Mutations affecting regulation of the anabolic argF and the catabolic aru genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO.

The nucleotide sequence required for a fully functional promoter and operator of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa argF gene (argFpo), the arginine-repressible gene for anabolic ornithine carbamoyltransferase, was defined within a 160 bp region. The streptomycin (Sm) resistance genes strAB of plasmid RSF1010 were fused to argFpo. This construct in P. aeruginosa strain PAO conferred resistance to Sm. Mutants of strain PAO were selected which were resistant to Sm in the presence of arginine due to constitutive expression of argFpo-strAB. These mutants were designated argR. They were unable to grow or grew poorly on arginine or ornithine as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. This growth defect (Aru-/Oru- phenotype) was correlated with a reduced level of N-succinylornithine aminotransferase, an enzyme participating in the major aerobic pathway for arginine and ornithine catabolism in this organism. The argR mutants were classified into four groups by transduction analysis and three argR mutations were mapped on the PAO chromosome. argR9901 and argR9902 were co-transducible with car-9 (at 1 min) and thus close to the oru-310 locus; argR9906 was localized in the oruI (= aru) gene cluster (67 min). Some aru mutants, which have been isolated previously and which produce very low amounts of all enzymes in the arginine succinyltransferase pathway, were unable to repress the argF gene in an arginine medium. Thus, P. aeruginosa PAO appears to have multiple genes that are involved in the regulation of both the anabolic argF and the catabolic aru genes.