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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 2008, p. 4478-4482, Vol. 52, No. 12
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.01072-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
MexCD-OprJ Multidrug Efflux System of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Involvement in Chlorhexidine Resistance and Induction by Membrane-Damaging Agents Dependent upon the AlgU Stress Response Sigma Factor
Sebastien Fraud,
Aaron J. Campigotto,
Zhilin Chen, and
Keith Poole*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6
Received 8 August 2008/
Returned for modification 7 September 2008/
Accepted 27 September 2008

ABSTRACT
The biocide chlorhexidine (CHX) as well as additional membrane-active
agents were shown to induce expression of the
mexCD-oprJ multidrug
efflux operon, dependent upon the AlgU stress response sigma
factor. Hyperexpression of this efflux system in
nfxB mutants
was also substantially AlgU dependent. CHX resistance correlated
with efflux gene expression in various mutants, consistent with
MexCD-OprJ being a determinant of CHX resistance.

TEXT
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen characterized
by an innate resistance to multiple antimicrobials (
13), resistance
increasingly attributable to the operation of broadly specific,
tripartite multidrug efflux systems of the resistance-nodulation-division
(RND) family (
35,
36). One of these, MexCD-OprJ, was originally
identified as a determinant of fluoroquinolone resistance (
17)
but is known to accommodate a variety of clinically relevant
antimicrobials (
35,
36) as well as biocides (
5), dyes, detergents,
and organic solvents (
27,
45,
46). MexCD-OprJ is typically quiescent
in wild-type cells (
20,
46), with expression following mutation
of the
nfxB gene (
16,
22,
23,
50) that is divergently transcribed
from the
mexCD-oprJ operon and encodes a repressor of
mexCD-oprJ expression (
37). Little is known about the signal(s) to which
this regulator responds in naturally promoting efflux gene expression,
although
mexCD-oprJ is inducible by the biocides benzalkonium
chloride and chlorhexidine (CHX) (
33). These biocides are known
to interact with and disrupt bacterial membranes (
8), with the
possibility that
mexCD-oprJ expression is a response to membrane
damage/envelope stress. Envelope stress responses (ESRs) are
well documented in bacteria (
40,
41), with the extracytoplasmic
sigma factor RpoE being a key regulator of ESRs in
Escherichia coli and other gram-negative bacteria (
1,
40,
41). The RpoE
homologue in
P. aeruginosa is AlgU, first identified as a regulator
of alginate production in mucoid isolates recovered from the
lungs of cystic fibrosis patients (
15,
28) and shown to be functionally
interchangeable with RpoE (
51). This study was undertaken to
assess the contribution of MexCD-OprJ to biocide resistance
in
P. aeruginosa and its possible regulation as part of an ESR.
Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study are listed in Table 1. Bacteria were cultivated at 37°C in Luria broth (LB) (34) supplemented with antibiotics to maintain plasmids as needed (for pEX18Tc and derivatives, tetracycline was used [10 µg/ml for E. coli and 50 to 100 µg/ml for P. aeruginosa]; for pMMB206 and derivatives, chloramphenicol was used [10 µg/ml for E. coli and 150 µg/ml for P. aeruginosa]; for pK18MobSacB and derivatives, kanamycin was used [50 µg/ml for E. coli and 750 to 1,500 µg/ml for P. aeruginosa as indicated]; for miniCTX-lacZ and derivatives, tetracycline was used [10 µg/ml for E. coli and 25 µg/ml for P. aeruginosa]; and for pUC19 and derivatives, ampicillin was used [100 µg/ml for E. coli]). AlgU-encoding plasmid pSF02 was constructed by amplifying the algU gene from the chromosome (isolated as described previously [3]) of P. aeruginosa K767 via PCR using Vent DNA polymerase (NEB) and cloning it into pMMB206 (primers and parameters available upon request). To construct the algU strains of P. aeruginosa, an in-frame deletion of the gene was first engineered in the gene replacement vector pK18MobSacB following amplification and cloning ca. 1-kb portions upstream and downstream of the algU sequences being deleted (primers and parameters available upon request). The resultant vector, pSF01, was mobilized into P. aeruginosa (46), and transconjugants were selected on LB agar containing kanamycin (1,500 µg/ml) and imipenem (0.5 µg/ml). Those harboring a chromosomal deletion of algU were subsequently recovered on sucrose plates (46) and screened for the loss of algU using colony PCR (39). The
mexB-
mexXY mutant strain K1542 was constructed by introducing the mexXY deletion of plasmid pCSV05 into
mexB strain K1523 as described previously (7). A
mexCD-oprJ derivative of P. aeruginosa K1542 was constructed using plasmid pRSP05 as described previously (46), with initial selection of the vector in strain K1542 made on kanamycin (1,000 µg/ml) and imipenem (0.5 µg/ml). Putative
mexCD-oprJ mutants were recovered from sucrose plates and screened for the loss of mexCD-oprJ using colony PCR (39). A chromosomal mexC-lacZ transcriptional fusion was generated using a previously described procedure (19). A 700-bp region containing the mexCD-oprJ promoter region (PmexCD-oprJ) was PCR amplified from the chromosome of P. aeruginosa K767 and cloned upstream of the promoterless lacZ gene in plasmid miniCTX-lacZ. The resultant vector, pAJC03, was mobilized (46) into P. aeruginosa strains K1542 and K2897 (K1542
algU), and transconjugants carrying chromosomal copies of pAJC03 were selected on tetracycline (25 µg/ml) and imipenem (0.5 µg/ml). The miniCTX plasmid backbone was excised using the pFLP-encoded Flp recombinase as described previously (19), leaving the PmexCD-oprJ -lacZ fusion behind. Control derivatives of K1542 and K2897 harboring a promoterless lacZ gene in the chromosome were generated as described above with promoter-free miniCTX-lacZ. β-Galactosidase assays were performed as described previously (31) on cells cultured overnight in LB, diluted 1:49 in fresh LB, and cultured for a further 2 h prior to a 2-h exposure to various membrane-damaging agents (MDAs). P. aeruginosa strains with reduced susceptibility to CHX were isolated, following serial passage in LB containing increasing concentrations (1 to 50 µg/ml) of the biocide (1-µg/ml increments up to 20 µg/ml; 2-µg/ml increments from 20 to 50 µg/ml). Bacteria were incubated for 24 h at 37°C at a given CHX concentration before being harvested by centrifugation, washed twice in 5 ml phosphate-buffered saline (34), and used to inoculate LB cultures (1/100 dilution) containing the next-highest CHX concentration. Individual colonies were recovered from the cultures with the highest concentrations of CHX permitting growth by streaking onto L agar, and stable CHX-resistant mutants were recovered following passage (10 times) in biocide-free LB. Susceptibility testing (34) and reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) using RNA isolated from log-phase cells (44) after a 2.5-h exposure to various MDAs was carried out as described above (primers and parameters available upon request). rpsL was used as an internal control in RT-PCR to ensure equal loading of RNA in all lanes.
CHX-induced mexCD-oprJ expression is AlgU dependent.
Treatment of wild-type
P. aeruginosa with the cationic biocides
CHX and benzalkonium chloride has been shown to induce
mexCD-oprJ expression (
33), a result confirmed here for CHX (Fig.
1, lane
2, cf. lane 1). Additional cationic biocides, including alexidine,
poly(hexamethylenebiguanide)hydrochloride (PHMB; Vantocil),
and cetrimide were tested and also shown to induce
mexCD-oprJ expression (Fig.
1, lanes 3 to 5). These agents interact with
and disrupt bacterial membranes (
8), suggesting that
mexCD-oprJ induction may be a response to membrane damage and not to the
agents themselves. In
E. coli, membrane disruption with chemical
agents (
40,
47) or mutation (
47) stimulates expression of genes
controlled by the RpoE envelope stress sigma factor. AlgU is
the
P. aeruginosa homologue of RpoE, and so the involvement
of AlgU in CHX-promoted
mexCD-oprJ expression was assessed by
measuring the impact of an
algU knockout. As shown in Fig.
2A,
elimination of
algU obviated CHX-promoted
mexCD-oprJ expression
in the wild-type strain K767 (compare lanes 3 and 4), and this
was reversed by the cloned
algU gene (compare lanes 6 and 7),
indicating that AlgU mediates CHX-induced
mexCD-oprJ expression.
mexCD-oprJ hyperexpression in an
nfxB mutant (Fig.
3, lane 3,
cf. lane 1) was also compromised in the absence of
algU (Fig.
3, lane 4, cf. lane 3) and restored with the cloned
algU gene
(Fig.
3, lane 8, cf. lane 7), consistent with AlgU also being
involved in mutational
mexCD-oprJ expression.
Additional membrane-active agents induce mexCD-oprJ.
If membrane damage is a signal for
mexCD-oprJ induction, additional
MDAs should promote expression of this efflux operon. To assess
this,
P. aeruginosa was treated with sub-MIC levels of several
agents known to target and disrupt the cytoplasmic and/or outer
membranes of this organism, including solvents (ethanol [
10,
21,
42], hexane, and xylene [
38,
42,
48]), a detergent (sodium
dodecyl sulfate [SDS]) (
14,
42,
49), EDTA (
12,
30), and several
cationic antimicrobials (polymyxin B, melittin, and antimicrobial
peptides V8 and V681 [
9,
11,
24,
52]). A strain lacking the
MexAB-OprM and MexXY-OprM efflux systems, K1542, was used in
these studies to avoid possible problems with the export of
MDAs by these efflux systems, compromising their membrane-damaging
activities (solvents and SDS are, for example, known efflux
substrates [
27,
45]). Initially, CHX inducibility of
mexCD-oprJ was assessed in this strain and, as in strain K767, it was seen
to be AlgU dependent (Fig.
2B). Using a chromosomal P
mexCD-oprJ-
lacZ reporter to assess the impact of MDAs on
mexCD-oprJ expression
subsequently revealed that efflux gene expression was induced
by all MDAs tested, though CHX was the most effective inducer
(Fig.
4). Although the effects seen were modest (ca. 1.5- to
3-fold), the increased
mexCD-oprJ expression revealed by the
reporter fusion correlated with increased resistance of MDA-treated
K1542 (but not its
mexCD-oprJ derivative K2896) to MexCD-OprJ
substrate antimicrobials (a 2- to 4-fold increase in norfloxacin
MICs and a 4- to 16-fold increase in erythromycin MICs [data
not shown]). As with CHX-treated K767, the loss of
algU compromised
MDA induction of
mexCD-oprJ in K1542 (Fig.
4) as well as MDA-promoted
antibiotic resistance (data not shown). These data are consistent
with AlgU and MexCD-OprJ playing a role in the ESR of
P. aeruginosa,
possibly orchestrating membrane changes necessary for adaptation
to MDAs.
Salmonella enterica RpoE, like AlgU, is also linked to membrane
damage and resistance to MDAs, as the sigma factor is inducible
by cationic antimicrobial peptides and is required for antimicrobial
peptide resistance (
6). Similarly, carbon source starvation,
which apparently causes membrane stress that induces
rpoE in
this organism, also promotes resistance to polymyxin B that
is RpoE dependent (
25).
MexCD-OprJ and CHX resistance.
Despite the earlier report of CHX induction of mexCD-oprJ, a possible contribution of this efflux system to CHX resistance was not examined (33). Compared to their MexCD-OprJ+ parents K1542 and K767, mutants lacking mexCD-oprJ (K2896 and K1521) were more susceptible to this biocide, while an nfxB mutant hyperexpressing this efflux system, K1536, was more resistant than its parent, K767 (Table 2), consistent with MexCD-OprJ contributing to CHX resistance. Consistent with AlgU's role in the hyperexpression of mexCD-oprJ in an nfxB mutant, the loss of algU in this mutant markedly enhanced CHX susceptibility (Table 2; compare K1536 and K2895). Similarly,
algU strains K2897 and K2443 were also more susceptible to CHX than their parents K1542 and K767, consistent with AlgU contributing to CHX-promoted mexCD-oprJ expression. In all instances, the increased CHX susceptibility of
algU strains was reversed by the cloned algU gene (Table 2). Interestingly,
algU derivatives K2897 and K2443 were more susceptible to CHX than the
mexCD-oprJ derivatives (K2896 and K1521), and a double mutant lacking both loci (K2898) was more susceptible still (Table 2). These data are consistent with an additional AlgU-regulated gene(s) contributing to CHX resistance. Still, MexCD-OprJ appears to be the most important AlgU-regulated determinant of CHX resistance and, indeed, highly CHX-resistant mutants selected following serial passage of P. aeruginosa in CHX-containing media were recoverable only from a MexCD-OprJ+ strain (Table 2). The presence or absence of mexCD-oprJ or algU did not impact susceptibility to any of the other MDAs examined in this study (data not shown), consistent with the more modest influence of these agents on mexCD-oprJ expression or their being, possibly, poor substrates for this efflux system.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Bob Hancock for the
mexD::mini-Tn
5-
luxCDABE mutant
and the antimicrobial peptides V8 and V681. Ramakrishnan Srikumar
is thanked for his construction of the
P. aeruginosa strain
K1542.
This work was supported by an operating grant from the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. A.J.C. is an Ontario Graduate Scholar.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6l. Phone: (613) 533-6677. Fax: (613) 533-6796. E-mail:
poolek{at}queensu.ca 
Published ahead of print on 6 October 2008. 
Both authors contributed equally to this work. 

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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 2008, p. 4478-4482, Vol. 52, No. 12
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.01072-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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