The LapG protein plays a role in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation by controlling the presence of the CdrA adhesin on the cell surface

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a clinically relevant species involved in biofilm‐based chronic infections. We provide evidence that the P. aeruginosa LapG protein functions as a periplasmic protease that can cleave the protein adhesin CdrA off the cell surface, and thereby plays a role in biofilm formation and biofilm dispersal. The P. aeruginosa LapG protein is shown to be a functional homolog of the Pseudomonas putida LapG protein which has previously been shown to function as a periplasmic protease that targets the surface adhesin LapA. Transposon mutagenesis and characterization of defined knockout mutants provided evidence that the CdrA adhesin is a target of LapG in P. aeruginosa. A wspF lapG double mutant was hyper‐aggregating and hyper biofilm forming, whereas a wspF lapG cdrA triple mutant lost these phenotypes. In addition, western blot detection of CdrA in culture supernatants and whole‐cell protein fractions showed that CdrA was retained in the whole‐cell protein fraction when LapG was absent, whereas it was found in the culture supernatant when LapG was present. The finding that CdrA is a target of LapG in P. aeruginosa is surprising because CdrA has no homology to LapA.