Characterization of an Extracytoplasmic Chaperone Spy in Protecting Salmonella against Reactive Oxygen/Nitrogen Species

ABSTRACT

Antimicrobial actions of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) derived from products of NADPH oxidase and inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase in host phagocytes inactivate various bacterial macromolecules. To cope with these cytotoxic radicals, pathogenic bacteria have evolved to conserve systems necessary for detoxifying ROS/RNS and repairing damages caused by their actions. In response to these stresses, bacteria also induce expression of molecular chaperones to aid in ameliorating protein misfolding. In this study, we explored the function of a newly identified chaperone Spy, that is localized exclusively in the periplasm when bacteria exposed to conditions causing spheroplast formation, in the resistance of Salmonella Typhimurium to ROS/RNS. A spy deletion mutant was constructed in S. Typhimurium by a PCR-mediated method of one-step gene inactivation with lambda Red recombinase, and subjected to ROS/RNS stresses. The spy mutant Salmonella showed a modest decrease in growth rate in NO-producing cultures, and no detectable difference of growth rate in H2O2 containing cultures, compared with that of wild type Salmonella. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that spy mRNA levels were similar regardless of both stresses, but were increased considerably in Salmonella mutants lacking the flavohemoglobin Hmp, which are incapable of NO detoxification, and lacking an alternative sigma factor RpoS, conferring hypersusceptibility to H2O2. Results demonstrate that Spy expression can be induced under extreme conditions of both stresses, and suggest that the protein may have supportive roles in maintaining proteostasis in the periplasm where various chaperones may act in concert with Spy, thereby protecting bacteria against toxicities of ROS/RNS.