Regulation of pelD and pelE, encoding major alkaline pectate lyases in Erwinia chrysanthemi: involvement of the main transcriptional factors.

The main virulence factors of the phytopathogenic bacterium Erwinia chrysanthemi are pectinases which attack pectin, the major constituent of the plant cell wall. Of these enzymes, the alkaline isoenzyme named PelD in strain 3937 and PelE in strain EC16 has been described as being particularly important, based on virulence studies of plants. Expression of the pelD and pelE genes is tightly modulated by various regulators, including the KdgR repressor and the cyclic AMP-cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP) activator complex. The use of a lacZ reporter gene allowed us to quantify the repression of E. chrysanthemi 3937 pelD expression exerted by PecS, another repressor of pectinase synthesis. In vitro DNA-protein interaction experiments, centered on the pelD and pelE wild-type or pelE mutated promoter regions, allowed us to define precisely the sequences involved in the binding of these three regulators and of RNA polymerase (RNAP). These studies revealed an unusual binding of the KdgR repressor and suggested the presence of a UP (upstream) element in the pelD and pelE genes. Investigation of the simultaneous binding of CRP, KdgR, PecS, and the RNAP to the regulatory region of the pelD and pelE genes showed that (i) CRP and RNAP bind cooperatively, (ii) PecS partially inhibits binding of the CRP activator and of the CRP-RNAP complex, and (iii) KdgR stabilizes the binding of PecS and prevents transcriptional initiation by RNAP. Taken together, our data suggest that PecS attenuates pelD and pelE expression rather than acting as a true repressor like KdgR. Overall, control of the pelD and pelE genes of E. chrysanthemi appears to be both complex and novel.