Cloning and characterization of chemotaxis genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Two chemotaxis-defective mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, designated PC3 and PC4, were selected by the swarm plate method after N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis. These mutants were not complemented by the P. aeruginosa cheY and cheZ genes, which had been previously cloned (Masduki et al., J. Bacteriol., 177, 948-952, 1995). DNA sequences downstream of the cheY and cheZ genes were able to complement PC3 but not PC4. Sequence analysis of a 9.7-kb region directly downstream of the cheZ gene found three chemotaxis genes, cheA, cheB, and cheW, and seven unknown open reading frames (ORFs). The predicted translation products of the cheA, cheB, and cheW genes showed 33, 36, and 31% amino acid identity with Escherichia coli CheA, CheB, and CheW, respectively. Two of the unknown ORFs, ORF1 and ORF2, encoded putative polypeptides that resembled Bacillus subtilis MotA (40% amino acid identity) and MotB (34% amino acid identity) proteins, respectively. Although P. aeruginosa was found to have proteins similar to the enteric chemotaxis proteins CheA, CheB, CheW, CheY, and CheZ, the gene encoding a CheR homologue did not reside in the chemotaxis gene cluster. The P. aeruginosa cheR gene could be cloned by phenotypic complementation of the PC4 mutant. This gene was located at least 1,800 kb away from the chemotaxis gene cluster and encoded a putative polypeptide that had 32% amino acid identity with E. coli CheR.