Pseudomonas aeruginosa glutathione biosynthesis genes play multiple roles in stress protection, bacterial virulence and biofilm formation

PLoS One. 2018 Oct 16;13(10):e0205815. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205815. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 contains gshA and gshB genes, which encode enzymes involved in glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis. Challenging P. aeruginosa with hydrogen peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide, and t-butyl hydroperoxide increased the expression of gshA and gshB. The physiological roles of these genes in P. aeruginosa oxidative stress, bacterial virulence, and biofilm formation were examined using P. aeruginosa ΔgshA, ΔgshB, and double ΔgshAΔgshB mutant strains. These mutants exhibited significantly increased susceptibility to methyl viologen, thiol-depleting agent, and methylglyoxal compared to PAO1. Expression of functional gshA, gshB or exogenous supplementation with GSH complemented these phenotypes, which indicates that the observed mutant phenotypes arose from their inability to produce GSH. Virulence assays using a Drosophila melanogaster model revealed that the ΔgshA, ΔgshB and double ΔgshAΔgshB mutants exhibited attenuated virulence phenotypes. An analysis of virulence factors, including pyocyanin, pyoverdine, and cell motility (swimming and twitching), showed that these levels were reduced in these gsh mutants compared to PAO1. In contrast, biofilm formation increased in mutants. These data indicate that the GSH product and the genes responsible for GSH synthesis play multiple crucial roles in oxidative stress protection, bacterial virulence and biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Biofilms*
  • Cell Movement
  • Drosophila melanogaster / microbiology
  • Ethylmaleimide / pharmacology
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
  • Genes, Bacterial*
  • Glutathione / biosynthesis*
  • Mutation
  • Oligopeptides / genetics
  • Oligopeptides / metabolism
  • Oxidants / chemistry
  • Paraquat / pharmacology
  • Pseudomonas Infections
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / genetics
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / metabolism*
  • Pyocyanine / genetics
  • Pyocyanine / metabolism
  • Virulence Factors / genetics
  • Virulence Factors / metabolism
  • Virulence*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Oligopeptides
  • Oxidants
  • Virulence Factors
  • pyoverdin
  • Pyocyanine
  • Glutathione
  • Ethylmaleimide
  • Paraquat

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Chulabhorn Research Institute (http://www.cri.or.th/en/index.php) and Mahidol University (https://www.mahidol.ac.th). L.W. and K.S. were supported by the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Scholarship (PHD/0132/2557 and PHD/0047/2557) from Thailand Research Fund (http://rgj.trf.or.th/eng/rgje11.asp). A.R. was supported by the grants from the Center for Emerging Bacterial Infections (EBI) and the Central Instrument Facility (CIF grant) of Faculty of Science, the Mahidol University (http://science.mahidol.ac.th) and the joint funding of the Office of the Higher Education Commission and the Thailand Research Fund (MRG5980047), Thailand (https://www.trf.or.th). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.