone 0 and menadione, switched the AccS′ autokinase activity off, and three conserved Cys residues, which are not essential for catalysis, are involved in such inhibition. Thiol oxidation by quinones caused a change in the oligomeric state of the AccS′ dimer resulting in the formation of an inactive monomer. This thiol-based redox switch is tuned by the cellular energy state, which can change depending on the carbon source that the cells are using. This work expands the functional diversity of redox-sensitive sensor kinases, showing that they can control new bacterial processes such as CCR of the anaerobic catabolism of aromatic compounds. The AccSR two-component system is conserved in the genomes of some betaproteobacteria, where it might play a more general role in controlling the global metabolic state according to carbon availability.IMPORTANCETwo-component signal transduction systems comprise a sensor histidine kinase and its cognate response regulator, and some have evolved to sense and convert redox signals into regulatory outputs that allow bacteria to adapt to the altered redox environment. The work presented here expands knowledge of the functional diversity of redox-sensing kinases to control carbon catabolite repression (CCR), a phenomenon that allows the selective assimilation of a preferred compound among a mixture of several carbon sources. The newly characterized AccS sensor kinase is responsible for the phosphorylation and activation of the AccR master regulator involved in CCR of the anaerobic degradation of aromatic compounds in the betaproteobacteriumAzoarcussp. CIB. AccS seems to have a thiol-based redox switch that is modulated by the redox state of the quinone pool. The AccSR system is conserved in several betaproteobacteria, where it might play a more general role controlling their global metabolic state.


2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 412-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng Li ◽  
Susan Dean ◽  
Zhijian Li ◽  
Joe Horecka ◽  
Robert J. Deschenes ◽  
...  

The yeast “two-component” osmotic stress phosphorelay consists of the histidine kinase, Sln1p, the phosphorelay intermediate, Ypd1p and two response regulators, Ssk1p and Skn7p, whose activities are regulated by phosphorylation of a conserved aspartyl residue in the receiver domain. Dephospho-Ssk1p leads to activation of the hyper-osmotic response (HOG) pathway, whereas phospho-Skn7p presumably leads to activation of hypo-osmotic response genes. The multifunctional Skn7 protein is important in oxidative as well as osmotic stress; however, the Skn7p receiver domain aspartate that is the phosphoacceptor in the SLN1 pathway is dispensable for oxidative stress. Like many well-characterized bacterial response regulators, Skn7p is a transcription factor. In this report we investigate the role of Skn7p in osmotic response gene activation. Our studies reveal that the Skn7p HSF-like DNA binding domain interacts with acis-acting element identified upstream ofOCH1 that is distinct from the previously defined HSE-like Skn7p binding site. Our data support a model in which Skn7p receiver domain phosphorylation affects transcriptional activation rather than DNA binding to this class of DNA binding site.


2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (23) ◽  
pp. 6673-6678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiola Janiak-Spens ◽  
David P. Sparling ◽  
Ann H. West

ABSTRACT Two-component regulatory systems that utilize a multistep phosphorelay mechanism often involve a histidine-containing phosphotransfer (HPt) domain. These HPt domains serve an essential role as histidine-phosphorylated protein intermediates during phosphoryl transfer from one response regulator domain to another. InSaccharomyces cerevisiae, the YPD1 protein facilitates phosphoryl transfer from a hybrid sensor kinase, SLN1, to two distinct response regulator proteins, SSK1 and SKN7. Because the phosphorylation state largely determines the functional state of response regulator proteins, we have carried out a comparative study of the phosphorylated lifetimes of the three response regulator domains associated with SLN1, SSK1, and SKN7 (R1, R2, and R3, respectively). The isolated regulatory domains exhibited phosphorylated lifetimes within the range previously observed for other response regulator domains (i.e., several minutes to several hours). However, in the presence of YPD1, we found that the half-life of phosphorylated SSK1-R2 was dramatically extended (almost 200-fold longer than in the absence of YPD1). This stabilization effect was specific for SSK1-R2 and was not observed for SLN1-R1 or SKN7-R3. Our findings suggest a mechanism by which SSK1 is maintained in its phosphorylated state under normal physiological conditions and demonstrate an unprecedented regulatory role for an HPt domain in a phosphorelay signaling system.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (12) ◽  
pp. 3969-3979 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Sebert ◽  
K. P. Patel ◽  
M. Plotnick ◽  
J. N. Weiser

ABSTRACT Activation of the CiaRH two-component signaling system prevents the development of competence for genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae through a previously unknown mechanism. Earlier studies have shown that CiaRH controls the expression of htrA, which we show encodes a surface-expressed serine protease. We found that mutagenesis of the putative catalytic serine of HtrA, while not impacting the competence of a ciaRH + strain, restored a normal competence profile to a strain having a mutation that constitutively activates the CiaH histidine kinase. This result implies that activity of HtrA is necessary for the CiaRH system to inhibit competence. Consistent with this finding, recombinant HtrA (rHtrA) decreased the competence of pneumococcal cultures. The rHtrA-mediated decline in transformation efficiency could not be corrected with excess competence-stimulating peptide (CSP), suggesting that HtrA does not act through degradation of this signaling molecule. The inhibitory effects of rHtrA and activated CiaH, however, were largely overcome in a strain having constitutive activation of the competence pathway through a mutation in the cytoplasmic domain of the ComD histidine kinase. Although these results suggested that HtrA might act through degradation of the extracellular portion of the ComD receptor, Western immunoblots for ComD did not reveal changes in protein levels attributable to HtrA. We therefore postulate that HtrA may act on an unknown protein target that potentiates the activation of the ComDE system by CSP. These findings suggest a novel regulatory role for pneumococcal HtrA in modulating the activity of a two-component signaling system that controls the development of genetic competence.


2006 ◽  
Vol 189 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Romagnoli ◽  
F. Robert Tabita

ABSTRACT The CbbRRS system is an atypical three-protein two-component system that modulates the expression of the cbb I CO2 fixation operon of Rhodopseudomonas palustris, possibly in response to a redox signal. It consists of a membrane-bound hybrid sensor kinase, CbbSR, with a transmitter and receiver domain, and two response regulator proteins, CbbRR1 and CbbRR2. No detectable helix-turn-helix DNA binding domain is associated with either response regulator, but an HPt domain and a second receiver domain are predicted at the C-terminal region of CbbRR1 and CbbRR2, respectively. The abundance of conserved residues predicted to participate in a His-Asp phosphorelay raised the question of their de facto involvement. In this study, the role of the multiple receiver domains was elucidated in vitro by generating site-directed mutants of the putative conserved residues. Distinct phosphorylation patterns were obtained with two truncated versions of the hybrid sensor kinase, CbbSRT189 and CbbSRR96 (CbbSR beginning at residues T189 and R96, respectively). These constructs also exhibited substantially different affinities for ATP and phosphorylation stability, which was found to be dependent on a conserved Asp residue (Asp-696) within the kinase receiver domain. Asp-696 also played an important role in defining the specificity of phosphorylation for response regulators CbbRR1 or CbbRR2, and this residue appeared to act in conjunction with residues within the region from Arg-96 to Thr-189 at the N terminus of the sensor kinase. The net effect of concerted interactions at these distinct regions of CbbSR created an internal molecular switch that appears to coordinate a unique branched phosphorelay system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alise R. Muok ◽  
Davi R. Ortega ◽  
Kurni Kurniyati ◽  
Wen Yang ◽  
Zachary A. Maschmann ◽  
...  

AbstractThe prokaryotic chemotaxis system is arguably the best-understood signaling pathway in biology. In all previously described species, chemoreceptors organize into a hexagonal (P6 symmetry) extended array. Here, we report an alternative symmetry (P2) of the chemotaxis apparatus that emerges from a strict linear organization of the histidine kinase CheA in Treponema denticola cells, which possesses arrays with the highest native curvature investigated thus far. Using cryo-ET, we reveal that Td chemoreceptor arrays assume an unusual arrangement of the supra-molecular protein assembly that has likely evolved to accommodate the high membrane curvature. The arrays have several atypical features, such as an extended dimerization domain of CheA and a variant CheW-CheR-like fusion protein that is critical for maintaining an ordered chemosensory apparatus. Furthermore, the previously characterized Td oxygen sensor ODP influences CheA ordering. These results suggest a greater diversity of the chemotaxis signaling system than previously thought.


IUCrJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 934-948
Author(s):  
Shao-Kang Chen ◽  
Hong-Hsiang Guan ◽  
Pei-Hsun Wu ◽  
Li-Ting Lin ◽  
Meng-Chun Wu ◽  
...  

In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an important opportunistic pathogen that causes numerous acute and chronic infections, the hybrid two-component system (TCS) regulates the swarming ability and biofilm formation with a multistep phosphorelay, and consists of hybrid-sensor histidine kinase (HK), histidine-containing phosphotransfer protein (Hpt) and response regulator (RR). In this work, two crystal structures of HptB and the receiver domain of HK PA1611 (PA1611REC) of P. aeruginosa have been determined in order to elucidate their interactions for the transfer of the phosphoryl group. The structure of HptB folds into an elongated four-helix bundle – helices α2, α3, α4 and α5, covered by the short N-terminal helix α1. The imidazole side chain of the conserved active-site histidine residue His57, located near the middle of helix α3, protrudes from the bundle and is exposed to solvent. The structure of PA1611REC possesses a conventional (β/α)5 topology with five-stranded parallel β-sheets folded in the central region, surrounded by five α-helices. The divalent Mg2+ ion is located in the negatively charged active-site cleft and interacts with Asp522, Asp565 and Arg567. The HptB–PA1611REC complex is further modeled to analyze the binding surface and interactions between the two proteins. The model shows a shape complementarity between the convex surface of PA1611REC and the kidney-shaped HptB with fewer residues and a different network involved in interactions compared with other TCS complexes, such as SLN1-R1/YPD1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and AHK5RD/AHP1 from Arabidopsis thaliana. These structural results provide a better understanding of the TCS in P. aeruginosa and could potentially lead to the discovery of a new treatment for infection.


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