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Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems of Desulfovibrio vulgaris: Structural and Phylogenetic Analysis and Deduction of Putative Cognate Pairs

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Abstract

A large number of two-component signal transduction systems (TCSTS) including 59 putative sensory histidine kinases (HK) and 55 response regulators (RR) were identified from the Desulfovibrio vulgaris genome. In this study, the structural and phylogenetic analyses of all putative TCSTSs in D. vulgaris were performed. The results showed that D. vulgaris contained 21 hybrid-type HKs, implying that multiple-step phosphorelay may be a common signal transduction mechanism in D. vulgaris. Despite the low sequence similarity that restricted the resolution of the phylogenetic analyses, most TCSTS components of D. vulgaris were found clustered into several subfamilies previously recognized in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. An attempt was made in this investigation to identify the possible cognate HK-RR pairs not linked on the chromosome in D. vulgaris based on similar expression patterns in response to various environmental and genetic changes. Expression levels of all HK and RR genes were measured using whole-genome microarrays. Five groups of HK-RR genes not linked on the chromosome were identified as possible cognate pairs in D. vulgaris. The results provided a preliminary list of possible cognate HK-RR pairs and constitute a basis for further exploration of interaction and physiological function of TCSTSs in D. vulgaris.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. G. Voordouw at University of Calgary for providing D. vulgaris mutants used in this study, Dr. Lei Nie at University of Maryland at Baltimore County for help with statistical analysis, and Dr. Liang Shi from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the critical reading of the manuscript. The research described in this article was conducted under the LDRD Program at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a multi-program national laboratory operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC06-76RLO1830.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microbiology Department, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA

    Weiwen Zhang, David E. Culley & Fred J. Brockman

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA

    Gang Wu

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  1. Weiwen Zhang
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  2. David E. Culley
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Correspondence to Weiwen Zhang.

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Zhang, W., Culley, D.E., Wu, G. et al. Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems of Desulfovibrio vulgaris: Structural and Phylogenetic Analysis and Deduction of Putative Cognate Pairs. J Mol Evol 62, 473–487 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-005-0116-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-005-0116-1

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