Orphan and hybrid two-component system proteins in health and disease

Curr Opin Microbiol. 2010 Apr;13(2):226-31. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2009.12.010. Epub 2010 Jan 19.

Abstract

Bacterial interaction with eukaryotic hosts is often mediated by classical two-component systems, where a sensor kinase controls the phosphorylated state of a cognate response regulator directly, as well as by atypical two-component systems. In the gut symbiont Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, the sensor kinase and response regulator domains are fused into a single polypeptide, resulting in a membrane-bound regulator usually directing expression of enzymes that degrade certain sugars, making them digestible for humans. In the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a sensor kinase alters disease expression programs by binding to and altering the enzymatic properties of a different sensor. Soil-dwelling Streptomyces species rely on response regulators lacking conserved residues to govern expression of antibiotic biosynthetic enzymes in a phosphorylation-independent manner.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / metabolism
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Bacteroides / enzymology
  • Bacteroides / genetics
  • Bacteroides / growth & development*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial*
  • Humans
  • Intestines / microbiology
  • Protein Kinases / genetics
  • Protein Kinases / metabolism
  • Pseudomonas Infections / microbiology
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / genetics
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / metabolism
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / pathogenicity*
  • Signal Transduction*
  • Streptomyces / genetics
  • Streptomyces / metabolism*
  • Symbiosis

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Protein Kinases