Genome-wide investigation of Pasteurella multocida identifies the stringent response as a negative regulator of hyaluronic acid capsule production

Pasteurella multocida is a Gram-negative capsulated bacterium responsible for a range of diseases that cause severe morbidity and mortality in livestock animals. The hyaluronic acid (HA) capsule produced by P. multocida serogroup A strains is a critical virulence factor. In this study, we utilised transposon-directed insertion site sequencing (TraDIS) to identify genes essential for in vitro growth of P. multocida, and combined TraDIS with discontinuous density gradients (TraDISort) to identify genes required for HA capsule production and regulation in this pathogen. Analysis of mutants with a high cell density phenotype, indicative of the loss of extracellular capsule, led to the identification of 69 genes important for capsule production. These genes included all previously characterized genes in the capsule biosynthesis locus, and fis and hfq that encode known positive regulators of P. multocida capsule. Many of the other capsule-associated genes identified in this study were involved in regulation or activation of the stringent response, including spoT and relA that encode proteins that regulate the concentration of guanosine alarmones. Disruption of the autoregulatory domains in the C-terminal half of SpoT using insertional mutagenesis resulted in reduced expression of capsule biosynthesis genes and an acapsular phenotype. Overall, these findings have greatly increased the understanding of hyaluronic acid capsule production and regulation in P. multocida. Overall design: Transposon-directed insertion site sequencing of P. multocida strain VP161 Himar1 mutant library after growth in rich media, and following isolation of acapsular mutants using Percoll gradients