Role for ferredoxin:NAD(P)H oxidoreductase (FprA) in sulfate assimilation and siderophore biosynthesis in...

Pyridine-2,6-bis(thiocarboxylate) (PDTC), produced by certain pseudomonads, is a sulfur-containing siderophore that binds iron, as well as a wide range of transition metals, and it affects the net hydrolysis of the environmental contaminant carbon tetrachloride. The pathway of PDTC biosynthesis has not been defined. Here, we performed a transposon screen of Pseudomonas putida DSM 3601 to identify genes necessary for PDTC production (Pdt phenotype). Transposon insertions within genes for sulfate assimilation (cysD, cysNC, and cysG [cobA2]) dominated the collection of Pdt mutations. In addition, two insertions were within the gene for the LysR-type transcriptional activator FinR (PP1637). Phenotypic characterization indicated that finR mutants were cysteine bradytrophs. The Pdt phenotype of finR mutants could be complemented by the known target of FinR regulation, fprA (encoding ferredoxin:NADP(+) oxidoreductase), or by Escherichia coli cysJI (encoding sulfite reductase). These data indicate that fprA is necessary for effective sulfate assimilation by P. putida and that the effect of finR mutation on PDTC production was due to deficient expression of fprA and sulfite reduction. fprA expression in both P. putida and P. aeruginosa was found to be regulated by FinR, but in a manner dependent upon reduced sulfur sources, implicating FinR in sulfur regulatory physiology. The genes and phenotypes identified in this study indicated a strong dependence upon intracellular reduced sulfur/cysteine for PDTC biosynthesis and that pseudomonads utilize sulfite reduction enzymology distinct from that of E. coli and possibly similar to that of chloroplasts and other proteobacteria.