The global regulator GacS of a biological bacterium Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 regulates expression of the stationary-phase sigma factor rpoS and reduces survival in oxidative stress.

The global regulator, GacS (global antibiotic and cyanide sensor kinase), was required for the increased resistance to hydrogen peroxide occurring as cultures of the rhizobacterium, P. chlororaphis O6, matured. Specific stationary-phase peroxidase and catalase isozymes were absent in the GacS mutant, whereas a manganese-superoxide dismutase isozyme was expressed earlier and to a great extent than wild type. In the wild type cell, transcript accumulation of rpoS was higher in late logarithmic-phase cells than cells from mid logarithmic- or stationary-phase. Transcripts from rpoS in the GacS mutant were reduced in each of these growth phases compared to the wild type expression. The down stream sequence from rpoS lacked sequences encoding a small RNA, rsmZ, found in other pseudomonads and implicated in control of genes activated by the GacS system. These findings suggest that GacS-mediated regulation of RpoS plays role in control of oxidative stress in P. chlororaphis O6 by as yet an unknown mechanism.