HexA is a versatile regulator involved in the control of phenotypic heterogeneity of Photorhabdus luminescens

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dc.contributor.authorLanger, Angela
dc.contributor.authorMoldovan, Adriana
dc.contributor.authorHarmath, Christian
dc.contributor.authorJoyce, Susan A.
dc.contributor.authorClarke, David J.
dc.contributor.authorHeermann, Ralf
dc.contributor.funderDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaften
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-11T11:42:46Z
dc.date.available2017-05-11T11:42:46Z
dc.date.issued2017-04-27
dc.date.updated2017-05-11T11:34:22Z
dc.description.abstractPhenotypic heterogeneity in microbial communities enables genetically identical organisms to behave differently even under the same environmental conditions. Photorhabdus luminescens, a bioluminescent Gram-negative bacterium, contains a complex life cycle, which involves a symbiotic interaction with nematodes as well as a pathogenic association with insect larvae. P. luminescens exists in two distinct phenotypic cell types, designated as the primary (1°) and secondary (2°) cells. The 1° cells are bioluminescent, pigmented and can support nematode growth and development. Individual 1° cells undergo phenotypic switching after prolonged cultivation and convert to 2° cells, which lack the 1° specific phenotypes. The LysR-type regulator HexA has been described as major regulator of this switching process. Here we show that HexA controls phenotypic heterogeneity in a versatile way, directly and indirectly. Expression of hexA is enhanced in 2° cells, and the corresponding regulator inhibits 1° specific traits in 2° cells. HexA does not directly affect bioluminescence, a predominant 1° specific phenotype. Since the respective luxCDABE operon is repressed at the post-transcriptional level and transcriptional levels of the RNA chaperone gene hfq are also enhanced in 2° cells, small regulatory RNAs are presumably involved that are under control of HexA. Another phenotypic trait that is specific for 1° cells is quorum sensing mediated cell clumping. The corresponding pcfABCDEF operon could be identified as the first direct target of HexA, since the regulator binds to the pcfA promoter region and thereby blocks expression of the target operon. In summary, our data show that HexA fulfills the task as repressor of 1° specific features in 2° cells in a versatile way and gives first insights into the complexity of regulating phenotypic heterogeneity in Photorhabdus bacteria.en
dc.description.sponsorshipDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SPP1617, HE-5247/5-1)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleide0176535
dc.identifier.citationLanger, A., Moldovan, A., Harmath, C., Joyce, S. A., Clarke, D. J. and Heermann, R. (2017) ‘HexA is a versatile regulator involved in the control of phenotypic heterogeneity of Photorhabdus luminescens’, PLoS ONE 12(4), e0176535 (23pp). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176535en
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0176535
dc.identifier.endpage23en
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.issued4en
dc.identifier.journaltitlePlos ONEen
dc.identifier.startpage1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/3945
dc.identifier.volume12en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen
dc.rights© 2017 Langer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectPhenotypeen
dc.subjectBioluminescenceen
dc.subjectRegulatoren
dc.subjectOperonen
dc.subjectRepressoren
dc.subjectPhenotypic heterogeneityen
dc.titleHexA is a versatile regulator involved in the control of phenotypic heterogeneity of Photorhabdus luminescensen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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