Motility and growth Burkholderia two-component: a new regulatory system of Burkholderia seminalis

The two-component regulatory system (TCS) is a highly conserved global signal transduction mechanism that enables microorganisms to adapt to changing environments in response to signals. Burkholderia seminalis TC3.4.2R3 has attracted attention as a potential phytopathogenic biological control agent. In this study, a TCS mutant was obtained and evaluated in comparison to wild type using different approaches. The transcriptome analysis revealed 374 differentially expressed genes, some of which are involved in motility and chemotaxis (downregulated) and related to iron uptake and pyochelin production (upregulated). Swarming and swimming motility were impaired in the mutant, while biofilm production increased, leading to differences in growth profiles. However, the biocontrol efficacy was similar. These findings suggest that the new TCS, named motility and growth Burkholderia two-component regulator (MgbTC), positively regulates motility and chemotaxis genes while negatively controlling genes related to biofilm production, iron uptake and pyochelin siderophore production in the Burkholderia seminalis TC3.4.2R3. KEY POINTS: • The new motility and growth of Burkholderia two-component regulator (MgbTC) system • MgbTC positively regulates motility and chemotaxis genes in B. seminalis TC3.4.2R3 • MgbTC negatively controls iron uptake and pyochelin and biofilm production genes.