Identification, cloning and initial characterisation of FeuPQ in Brucella suis: a new sub-family of two-component regulatory systems

To cause disease, Brucella species have to adapt to a range of different environments. Environmental sensing and adaptive responses in bacteria often involve the concerted action of a two-component regulatory system, consisting of sensor and response regulator components. Amplification and sequence analysis of response regulators from Brucella species identified a response regulator sequence with 96% similarity to Rhizobium leguminosarum FeuP. In R. leguminosarum, the FeuPQ two-component system is involved in the regulation of iron uptake. A Brucella suis feuP isogenic mutant was constructed but was not attenuated in the murine brucellosis model. The survival and multiplication of the mutant in macrophages was also unaffected. The FeuPQ regulon represents a newly characterised sub-family of response regulators.