This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Householder, T. C.
Right arrow Articles by Clark, V. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Householder, T. C.
Right arrow Articles by Clark, V. L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, September 2000, p. 5241-5246, Vol. 68, No. 9
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Gonococcal Nitric Oxide Reductase Is Encoded by a Single Gene, norB, Which Is Required for Anaerobic Growth and Is Induced by Nitric Oxide

Tracey C. Householder, Elizabeth M. Fozo, Jean A. Cardinale,dagger and Virginia L. Clark*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14642

Received 16 March 2000/Returned for modification 10 May 2000/Accepted 13 June 2000

The gene encoding a nitric oxide reductase has been identified in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The norB gene product shares significant identity with the nitric oxide reductases in Ralstonia eutropha and Synechocystis sp. and, like those organisms, the gonococcus lacks a norC homolog. The gonococcal norB gene was found to be required for anaerobic growth, but the absence of norB did not dramatically decrease anaerobic survival. In a wild-type background, induction of norB expression was seen anaerobically in the presence of nitrite but not anaerobically without nitrite or aerobically. norB expression is not regulated by FNR or NarP, but a functional aniA gene (which encodes an anaerobically induced outer membrane nitrite reductase) is necessary for expression. When aniA is constitutively expressed, norB expression can be induced both anaerobically and aerobically, but only in the presence of nitrite, suggesting that nitric oxide, which is likely to be produced by AniA as a product of nitrite reduction, is the inducing agent. This was confirmed with the use of the nitric oxide donor, spermine-nitric oxide complex, in an aniA null background both anaerobically and aerobically. NorB is important for gonococcal adaptation to an anaerobic environment, a physiologically relevant state during gonococcal infection. The presence of this enzyme, which is induced by nitric oxide, may also have implications in immune evasion and immunomodulation in the human host.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14642. Phone: (716) 275-3154. Fax: (716) 473-9573. E-mail: Ginny_Clark{at}urmc.rochester.edu.

dagger Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201.

Infection and Immunity, September 2000, p. 5241-5246, Vol. 68, No. 9
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Falsetta, M. L., Bair, T. B., Ku, S. C., vanden Hoven, R. N., Steichen, C. T., McEwan, A. G., Jennings, M. P., Apicella, M. A. (2009). Transcriptional Profiling Identifies the Metabolic Phenotype of Gonococcal Biofilms. Infect. Immun. 77: 3522-3532 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Barth, K. R., Isabella, V. M., Wright, L. F., Clark, V. L. (2009). Resistance to peroxynitrite in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Microbiology 155: 2532-2545 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, W., Richardson, A. R., Martens-Habbena, W., Stahl, D. A., Fang, F. C., Hansen, E. J. (2008). Identification of a Repressor of a Truncated Denitrification Pathway in Moraxella catarrhalis. J. Bacteriol. 190: 7762-7772 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Isabella, V., Wright, L. F., Barth, K., Spence, J. M., Grogan, S., Genco, C. A., Clark, V. L. (2008). cis- and trans-acting elements involved in regulation of norB (norZ), the gene encoding nitric oxide reductase in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Microbiology 154: 226-239 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Rock, J. D., Thomson, M. J., Read, R. C., Moir, J. W. B. (2007). Regulation of Denitrification Genes in Neisseria meningitidis by Nitric Oxide and the Repressor NsrR. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1138-1144 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Overton, T. W., Whitehead, R., Li, Y., Snyder, L. A. S., Saunders, N. J., Smith, H., Cole, J. A. (2006). Coordinated Regulation of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae-truncated Denitrification Pathway by the Nitric Oxide-sensitive Repressor, NsrR, and Nitrite-insensitive NarQ-NarP. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 33115-33126 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Seib, K. L., Wu, H.-J., Kidd, S. P., Apicella, M. A., Jennings, M. P., McEwan, A. G. (2006). Defenses against Oxidative Stress in Neisseria gonorrhoeae: a System Tailored for a Challenging Environment. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 70: 344-361 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Arai, H., Hayashi, M., Kuroi, A., Ishii, M., Igarashi, Y. (2005). Transcriptional Regulation of the Flavohemoglobin Gene for Aerobic Nitric Oxide Detoxification by the Second Nitric Oxide-Responsive Regulator of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Bacteriol. 187: 3960-3968 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Busch, A., Pohlmann, A., Friedrich, B., Cramm, R. (2004). A DNA Region Recognized by the Nitric Oxide-Responsive Transcriptional Activator NorR Is Conserved in {beta}- and {gamma}-Proteobacteria. J. Bacteriol. 186: 7980-7987 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • de Vries, S., Strampraad, M. J. F., Lu, S., Moenne-Loccoz, P., Schroder, I. (2003). Purification and Characterization of the MQH2:NO Oxidoreductase from the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Pyrobaculum aerophilum. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 35861-35868 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Braker, G., Tiedje, J. M. (2003). Nitric Oxide Reductase (norB) Genes from Pure Cultures and Environmental Samples. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 3476-3483 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Firoved, A. M., Deretic, V. (2003). Microarray Analysis of Global Gene Expression in Mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Bacteriol. 185: 1071-1081 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Shi, L., Jung, Y.-J., Tyagi, S., Gennaro, M. L., North, R. J. (2003). Expression of Th1-mediated immunity in mouse lungs induces a Mycobacterium tuberculosis transcription pattern characteristic of nonreplicating persistence. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 241-246 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Anjum, M. F., Stevanin, T. M., Read, R. C., Moir, J. W. B. (2002). Nitric Oxide Metabolism in Neisseria meningitidis. J. Bacteriol. 184: 2987-2993 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Busch, A., Friedrich, B., Cramm, R. (2002). Characterization of the norB Gene, Encoding Nitric Oxide Reductase, in the Nondenitrifying Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC6803. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 668-672 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gardner, A. M., Gardner, P. R. (2002). Flavohemoglobin Detoxifies Nitric Oxide in Aerobic, but Not Anaerobic, Escherichia coli. EVIDENCE FOR A NOVEL INDUCIBLE ANAEROBIC NITRIC OXIDE-SCAVENGING ACTIVITY. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 8166-8171 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gardner, A. M., Helmick, R. A., Gardner, P. R. (2002). Flavorubredoxin, an Inducible Catalyst for Nitric Oxide Reduction and Detoxification in Escherichia coli. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 8172-8177 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»