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Environmental potassium regulates bacterial flotation, antibiotic production and turgor pressure in Serratia through the TrkH transporter.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Article

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Abstract

Serratia sp. strain ATCC 39006 (S39006) can float in aqueous environments due to natural production of gas vesicles (GVs). Expression of genes for GV morphogenesis is stimulated in low oxygen conditions, thereby enabling migration to the air-liquid interface. Quorum sensing (via SmaI and SmaR) and transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators, including RbsR and RsmA, respectively, connect the control of cell buoyancy, motility and secondary metabolism. Here, we define a new pleiotropic regulator found in screens of GV mutants. A mutation in the gene trkH, encoding a potassium transporter, caused upregulation of GV formation, flotation, and the prodigiosin antibiotic, and downregulation of flagellar motility. Pressure nephelometry revealed that the mutation in trkH affected cell turgor pressure. Our results show that osmotic change is an important physiological parameter modulating cell buoyancy and antimicrobial production in S39006, in response to environmental potassium levels.

Description

Keywords

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Bacterial Proteins, Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial, Mutation, Potassium, Prodigiosin, Quorum Sensing, Serratia

Journal Title

Environ Microbiol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1462-2912
1462-2920

Volume Title

21

Publisher

Wiley

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/K001833/1)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/N008081/1)
Cambridge Trust International scholarship