TY - JOUR
T1 - Involvement of Pseudomonas aeruginosa rhodanese in protection from cyanide toxicity
AU - Cipollone, Rita
AU - Frangipani, Emanuela
AU - Tiburzi, Federica
AU - Imperi, Francesco
AU - Ascenzi, Paolo
AU - Visca, Paolo
PY - 2007/1
Y1 - 2007/1
N2 - Cyanide is a serious environmental pollutant and a biocontrol metabolite in plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas species. Here we report on the presence of multiple sulfurtransferases in the cyanogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and investigate in detail RhdA, a thiosulfate:cyanide sulfurtransferase (rhodanese) which converts cyanide to less toxic thiocyanate. RhdA is a cytoplasmic enzyme acting as the principal rhodanese in P. aeruginosa. The rhdA gene forms a transcriptional unit with the PA4955 and/wrf genes and is controlled by two promoters located upstream of PA4955 and rhdA. Both promoters direct constitutive RhdA expression and show similar patterns of activity, involving moderate down-regulation at the stationary phase or in the presence of exogenous cyanide. We previously observed that RhdA overproduction protects Escherichia coli against cyanide toxicity, and here we show that physiological RhdA levels contribute to P. aeruginosa survival under cyanogenic conditions. The growth of a ΔrhdA mutant is impaired under cyanogenic conditions and fully restored upon complementation with rhdA. Wild-type P. aeruginosa outcompetes the ΔrhdA mutant in cyanogenic coculture assays. Hence, RhdA could be regarded as an effector of P. aeruginosa intrinsic resistance to cyanide, insofar as it provides the bacterium with a defense mechanism against endogenous cyanide toxicity, in addition to cyanide-resistant respiration.
AB - Cyanide is a serious environmental pollutant and a biocontrol metabolite in plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas species. Here we report on the presence of multiple sulfurtransferases in the cyanogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and investigate in detail RhdA, a thiosulfate:cyanide sulfurtransferase (rhodanese) which converts cyanide to less toxic thiocyanate. RhdA is a cytoplasmic enzyme acting as the principal rhodanese in P. aeruginosa. The rhdA gene forms a transcriptional unit with the PA4955 and/wrf genes and is controlled by two promoters located upstream of PA4955 and rhdA. Both promoters direct constitutive RhdA expression and show similar patterns of activity, involving moderate down-regulation at the stationary phase or in the presence of exogenous cyanide. We previously observed that RhdA overproduction protects Escherichia coli against cyanide toxicity, and here we show that physiological RhdA levels contribute to P. aeruginosa survival under cyanogenic conditions. The growth of a ΔrhdA mutant is impaired under cyanogenic conditions and fully restored upon complementation with rhdA. Wild-type P. aeruginosa outcompetes the ΔrhdA mutant in cyanogenic coculture assays. Hence, RhdA could be regarded as an effector of P. aeruginosa intrinsic resistance to cyanide, insofar as it provides the bacterium with a defense mechanism against endogenous cyanide toxicity, in addition to cyanide-resistant respiration.
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U2 - 10.1128/AEM.02143-06
DO - 10.1128/AEM.02143-06
M3 - Article
C2 - 17098912
AN - SCOPUS:33846415855
VL - 73
SP - 390
EP - 398
JO - Applied and Environmental Microbiology
JF - Applied and Environmental Microbiology
SN - 0099-2240
IS - 2
ER -