AUTHOR=Lin Junjie , Yu Yanshuang , Zhao Ke , Zhao Jie , Rensing Christopher , Chen Jichen , Jia Xianbo 

TITLE=PtrA regulates prodigiosin synthesis and biological functions in Serratia marcescens FZSF02

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1240102

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1240102

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Serratia marcescens</italic> is a gram-negative bacterium that is able to produce many secondary metabolites, such as the prominent red pigment prodigiosin (PG). In this work, a <italic>ptrA</italic>-disrupted mutant strain with reduced PG production was selected from Tn<italic>5</italic> transposon mutants. RT–qPCR results indicated that <italic>ptrA</italic> promoted elevated transcription of the <italic>pig</italic> gene cluster in <italic>S. marcescens</italic> FZSF02. Furthermore, we found that <italic>ptrA</italic> also controls several other important biological functions of <italic>S. marcescens</italic>, including swimming and swarming motilities, biofilm formation, hemolytic activity, and stress tolerance. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that <italic>ptrA</italic> is a PG synthesis-promoting factor in <italic>S. marcescens</italic> and provides a brief understanding of the regulatory mechanism of <italic>ptrA</italic> in <italic>S. marcescens</italic> cell motility and hemolytic activity.</p>