The HigB/HigA Toxin/Antitoxin System of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Influences the Virulence Factors Pyochelin, Pyocyanin, and Biofilm Formation

Abstract

Toxin/antitoxin (TA) systems are prevalent in most bacterial and archaeal genomes, and one of the emerging physiological roles of TA systems is to help regulate pathogenicity. Although TA systems have been studied in several model organisms, few studies have investigated the role of TA systems in pseudomonads. Here, we demonstrate that the previously uncharacterized proteins HigB (unannotated) and HigA (PA4674) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 form a type II TA system in which antitoxin HigA masks the RNase activity of toxin HigB through direct binding. Furthermore, toxin HigB reduces production of the virulence factors pyochelin, pyocyanin, swarming, and biofilm formation; hence, this system affects the pathogencity of this strain in a manner that has not been demonstrated previously for TA systems.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 24, 2016
Accession Number
AD1010887

Entities

People

  • Thammajun L. Wood
  • Thomas K. Wood

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amino Acids
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacteria
  • Bacterial Infections
  • Biological Toxins
  • Cell Physiological Processes
  • Chemistry
  • Gene Expression
  • Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections
  • Infection
  • Microbiology
  • Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
  • Pathogenic Bacteria
  • Pseudomonas Infections
  • Rodents
  • Small Molecules
  • Wound Infections

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Computer science

Readers

  • Microbial Pathology

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology