HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 279, Issue 19, 19448-19456, May 7, 2004

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 279/19/19448    most recent M311349200v1 Submit a Letter to Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhang, L. Articles by Ji, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zhang, L. Articles by Ji, G. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Membrane Anchoring of the AgrD N-terminal Amphipathic Region Is Required for Its Processing to Produce a Quorum-sensing Pheromone in Staphylococcus aureus^*

Linsheng Zhang, Jianqun Lin, and Guangyong Ji

From the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland 20814

Quorum-sensing pheromones are signal molecules that are secreted from Gram-positive bacteria and utilized by these bacteria to communicate among individual cells to regulate their activities as a group through a cell density-sensing mechanism. Typically, these pheromones are processed from precursor polypeptides. The mechanisms of trafficking, processing, and modification of the precursor to generate a mature pheromone are unclear. In Staphylococcus aureus, AgrD is the propeptide for an autoinducing peptide (AIP) pheromone that triggers the Agr cell density-sensing system upon reaching a threshold and subsequently regulates expression of virulence factor genes. The transmembrane protein AgrB, encoded in the agr locus, is necessary for the processing of AgrD to produce mature AIP; however, it is not clear how AgrD interacts with AgrB and how this interaction results in the generation of mature AIP. In this study, we found that the AgrD propeptide was integrated into the cytoplasmic membrane by a conserved -helical amphipathic motif in its N-terminal region. We demonstrated that membrane targeting of AgrD by this motif was required for the stabilization of AgrD and the production of mature AIP, although this region was not specifically involved in the interaction with AgrB. An artificial amphipathic peptide replacing the N-terminal amphipathic motif of AgrD directed the protein to the cytoplasmic membrane and enabled the production of AIP. Analysis of Bacillus ComX precursor protein sequences suggested that the amphipathic membrane-targeting motif might also exist in pheromone precursors of other Gram-positive bacteria.

Received for publication, October 15, 2003 , and in revised form, February 26, 2004.

^* This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant RO1AI46445 and by a Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences grant (to G. J.). The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd., Bethesda, MD 20814. Tel.: 301-295-9621; Fax: 301-295-1545; E-mail: gji{at}usuhs.mil.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Wuster and M. M. Babu Conservation and Evolutionary Dynamics of the agr Cell-to-Cell Communication System across Firmicutes J. Bacteriol., January 15, 2008; 190(2): 743 - 746. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. N. Shaw, I.-M. Jonsson, V. K. Singh, A. Tarkowski, and G. C. Stewart Inactivation of traP Has No Effect on the Agr Quorum-Sensing System or Virulence of Staphylococcus aureus Infect. Immun., September 1, 2007; 75(9): 4519 - 4527. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Williams, K. Winzer, W. C Chan, and M. Camara Look who's talking: communication and quorum sensing in the bacterial world Phil Trans R Soc B, July 29, 2007; 362(1483): 1119 - 1134. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Nakayama, S. Chen, N. Oyama, K. Nishiguchi, E. A. Azab, E. Tanaka, R. Kariyama, and K. Sonomoto Revised Model for Enterococcus faecalis fsr Quorum-Sensing System: the Small Open Reading Frame fsrD Encodes the Gelatinase Biosynthesis-Activating Pheromone Propeptide Corresponding to Staphylococcal AgrD J. Bacteriol., December 1, 2006; 188(23): 8321 - 8326. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. P. Scott, J. C. Martin, G. Campbell, C.-D. Mayer, and H. J. Flint Whole-Genome Transcription Profiling Reveals Genes Up-Regulated by Growth on Fucose in the Human Gut Bacterium "Roseburia inulinivorans". J. Bacteriol., June 1, 2006; 188(12): 4340 - 4349. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Qazi, B. Middleton, S. H. Muharram, A. Cockayne, P. Hill, P. O'Shea, S. R. Chhabra, M. Camara, and P. Williams N-Acylhomoserine Lactones Antagonize Virulence Gene Expression and Quorum Sensing in Staphylococcus aureus Infect. Immun., February 1, 2006; 74(2): 910 - 919. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. W. Tseng and G. C. Stewart Rot Repression of Enterotoxin B Expression in Staphylococcus aureus J. Bacteriol., August 1, 2005; 187(15): 5301 - 5309. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Ji, W. Pei, L. Zhang, R. Qiu, J. Lin, Y. Benito, G. Lina, and R. P. Novick Staphylococcus intermedius Produces a Functional agr Autoinducing Peptide Containing a Cyclic Lactone J. Bacteriol., May 1, 2005; 187(9): 3139 - 3150. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Qiu, W. Pei, L. Zhang, J. Lin, and G. Ji Identification of the Putative Staphylococcal AgrB Catalytic Residues Involving the Proteolytic Cleavage of AgrD to Generate Autoinducing Peptide J. Biol. Chem., April 29, 2005; 280(17): 16695 - 16704. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Zhang and G. Ji Identification of a Staphylococcal AgrB Segment(s) Responsible for Group-Specific Processing of AgrD by Gene Swapping J. Bacteriol., October 15, 2004; 186(20): 6706 - 6713. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]