A negative feedback loop is critical for recovery of RpoS after stress in Escherichia coli

Abstract RpoS is an alternative sigma factor needed for the induction of the general stress response in many gammaproteobacteria. Tight regulation of RpoS levels and activity is required for bacterial growth and survival under stress. In Escherichia coli , various stresses lead to higher levels of RpoS due to increased translation and decreased degradation. During non-stress conditions, RpoS is unstable, because the adaptor protein RssB delivers RpoS to the ClpXP protease. RpoS degradation is prevented during stress by the sequestration of RssB by anti-adaptors, each of which is induced in response to specific stresses. Here, we examined how the stabilization of RpoS is reversed during recovery of the cell from stress. We found that RpoS degradation quickly resumes after recovery from phosphate starvation, carbon starvation, and when transitioning from stationary phase back to exponential phase. This process is in part mediated by the anti-adaptor IraP, known to promote RpoS stabilization during phosphate starvation via the sequestration of adaptor RssB. The rapid recovery from phosphate starvation is dependent upon a feedback loop in which RpoS transcription of rssB , encoding the adaptor protein, plays a critical role. Crl, an activator of RpoS that specifically binds to and stabilizes the complex between the RNA polymerase and RpoS, is also required for the feedback loop to function efficiently, highlighting a critical role for Crl in restoring RpoS basal levels. Author summary In their native environments, bacteria are exposed to constant changes in nutrient availability, as well as other biotic and abiotic stressors. To adjust to these changes, bacteria must rewire gene expression to adapt to or avoid stress-induced damage. A key player in the global response to general stresses is the alternative sigma factor RpoS, a promoter-specificity determining subunit of RNA polymerase. RpoS levels increase with stress, due to increased translation and stabilization of the otherwise unstable RpoS protein. Here, we examine how the cell restores homeostasis after the stress has passed. We show that a negative feedback loop in which RpoS regulates the transcription of an adaptor for proteolysis poises the cell to rapidly resume RpoS degradation upon the exit from stress.