Abstract

The envE gene of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is encoded within Salmonella Pathogenicity Island-11 (SPI-11) and is located immediately upstream of the virulence gene msgA (macrophage survival gene A) in the same transcriptional orientation. To date, the characteristics and roles of envE remain largely unexplored. In this study, we show that EnvE, a predicted lipoprotein, is localized on the outer membrane using sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. Under oxidative stress conditions, envE transcription is suppressed, while msgA transcription is induced, indicating an inverse correlation between the mRNA levels of the two neighboring genes. Importantly, inactivation of envE leads to constitutive transcription of msgA regardless of the presence of oxidative stress. Moreover, trans-complementation of the envE mutant with a plasmid-borne envE fails to prevent the induction of msgA transcription, suggesting that envE functions as a cis-regulatory element rather than a trans-acting factor. We further show that both inactivation and complementation of envE confer wild-type levels of resistance to oxidative stress by ensuring the expression of msgA. Our data suggest that the S. enterica envE gene encodes an outer membrane lipoprotein, and its transcription represses msgA expression in a cis-acting manner, probably by transcriptional interference, although the exact molecular details are yet unclear.

• Keywords: Salmonella enterica; msgA; EnvE; Outer membrane lipoprotein; Oxidative stress