Regulation of uric acid and glyoxylate metabolism by UgmR protein in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract

Summary The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa has evolved several systems to adapt to complex environments. The GntR family proteins play important roles in the regulation of metabolic processes and bacterial pathogenesis. In this study, we uncovered that the gene clusters of PA1513‐PA1518 and PA1498‐PA1502 in P. aeruginosa are required for uric acid and glyoxylate metabolism respectively. We also identified a GntR family regulator UgmR that is involved in regulation of uric acid and glyoxylate metabolism. Promoter activity measurement and biochemical assays revealed that the UgmR directly represses the transcriptional activity of PA1513‐PA1518 and PA1498‐PA1502, and this inhibition was relieved by the addition of uric acid. Importantly, further experiments showed that UgmR also participates in the glyoxylate shunt. Collectively, these findings contribute to a better understanding of the UgmR factor involved in uric acid and glyoxylate metabolism, which provide insights into the complex metabolic pathways in P. aeruginosa.

A GntR family transcription factor in Porphyromonas gingivalis regulates bacterial growth, acylpeptidyl oligopeptidase, and gingipains activity

“…Most GntR members are homodimers and recognize A/T‐rich palindromic or pseudo‐palindromic DNA sequences (Hyeon et al., 2012; Li et al., 2018; Xu et al., 2022). In the present study, the deletion of pg1007 increased the expression of two gene clusters, which included its own putative operon (Figure 4b).…”