铜绿假单胞菌铁摄取调节子Fur诱导表达突变株构建及表型分析

Construction and phenotypic study of Pseudomonas aeruginosa inducibly expressing a ferric uptake regulator

摘要:

铁摄取调节子 (Ferric uptake regulator，Fur) 是细菌控制细胞内铁平衡的一类重要的调节子。铜绿假单胞菌Pseudomonas aeruginosa的fur为必需基因，不能直接敲除。文中通过构建诱导型缺失突变株Δfur/attB::PBAD-fur，来研究该基因对铜绿假单胞菌的生长、生物被膜形成、运动能力和抗氧应激能力等方面的影响。结果表明，当Fur低表达时，铜绿假单胞菌在高铁和低铁环境中出现了生长阻滞的现象；低表达Fur的铜绿假单胞菌抵抗H2O2的能力降低，形成生物被膜的能力减弱，游动、颤动 (Twitching) 和丛集 (Swarming) 运动能力也出现了减弱的现象。Fur的表达直接影响铜绿假单胞菌荧光嗜铁素的产量。在铜绿假单胞菌体内表达来自格瑞菲斯瓦尔德磁螺菌Fur超级家族中的蛋白，可以部分恢复铜绿假单胞菌荧光嗜铁素的产量。由此说明，Fur对铜绿假单胞菌的生长、生物被膜形成、抗氧应激能力和运动能力方面都起着至关重要的作用。本研究为铜绿假单胞菌的防治提供理论指导。

Abstract:

Members of the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) protein family are bacterial transcriptional repressors that control iron uptake and storage in response to iron availability, thereby playing a crucial role in the maintenance of iron homeostasis. The fur null mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa could not be obtained because fur is an essential gene. In this study, We constructed a Fur inducibly expression strain Δfur/attB::PBAD-fur in order to study the effect of fur on the growth, biofilm formation, motilities and oxidative stress response of P. aeruginosa. The results showed that a low level of fur expression retarded the growth of P. aeruginosa at an iron-depleted condition, or under high concentration of iron, or in the presence of H2O2. Fur affected the biofilm formation and the motilities (swimming, twitching, and swarming) of strain PAO1. The production of pyoverdine is regulated by Fur. Interestingly, proteins from Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense MSR-1, which shares homology with Fur, can partially recover the pyoverdine production of strain Δfur/attB::PBAD-fur. This study provides new clues for the prevention and treatment of P. aeruginosa infections.