Individual Nudix hydrolases affect diverse features of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Nudix proteins catalyze the hydrolysis of pyrophosphate bonds in a variety of substrates and are ubiquitous in all domains of life. The genome of an important opportunistic human pathogen,Pseudomonas aeruginosa, encodes multiple Nudix proteins. Most of them are important for different cellular activities. AbstractNudix proteins catalyze the hydrolysis of pyrophosphate bonds in a variety of substrates and are ubiquitous in all domains of life. The genome of an important opportunistic human pathogen,Pseudomonas aeruginosa, encodes multiple Nudix proteins. To determine the role of nine Nudix hydrolases of theP.  aeruginosa PAO1161 strain in its fitness, virulence or antibiotic resistance mutants devoid of individual enzymes were constructed and analyzed for growth rate, motility, biofilm formation, pyocyanin production, and susceptibility to oxidative stress and different antibiotics. The potential effect on bacterial virulence was studied using the Caenorhabditis elegans–P.  aeruginosa infection model. Of the nine mutants tested, five had an altered phenotype in comparison with the wild ‐type strain. TheΔPA3470, ΔPA3754, andΔPA4400 mutants showed increased pyocyanin production, were more resistant to the β‐lactam antibiotic piperacillin, and were more sensitive to killing by H2O2. In addition,ΔPA4400 and ΔPA5176 had impaired swarming motility and were less virulent forC.  elegans. TheΔPA4841 had an increased sensitivity to oxidative stress. These changes were re...

Source: MicrobiologyOpen - May 16, 2020 Category: Microbiology Authors: Joanna Drabinska, Mateusz Ziecina, Marta Modzelan, Grazyna Jagura ‐Burdzy, Elzbieta Kraszewska Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research