BacA: a possible regulator that contributes to the biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Previously, we pointed out in P. aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm cells the accumulation of a hypothetical protein named PA3731 and showed that the deletion of the corresponding gene impacted its biofilm formation capacity. PA3731 belongs to a cluster of 4 genes (pa3732 to pa3729) that we named bac for "Biofilm Associated Cluster." The present study focuses on the PA14_16140 protein, i.e., the PA3732 (BacA) homolog in the PA14 strain. The role of BacA in rhamnolipid secretion, biofilm formation and virulence, was confirmed by phenotypic experiments with a bacA mutant. Additional investigations allow to advance that the bac system involves in fact 6 genes organized in operon, i.e., bacA to bacF. At a molecular level, quantitative proteomic studies revealed an accumulation of the BAC cognate partners by the bacA sessile mutant, suggesting a negative control of BacA toward the bac operon. Finally, a first crystallographic structure of BacA was obtained revealing a structure homologous to chaperones or/and regulatory proteins. Copyright © 2024 Wallart, Ben Mlouka, Saffiedine, Coquet, Le, Hardouin, Jouenne, Phan, Kiefer-Meyer, Girard, Broutin and Cosette.

Citation

Lisa Wallart, Mohamed Amine Ben Mlouka, Brahim Saffiedine, Laurent Coquet, Hung Le, Julie Hardouin, Thierry Jouenne, Gilles Phan, Marie-Christine Kiefer-Meyer, Eric Girard, Isabelle Broutin, Pascal Cosette. BacA: a possible regulator that contributes to the biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Frontiers in microbiology. 2024;15:1332448

PMID: 38505547

search → result