A clp gene homologue belonging to the Crp gene family globally regulates lytic enzyme production, antimicrobial activity, and biological control activity expressed by Lysobacter enzymogenes strain C3

Lysobacter enzymogenes strain C3, a biological control agent for plant diseases, produces multiple extracellular hydrolytic enzymes and displays antimicrobial activity against various fungal and oomycetous species. However, little is known about the regulation of these enzymes or their roles in antimicrobial activity and biocontrol. A study was undertaken to identify mutants of strain C3 affected in extracellular enzyme production and to evaluate their biocontrol efficacy. A single mini-Tn5-lacZ₁-cat transposon mutant of L. enzymogenes strain C3 that was globally affected in a variety of phenotypes was isolated. In this mutant, 5E4, the activities of several extracellular lytic enzymes, gliding motility, and in vitro antimicrobial activity were reduced. Characterization of 5E4 indicated that the transposon inserted in a clp gene homologue belonging to the Crp gene family of regulators. Immediately downstream was a second open reading frame similar to that encoding acetyltransferases belonging to the Gcn5-related N-acetyltransferase superfamily, which reverse transcription-PCR confirmed was cotranscribed with clp. Chromosomal deletion mutants with mutations in clp and between clp and the acetyltransferase gene verified the 5E4 mutant phenotype. The clp gene was chromosomally inserted in mutant 5E4, resulting in complemented strain P1. All mutant phenotypes were restored in P1, although the gliding motility was observed to be excessive compared with that of the wild-type strain. clp mutant strains were significantly affected in biological control of pythium damping-off of sugar beet and bipolaris leaf spot of tall fescue, which was partially or fully restored in the complemented strain P1. These results indicate that clp is a global regulatory gene that controls biocontrol traits expressed by L. enzymogenes C3.