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600800.9076Photopolymerized keratin-PGLa hydrogels for antibiotic resistance reversal and enhancement of infectious wound healing. Infectious wounds have become serious challenges for both treatment and management in clinical practice, so development of new antibiotics has been considered an increasingly difficult task. Here, we report the design and synthesis of keratin 31 (K31)-peptide glycine-leucine-amide (PGLa) photopolymerized hydrogels to rescue the antibiotic activity of antibiotics for infectious wound healing promotion. K31-PGLa displayed an outstanding synergistic effect with commercial antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria by down-regulating the synthesis genes of efflux pump. Furthermore, the photopolymerized K31-PGLa/PEGDA hydrogels effectively suppressed drug-resistant bacteria growth and enhanced skin wound closure in murine. This study provided a promising alternative strategy for infectious wound treatment.202337810750
4210.8981Suppression of the rice fatty-acid desaturase gene OsSSI2 enhances resistance to blast and leaf blight diseases in rice. Fatty acids and their derivatives play important signaling roles in plant defense responses. It has been shown that suppressing a gene for stearoyl acyl carrier protein fatty-acid desaturase (SACPD) enhances the resistance of Arabidopsis (SSI2) and soybean to multiple pathogens. In this study, we present functional analyses of a rice homolog of SSI2 (OsSSI2) in disease resistance of rice plants. A transposon insertion mutation (Osssi2-Tos17) and RNAi-mediated knockdown of OsSSI2 (OsSSI2-kd) reduced the oleic acid (18:1) level and increased that of stearic acid (18:0), indicating that OsSSI2 is responsible for fatty-acid desaturase activity. These plants displayed spontaneous lesion formation in leaf blades, retarded growth, slight increase in endogenous free salicylic acid (SA) levels, and SA/benzothiadiazole (BTH)-specific inducible genes, including WRKY45, a key regulator of SA/BTH-induced resistance, in rice. Moreover, the OsSSI2-kd plants showed markedly enhanced resistance to the blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea and leaf-blight bacteria Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. These results suggest that OsSSI2 is involved in the negative regulation of defense responses in rice, as are its Arabidopsis and soybean counterparts. Microarray analyses identified 406 genes that were differentially expressed (>or=2-fold) in OsSSI2-kd rice plants compared with wild-type rice and, of these, approximately 39% were BTH responsive. Taken together, our results suggest that induction of SA-responsive genes, including WRKY45, is likely responsible for enhanced disease resistance in OsSSI2-kd rice plants.200919522564
50620.8974A kiss of death--proteasome-mediated membrane fusion and programmed cell death in plant defense against bacterial infection. Eukaryotes have evolved various means for controlled and organized cellular destruction, known as programmed cell death (PCD). In plants, PCD is a crucial regulatory mechanism in multiple physiological processes, including terminal differentiation, senescence, and disease resistance. In this issue of Genes & Development, Hatsugai and colleagues (pp. 2496-2506) demonstrate a novel plant defense strategy to trigger bacteria-induced PCD, involving proteasome-dependent tonoplast and plasma membrane fusion followed by discharge of vacuolar antimicrobial and death-inducing contents into the apoplast.200919884251
1030.8971YODA Kinase Controls a Novel Immune Pathway of Tomato Conferring Enhanced Disease Resistance to the Bacterium Pseudomonas syringae. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) play pivotal roles in transducing developmental cues and environmental signals into cellular responses through pathways initiated by MAPK kinase kinases (MAP3K). AtYODA is a MAP3K of Arabidopsis thaliana that controls stomatal development and non-canonical immune responses. Arabidopsis plants overexpressing a constitutively active YODA protein (AtCA-YDA) show broad-spectrum disease resistance and constitutive expression of defensive genes. We tested YDA function in crops immunity by heterologously overexpressing AtCA-YDA in Solanum lycopersicum. We found that these tomato AtCA-YDA plants do not show developmental phenotypes and fitness alterations, except a reduction in stomatal index, as reported in Arabidopsis AtCA-YDA plants. Notably, AtCA-YDA tomato plants show enhanced resistance to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 and constitutive upregulation of defense-associated genes, corroborating the functionality of YDA in tomato immunity. This function was further supported by generating CRISPR/Cas9-edited tomato mutants impaired in the closest orthologs of AtYDA [Solyc08g081210 (SlYDA1) and Solyc03g025360 (SlYDA2)]. Slyda1 and Slyda2 mutants are highly susceptible to P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 in comparison to wild-type plants but only Slyda2 shows altered stomatal index. These results indicate that tomato orthologs have specialized functions and support that YDA also regulates immune responses in tomato and may be a trait for breeding disease resistance.202033154763
5740.8970Functional analysis of NtMPK2 uncovers its positive role in response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 in tobacco. Mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades are highly conserved signaling modules downstream of receptors/sensors and play pivotal roles in signaling plant defense against pathogen attack. Extensive studies on Arabidopsis MPK4 have implicated that the MAP kinase is involved in multilayered plant defense pathways. In this study, we identified tobacco NtMPK2 as an ortholog of AtMPK4. Transgenic tobacco overexpressing NtMPK2 markedly enhances resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000) virulent and avirulent strains. Transcriptome analysis of NtMPK2-dependent genes shows that possibly the basal resistance system is activated by NtMPK2 overexpression. In addition to NtMPK2-mediated resistance, multiple pathways are involved in response to the avirulent bacteria based on analysis of Pst-responding genes, including SA and ET pathways. Notably, it is possible that biosynthesis of antibacterial compounds is responsible for inhibition of Pst DC3000 avirulent strain when programmed cell death processes in the host. Our results uncover that NtMPK2 positively regulate tobacco defense response to Pst DC3000 and improve our understanding of plant molecular defense mechanism.201626482478
750.8960An EDS1 heterodimer signalling surface enforces timely reprogramming of immunity genes in Arabidopsis. Plant intracellular NLR receptors recognise pathogen interference to trigger immunity but how NLRs signal is not known. Enhanced disease susceptibility1 (EDS1) heterodimers are recruited by Toll-interleukin1-receptor domain NLRs (TNLs) to transcriptionally mobilise resistance pathways. By interrogating the Arabidopsis EDS1 ɑ-helical EP-domain we identify positively charged residues lining a cavity that are essential for TNL immunity signalling, beyond heterodimer formation. Mutating a single, conserved surface arginine (R493) disables TNL immunity to an oomycete pathogen and to bacteria producing the virulence factor, coronatine. Plants expressing a weakly active EDS1(R493A) variant have delayed transcriptional reprogramming, with severe consequences for resistance and countering bacterial coronatine repression of early immunity genes. The same EP-domain surface is utilised by a non-TNL receptor RPS2 for bacterial immunity, indicating that the EDS1 EP-domain signals in resistance conferred by different NLR receptor types. These data provide a unique structural insight to early downstream signalling in NLR receptor immunity.201930770836
5060.8940OsNPR1 Enhances Rice Resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae by Upregulating Rice Defense Genes and Repressing Bacteria Virulence Genes. The bacteria pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) infects rice and causes the severe disease of rice bacteria blight. As the central regulator of the salic acid (SA) signaling pathway, NPR1 is responsible for sensing SA and inducing the expression of pathogen-related (PR) genes in plants. Overexpression of OsNPR1 significantly increases rice resistance to Xoo. Although some downstream rice genes were found to be regulated by OsNPR1, how OsNPR1 affects the interaction of rice-Xoo and alters Xoo gene expression remains unknown. In this study, we challenged the wild-type and OsNPR1-OE rice materials with Xoo and performed dual RNA-seq analyses for the rice and Xoo genomes simultaneously. In Xoo-infected OsNPR1-OE plants, rice genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis and SA signaling pathways, as well as PR genes and nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) genes, were significantly upregulated compared to rice variety TP309. On the other hand, Xoo genes involved in energy metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, biosynthesis of primary and secondary metabolism, and transportation were repressed. Many virulence genes of Xoo, including genes encoding components of type III and other secretion systems, were downregulated by OsNPR1 overexpression. Our results suggest that OsNPR1 enhances rice resistance to Xoo by bidirectionally regulating gene expression in rice and Xoo.202337240026
4970.8931Ectopic activation of the rice NLR heteropair RGA4/RGA5 confers resistance to bacterial blight and bacterial leaf streak diseases. Bacterial blight (BB) and bacterial leaf streak (BLS) are important diseases in Oryza sativa caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc), respectively. In both bacteria, transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors are major virulence determinants that act by transactivating host genes downstream of effector-binding elements (EBEs) bound in a sequence-specific manner. Resistance to Xoo is mostly related to the action of TAL effectors, either by polymorphisms that prevent the induction of susceptibility (S) genes or by executor (R) genes with EBEs embedded in their promoter, and that induce cell death and resistance. For Xoc, no resistance sources are known in rice. Here, we investigated whether the recognition of effectors by nucleotide binding and leucine-rich repeat domain immune receptors (NLRs), the most widespread resistance mechanism in plants, is also able to stop BB and BLS. In one instance, transgenic rice lines harboring the AVR1-CO39 effector gene from the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, under the control of an inducible promoter, were challenged with transgenic Xoo and Xoc strains carrying a TAL effector designed to transactivate the inducible promoter. This induced AVR1-CO39 expression and triggered BB and BLS resistance when the corresponding Pi-CO39 resistance locus was present. In a second example, the transactivation of an auto-active NLR by Xoo-delivered designer TAL effectors resulted in BB resistance, demonstrating that NLR-triggered immune responses efficiently control Xoo. This forms the foundation for future BB and BLS disease control strategies, whereupon endogenous TAL effectors will target synthetic promoter regions of Avr or NLR executor genes.201627289079
5680.8915Protein phosphatase AP2C1 negatively regulates basal resistance and defense responses to Pseudomonas syringae. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) mediate plant immune responses to pathogenic bacteria. However, less is known about the cell autonomous negative regulatory mechanism controlling basal plant immunity. We report the biological role of Arabidopsis thaliana MAPK phosphatase AP2C1 as a negative regulator of plant basal resistance and defense responses to Pseudomonas syringae. AP2C2, a closely related MAPK phosphatase, also negatively controls plant resistance. Loss of AP2C1 leads to enhanced pathogen-induced MAPK activities, increased callose deposition in response to pathogen-associated molecular patterns or to P. syringae pv. tomato (Pto) DC3000, and enhanced resistance to bacterial infection with Pto. We also reveal the impact of AP2C1 on the global transcriptional reprogramming of transcription factors during Pto infection. Importantly, ap2c1 plants show salicylic acid-independent transcriptional reprogramming of several defense genes and enhanced ethylene production in response to Pto. This study pinpoints the specificity of MAPK regulation by the different MAPK phosphatases AP2C1 and MKP1, which control the same MAPK substrates, nevertheless leading to different downstream events. We suggest that precise and specific control of defined MAPKs by MAPK phosphatases during plant challenge with pathogenic bacteria can strongly influence plant resistance.201728062592
10390.8913IL-1 receptor regulates S100A8/A9-dependent keratinocyte resistance to bacterial invasion. Previously, we reported that epithelial cells respond to exogenous interleukin (IL)-1α by increasing expression of several genes involved in the host response to microbes, including the antimicrobial protein complex calprotectin (S100A8/A9). Given that S100A8/A9 protects epithelial cells against invading bacteria, we studied whether IL-1α augments S100A8/A9-dependent resistance to bacterial invasion of oral keratinocytes. When inoculated with Listeria monocytogenes, human buccal epithelial (TR146) cells expressed and released IL-1α. Subsequently, IL-1α-containing media from Listeria-infected cells increased S100A8/A9 gene expression in naïve TR146 cells an IL-1 receptor (IL-1R)-dependent manner. Incubation with exogenous IL-1α decreased Listeria invasion into TR146 cells, whereas invasion increased with IL-1R antagonist. Conversely, when S100A8/A9 genes were knocked down using short hairpin RNA (shRNA), TR146 cells responded to exogenous IL-1α with increased intracellular bacteria. These data strongly suggest that infected epithelial cells release IL-1α to signal neighboring keratinocytes in a paracrine manner, promoting S100A8/A9-dependent resistance to invasive L. monocytogenes.201222031183
25100.8912Ectopic expression of Tsi1 in transgenic hot pepper plants enhances host resistance to viral, bacterial, and oomycete pathogens. In many plants, including hot pepper plants, productivity is greatly affected by pathogen attack. We reported previously that tobacco stress-induced gene 1 (Tsi1) may play an important role in regulating stress responsive genes and pathogenesis-related (PR) genes. In this study, we demonstrated that overexpression of Tsi1 gene in transgenic hot pepper plants induced constitutive expression of several PR genes in the absence of stress or pathogen treatment. The transgenic hot pepper plants expressing Tsi1 exhibited resistance to Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMV) and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). Furthermore, these transgenic plants showed increased resistance to a bacterial pathogen, Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria and also an oomycete pathogen, Phytophthora capsici. These results suggested that ectopic expression of Tsi1 in transgenic hot pepper plants enhanced the resistance of the plants to various pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and oomycete. These results suggest that using transcriptional regulatory protein genes may contribute to developing broad-spectrum resistance in crop plants.200212437295
588110.8905Enhanced aphid detoxification when confronted by a host with elevated ROS production. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays an important role in plant defense responses against bacteria, fungi and insect pests. Most recently, we have demonstrated that loss of Arabidopsis thaliana BOTRYTIS-INDUCED KINASE1 (BIK1) function releases its suppression of aphid-induced H2O2 production and cell death, rendering the bik1 mutant more resistant to green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) than wild-type plants. However, little is known regarding how ROS-related gene expression is correlated with bik1-mediated resistance to aphids, or whether these aphids biochemically respond to the oxidative stress. Here, we show that the bik1 mutant exhibited elevated basal expression of ROS-generating and -responsive genes, but not ROS-metabolizing genes. Conversely, we detected enhanced detoxification enzymatic activities in aphids reared on bik1 plants compared to those on wild-type plants, suggesting that aphids counter the oxidative stress associated with bik1 through elevated metabolic resistance.201525932782
45120.8904Vitis vinifera VvNPR1.1 is the functional ortholog of AtNPR1 and its overexpression in grapevine triggers constitutive activation of PR genes and enhanced resistance to powdery mildew. Studying grapevine (Vitis vinifera) innate defense mechanisms is a prerequisite to the development of new protection strategies, based on the stimulation of plant signaling pathways to trigger pathogen resistance. Two transcriptional coactivators (VvNPR1.1 and VvNPR1.2) with similarity to Arabidopsis thaliana NPR1 (Non-Expressor of PR genes 1), a well-characterized and key signaling element of the salicylic acid (SA) pathway, were recently isolated in Vitis vinifera. In this study, functional characterization of VvNPR1.1 and VvNPR1.2, including complementation of the Arabidopsis npr1 mutant, revealed that VvNPR1.1 is a functional ortholog of AtNPR1, whereas VvNPR1.2 likely has a different function. Ectopic overexpression of VvNPR1.1 in the Arabidopsis npr1-2 mutant restored plant growth at a high SA concentration, Pathogenesis Related 1 (PR1) gene expression after treatment with SA or bacterial inoculation, and resistance to virulent Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola bacteria. Moreover, stable overexpression of VvNPR1.1-GFP in V. vinifera resulted in constitutive nuclear localization of the fusion protein and enhanced PR gene expression in uninfected plants. Furthermore, grapevine plants overexpressing VvNPR1.1-GFP exhibited an enhanced resistance to powdery mildew infection. This work highlights the importance of the conserved SA/NPR1 signaling pathway for resistance to biotrophic pathogens in V. vinifera.201121505863
54130.8903Strigolactones Modulate Salicylic Acid-Mediated Disease Resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Strigolactones are low-molecular-weight phytohormones that play several roles in plants, such as regulation of shoot branching and interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and parasitic weeds. Recently, strigolactones have been shown to be involved in plant responses to abiotic and biotic stress conditions. Herein, we analyzed the effects of strigolactones on systemic acquired resistance induced through salicylic acid-mediated signaling. We observed that the systemic acquired resistance inducer enhanced disease resistance in strigolactone-signaling and biosynthesis-deficient mutants. However, the amount of endogenous salicylic acid and the expression levels of salicylic acid-responsive genes were lower in strigolactone signaling-deficient max2 mutants than in wildtype plants. In both the wildtype and strigolactone biosynthesis-deficient mutants, the strigolactone analog GR24 enhanced disease resistance, whereas treatment with a strigolactone biosynthesis inhibitor suppressed disease resistance in the wildtype. Before inoculation of wildtype plants with pathogenic bacteria, treatment with GR24 did not induce defense-related genes; however, salicylic acid-responsive defense genes were rapidly induced after pathogenic infection. These findings suggest that strigolactones have a priming effect on Arabidopsis thaliana by inducing salicylic acid-mediated disease resistance.202235563637
88140.8903Constitutive expression of mammalian nitric oxide synthase in tobacco plants triggers disease resistance to pathogens. Nitric oxide (NO) is known for its role in the activation of plant defense responses. To examine the involvement and mode of action of NO in plant defense responses, we introduced calmodulin-dependent mammalian neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), which controls the CaMV35S promoter, into wild-type and NahG tobacco plants. Constitutive expression of nNOS led to NO production and triggered spontaneous induction of leaf lesions. Transgenic plants accumulated high amounts of H(2)O(2), with catalase activity lower than that in the wild type. nNOS transgenic plants contained high levels of salicylic acid (SA), and they induced an array of SA-, jasmonic acid (JA)-, and/or ethylene (ET)-related genes. Consequently, NahG co-expression blocked the induction of systemic acquired resistance (SAR)-associated genes in transgenic plants, implying SA is involved in NO-mediated induction of SAR genes. The transgenic plants exhibited enhanced resistance to a spectrum of pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Our results suggest a highly ranked regulatory role for NO in SA-, JA-, and/or ET-dependent pathways that lead to disease resistance.201223124383
99150.8902Designer TAL effectors induce disease susceptibility and resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae in rice. TAL (transcription activator-like) effectors from Xanthomonas bacteria activate the cognate host genes, leading to disease susceptibility or resistance dependent on the genetic context of host target genes. The modular nature and DNA recognition code of TAL effectors enable custom-engineering of designer TAL effectors (dTALE) for gene activation. However, the feasibility of dTALEs as transcription activators for gene functional analysis has not been demonstrated. Here, we report the use of dTALEs, as expressed and delivered by the pathogenic Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), in revealing the new function of two previously identified disease-related genes and the potential of one developmental gene for disease susceptibility in rice/Xoo interactions. The dTALE gene dTALE-xa27, designed to target the susceptible allele of the resistance gene Xa27, elicited a resistant reaction in the otherwise susceptible rice cultivar IR24. Four dTALE genes were made to induce the four annotated Xa27 homologous genes in rice cultivar Nipponbare, but none of the four induced Xa27-like genes conferred resistance to the dTALE-containing Xoo strains. A dTALE gene was also generated to activate the recessive resistance gene xa13, an allele of the disease-susceptibility gene Os8N3 (also named Xa13 or OsSWEET11, a member of sucrose efflux transporter SWEET gene family). The induction of xa13 by the dTALE rendered the resistant rice IRBB13 (xa13/xa13) susceptible to Xoo. Finally, OsSWEET12, an as-yet uncharacterized SWEET gene with no corresponding naturally occurring TAL effector identified, conferred susceptibility to the Xoo strains expressing the corresponding dTALE genes. Our results demonstrate that dTALEs can be delivered through the bacterial secretion system to activate genes of interest for functional analysis in plants.201323430045
608160.8894Entamoeba histolytica Adaption to Auranofin: A Phenotypic and Multi-Omics Characterization. Auranofin (AF), an antirheumatic agent, targets mammalian thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an important enzyme controlling redox homeostasis. AF is also highly effective against a diversity of pathogenic bacteria and protozoan parasites. Here, we report on the resistance of the parasite Entamoeba histolytica to 2 µM of AF that was acquired by gradual exposure of the parasite to an increasing amount of the drug. AF-adapted E. histolytica trophozoites (AFAT) have impaired growth and cytopathic activity, and are more sensitive to oxidative stress (OS), nitrosative stress (NS), and metronidazole (MNZ) than wild type (WT) trophozoites. Integrated transcriptomics and redoxomics analyses showed that many upregulated genes in AFAT, including genes encoding for dehydrogenase and cytoskeletal proteins, have their product oxidized in wild type trophozoites exposed to AF (acute AF trophozoites) but not in AFAT. We also showed that the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidized proteins (OXs) in AFAT is lower than that in acute AF trophozoites. Overexpression of E. histolytica TrxR (EhTrxR) did not protect the parasite against AF, which suggests that EhTrxR is not central to the mechanism of adaptation to AF.202134439488
5170.8894GmRAR1 and GmSGT1 are required for basal, R gene-mediated and systemic acquired resistance in soybean. RAR1, SGT1, and HSP90 are important components of effector-triggered immunity (ETI) in diverse plants, where RAR1 and SGT1 are thought to serve as HSP90 co-chaperones. We show that ETI in soybean requires RAR1 and SGT1 but not HSP90. Rsv1-mediated extreme resistance to Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) and Rpg-1b-mediated resistance to Pseudomonas syringae were compromised in plants silenced for GmRAR1 and GmSGT1-2 but not GmHSP90. This suggests that RAR1- or SGT1-dependant signaling is not always associated with a dependence on HSP90. Unlike in Arabidopsis, SGT1 in soybean also mediates ETI against the bacterial pathogen P. syringae. Similar to Arabidopsis, soybean RAR1 and SGT1 proteins interact with each other and two related HSP90 proteins. Plants silenced for GmHSP90 genes or GmRAR1 exhibited altered morphology, suggesting that these proteins also contribute to developmental processes. Silencing GmRAR1 and GmSGT1-2 impaired resistance to virulent bacteria and systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in soybean as well. Because the Arabidopsis rar1 mutant also showed a defect in SAR, we conclude that RAR1 and SGT1 serve as a point of convergence for basal resistance, ETI, and SAR. We demonstrate that, although soybean defense signaling pathways recruit structurally conserved components, they have distinct requirements for specific proteins.200919061405
541180.8892A Teleost Bactericidal Permeability-Increasing Protein Kills Gram-Negative Bacteria, Modulates Innate Immune Response, and Enhances Resistance against Bacterial and Viral Infection. Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) is an important factor of innate immunity that in mammals is known to take part in the clearance of invading Gram-negative bacteria. In teleost, the function of BPI is unknown. In the present work, we studied the function of tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) BPI, CsBPI. We found that CsBPI was produced extracellularly by peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL). Recombinant CsBPI (rCsBPI) was able to bind to a number of Gram-negative bacteria but not Gram-positive bacteria. Binding to bacteria led to bacterial death through membrane permeabilization and structural destruction, and the bound bacteria were more readily taken up by PBL. In vivo, rCsBPI augmented the expression of a wide arrange of genes involved in antibacterial and antiviral immunity. Furthermore, rCsBPI enhanced the resistance of tongue sole against bacterial as well as viral infection. These results indicate for the first time that a teleost BPI possesses immunoregulatory effect and plays a significant role in antibacterial and antiviral defense.201627105425
607190.8891A novel copper-sensing two-component system for inducing Dsb gene expression in bacteria. In nature, bacteria must sense copper and tightly regulate gene expression to evade copper toxicity. Here, we identify a new copper-responsive two-component system named DsbRS in the important human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa; in this system, DsbS is a sensor histidine kinase, and DsbR, its cognate response regulator, directly induces the transcription of genes involved in protein disulfide bond formation (Dsb) (i.e., the dsbDEG operon and dsbB). In the absence of copper, DsbS acts as a phosphatase toward DsbR, thus blocking the transcription of Dsb genes. In the presence of copper, the metal ion directly binds to the sensor domain of DsbS, and the Cys82 residue plays a critical role in this process. The copper-binding behavior appears to inhibit the phosphatase activity of DsbS, leading to the activation of DsbR. The copper resistance of the dsbRS knock-out mutant is restored by the ectopic expression of the dsbDEG operon, which is a DsbRS major target. Strikingly, cognates of the dsbRS-dsbDEG pair are widely distributed across eubacteria. In addition, a DsbR-binding site, which contains the consensus sequence 5'-TTA-N(8)-TTAA-3', is detected in the promoter region of dsbDEG homologs in these species. These findings suggest that the regulation of Dsb genes by DsbRS represents a novel mechanism by which bacterial cells cope with copper stress.202236546013