LesR is a novel upstream regulator that controls downstream Clp expression to modulate antibiotic HSAF biosynthesis and cell aggregation in Lysobacter enzymogenes OH11

BACKGROUND: Heat-stable antifungal factor (HSAF) is a polycyclic tetramate macrolactam secondary metabolite that exhibits broad-spectrum inhibitory activities against filamentous fungal pathogens. The native yield of this chemical is low. It is also a great challenge to synthesize HSAF artificially, due to its complex structure. Understanding the regulatory mechanism underlying HSAF biosynthesis could provide genetic basis for engineering high HSAF-producing strain. The transcription factor Clp is a global regulator that controls bacterial pathogenicity and the expression of one hundred related genes in the phytopathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc). Diffusible signal factor (DSF) chemical signaling is the only well-characterized upstream regulatory pathway that involves downstream Clp regulation in Xcc. Such a regulatory hierarchy between DSF signaling and Clp is also conserved in the Gram-negative biological control agent Lysobacter enzymogenes, where the DSF signaling system controls antifungal antibiotic HSAF biosynthesis via Clp. RESULTS: Here, using LLysobacter enzymogenes OH11 as a working organism, we examined a novel upstream regulator, LesR, a LuxR solo that controls Clp expression to modulate HSAF biosynthesis as well as cell aggregation. We found that the overexpression of lesR in strain OH11 almost entirely shut down HSAF production and accelerated cell aggregation. These changed phenotypes could be rescued by the introduction of plasmid-borne clp in the lesR overexpression background. Consistent with findings, we further found that overexpression of lesR led to a decrease in the Clp level. CONCLUSIONS: These results collectively have shown that LesR could exert its function, i.e., HSAF biosynthesis, via downstream Clp. These findings were subsequently validated by a comparative transcriptome analysis, where the regulatory action of LesR was found to largely overlap with that of Clp. Therefore, in addition to the well-known DSF signaling system, the present study reveals that LesR functions as a new upstream regulatory factor of Clp in L. enzymogenes. The key factor was important for the production of HSAF. The strains with high HSAF yield can presumably be constructed by deletion of the negative regulators or overexpression of the positive regulators by genetic engineering. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-017-0818-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.