The Yersinia pestis HmsCDE regulatory system is essential for blockage of the oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis), a classic plague vector
- Resource Type
- Academic Journal
- Authors
- Bobrov, Alexander G.; Kirillina, Olga; Vadyvaloo, Viveka; Koestler, Benjamin J.; Hinz, Angela K.; Mack, Dietrich; Waters, Christopher M.; Perry, Robert D.
- Source
- Environmental Microbiology. Apr 01, 2015 17(4):947-959
- Subject
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1462-2912
The second messenger molecule cyclic diguanylate is essential for Yersinia pestis biofilm formation that is important for blockage-dependent plague transmission from fleas to mammals. Two diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) HmsT and Y3730 (HmsD) are responsible for biofilm formation in vitro and biofilm-dependent blockage in the oriental rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis respectively. Here, we have identified a tripartite signalling system encoded by the y3729-y3731 operon that is responsible for regulation of biofilm formation in different environments. We present genetic evidence that a putative inner membrane-anchored protein with a large periplasmic domain Y3729 (HmsC) inhibits HmsD DGC activity in vitro while an outer membrane Pal-like putative lipoprotein Y3731 (HmsE) counteracts HmsC to activate HmsD in the gut of X. cheopis. We propose that HmsE is a critical element in the transduction of environmental signal(s) required for HmsD-dependent biofilm formation.