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Huang X, Laird CG, Riley PP, Wen ZT. Impacts of a DUF2207 Family Protein on Streptococcus mutans Stress Tolerance Responses and Biofilm Formation. Microorganisms 2023; 11:1982. [PMID: 37630542 PMCID: PMC10457818 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11081982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 07/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Locus SMU.243 in Streptococcus mutans was annotated as a member of the DUF2207 family proteins highly conserved in all bacteria but with unknown function. To investigate its role in S. mutans physiology, a SMU.243-deficient mutant was constructed using allelic exchange mutagenesis, and the impacts of SMU.243 deletion on bacterial growth, stress tolerance response, and biofilm formation were analyzed. Compared to the wild-type UA159, S. mutans lacking SMU.243 displayed a reduced growth rate and a reduced overnight culture density (p < 0.01) when grown at low pH and in the presence of methyl viologen. Relative to the parent strain, the deficient mutant also had a reduced survival rate following incubation in a buffer of pH 2.8 (p < 0.01) and in a buffer containing hydrogen peroxide at 58 mM after 60 min (p < 0.001) and had a reduced capacity in biofilm formation especially in the presence of sucrose (p < 0.01). To study any ensuing functional/phenotypical links between SMU.243 and uppP, which is located immediately downstream of SMU.243 and encodes an undecaprenyl pyrophosphate phosphatase involved in recycling of carrier lipid undecaprenyl phosphate, a uppP deficient mutant was generated using allelic exchange mutagenesis. Unlike the SMU.243 mutant, deletion of uppP affected cell envelope biogenesis and caused major increases in susceptibility to bacitracin. In addition, two variant morphological mutants, one forming rough colonies and the other forming mucoid, smooth colonies, also emerged following the deletion of uppP. The results suggest that the SMU.243-encoded protein of the DUF2207 family in S. mutans plays an important role in stress tolerance response and biofilm formation, but unlike the downstream uppP, does not seem to be involved in cell envelope biogenesis, although the exact roles in S. mutans' physiology awaits further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaochang Huang
- Department of Oral and Craniofacial Biology, School of Dentistry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; (X.H.); (P.P.R.)
| | - Camile G. Laird
- Department of Oral and Craniofacial Biology, School of Dentistry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; (X.H.); (P.P.R.)
| | - Paul P. Riley
- Department of Oral and Craniofacial Biology, School of Dentistry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; (X.H.); (P.P.R.)
| | - Zezhang Tom Wen
- Department of Oral and Craniofacial Biology, School of Dentistry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; (X.H.); (P.P.R.)
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
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Turner ME, Huynh K, Carroll RK, Ahn SJ, Rice KC. Characterization of the Streptococcus mutans SMU.1703c-SMU.1702c Operon Reveals Its Role in Riboflavin Import and Response to Acid Stress. J Bacteriol 2020; 203:e00293-20. [PMID: 33077636 PMCID: PMC7950412 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00293-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus mutans utilizes numerous metabolite transporters to obtain essential nutrients in the "feast or famine" environment of the human mouth. S. mutans and most other streptococci are considered auxotrophic for several essential vitamins including riboflavin (vitamin B2), which is used to generate key cofactors and to perform numerous cellular redox reactions. Despite the well-known contributions of this vitamin to central metabolism, little is known about how S. mutans obtains and metabolizes B2 The uncharacterized protein SMU.1703c displays high sequence homology to the riboflavin transporter RibU. Deletion of SMU.1703c hindered S. mutans growth in complex and defined medium in the absence of saturating levels of exogenous riboflavin, whereas deletion of cotranscribed SMU.1702c alone had no apparent effect on growth. Expression of SMU.1703c in a Bacillus subtilis riboflavin auxotroph functionally complemented growth in nonsaturating riboflavin conditions. S. mutans was also able to grow on flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) or flavin mononucleotide (FMN) in an SMU.1703c-dependent manner. Deletion of SMU.1703c and/or SMU.1702c impacted S. mutans acid stress tolerance, as all mutants showed improved growth at pH 5.5 compared to that of the wild type when medium was supplemented with saturating riboflavin. Cooccurrence of SMU.1703c and SMU.1702c, a hypothetical PAP2 family acid phosphatase gene, appears unique to the streptococci and may suggest a connection of SMU.1702c to the acquisition or metabolism of flavins within this genus. Identification of SMU.1703c as a RibU-like riboflavin transporter furthers our understanding of how S. mutans acquires essential micronutrients within the oral cavity and how this pathogen successfully competes within nutrient-starved oral biofilms.IMPORTANCE Dental caries form when acid produced by oral bacteria erodes tooth enamel. This process is driven by the fermentative metabolism of cariogenic bacteria, most notably Streptococcus mutans Nutrient acquisition is key in the competitive oral cavity, and many organisms have evolved various strategies to procure carbon sources or necessary biomolecules. B vitamins, such as riboflavin, which many oral streptococci must scavenge from the oral environment, are necessary for survival within the competitive oral cavity. However, the primary mechanism and proteins involved in this process remain uncharacterized. This study is important because it identifies a key step in S. mutans riboflavin acquisition and cofactor generation, which may enable the development of novel anticaries treatment strategies via selective targeting of metabolite transporters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew E Turner
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Khanh Huynh
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Ronan K Carroll
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA
| | - Sang-Joon Ahn
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Kelly C Rice
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Li B, Pan T, Lin H, Zhou Y. The enhancing antibiofilm activity of curcumin on Streptococcus mutans strains from severe early childhood caries. BMC Microbiol 2020; 20:286. [PMID: 32938379 PMCID: PMC7493841 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-020-01975-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is one of the main cariogenic bacteria for caries. It was found that the clinical strains of S. mutans isolated from caries active population have stronger cariogenic ability than the isolates from caries-free (CF) people. Previous studies have found that curcumin can inhibit biofilm formation of S. mutans UA159. The objective of this study is to explore the antibiofilm effect of curcumin on the clinical isolates of S. mutans from severe early childhood caries(SECC). RESULTS The isolates from SECC group had more biomass than CF group (t = 4.296, P < 0.001). The acidogenicity and aciduricity of the strains from two groups showed no significant difference. After treatment with curcumin, the viability of biofilm was reduced to 61.865% ± 7.108% in SECC and to 84.059% ± 10.227% in CF group at 24 h (P < 0.05). The net reduction of live bacteria and total bacteria in the SECC group was significantly higher than that of the CF group (live bacteria t = 3.305, P = 0.016; total bacteria t = 2.378, P = 0.045) at 5 min. For 24 h, the net reduction of live bacteria and total bacteria in the SECC group was significantly higher than that of the CF group (live bacteria t = 3.305, P = 0.016; total bacteria t = 2.378, P = 0.045). The reduction of biofilm thickness reduced significantly in 5 min (t = 4.110, P = 0.015) and in 24 h (t = 3.453, P = 0.014). Long-term (24 h) curcumin treatment inhibited the amount of EPS in SECC group from (25.980 ± 1.156) μm3/μm2 to (20.136 ± 1.042) μm3/μm2, the difference was statistically significant (t = 7.510, P < 0.001). The gene of gtfC, gtfD, ftf, gbpB, fruA and srtA in the CF group and the gtfB, gtfC, gtfD, ftf, gbpB, srtA in SECC group were respectively reduced after 5 min curcumin treatment. After 24 h treatment, the gtfB, gtfC, gtfD, ftf, gbpB, fruA and srtA in both two groups were downregulation, all the differences were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Curcumin has antibiofilm activity on clinical strains of S. mutans, especially for those isolated from SECC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingchun Li
- Department of Preventive Dentistry, Hospital of Stomatology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, 56 Ling Yuan Road West, Guangzhou, 510055, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ting Pan
- Department of Preventive Dentistry, Hospital of Stomatology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, 56 Ling Yuan Road West, Guangzhou, 510055, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Huancai Lin
- Department of Preventive Dentistry, Hospital of Stomatology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, 56 Ling Yuan Road West, Guangzhou, 510055, China. .,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Yan Zhou
- Department of Preventive Dentistry, Hospital of Stomatology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, 56 Ling Yuan Road West, Guangzhou, 510055, China. .,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
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Ahn SJ, Hull W, Desai S, Rice KC, Culp D. Understanding LrgAB Regulation of Streptococcus mutans Metabolism. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:2119. [PMID: 33013773 PMCID: PMC7496758 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.02119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Lack of LrgAB renders cariogenic Streptococcus mutans more sensitive to oxidative stress, as well as limits the capacity of this organism to re-uptake pyruvate upon starvation. This study was aimed at investigating the ecological and metabolic contribution of LrgAB to competitive fitness, using S. mutans strains, that either lack or overexpress lrgAB. These experiments revealed that impaired aerobic growth of the ΔlrgAB mutant can be effectively restored by supplementation of pyruvate, and that perturbated expression of lrgAB significantly affects pyruvate flux and the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA by the Pdh pathway, verifying that LrgAB is closely linked to pyruvate catabolism. In vitro competition assays revealed that LrgAB plays an important role in S. mutans competition with H2O2-producing S. gordonii, an interaction which can also be modulated by external pyruvate. However, no obvious competitive disadvantage was observed against S. gordonii by either the S. mutans lrgAB mutant or lrgAB overexpression strain in vivo using a mouse caries model. Organic acid analysis of mouse dental biofilms revealed that metabolites produced by the host and/or dental plaque microbiota could complement the deficiency of a lrgAB mutant, and favored S. mutans establishment compared to S. gordonii. Collectively, these results reinforce the importance of the oral microbiota and the metabolic environment in the oral cavity battleground, and highlight that pyruvate uptake through LrgAB may be crucial for interspecies competition that drives niche occupancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sang-Joon Ahn
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - William Hull
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Shailja Desai
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Kelly C Rice
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - David Culp
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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Turner ME, Huynh K, Carney OV, Gross D, Carroll RK, Ahn SJ, Rice KC. Genomic instability of TnSMU2 contributes to Streptococcus mutans biofilm development and competence in a cidB mutant. Microbiologyopen 2019; 8:e934. [PMID: 31599128 PMCID: PMC6925190 DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Revised: 08/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus mutans is a key pathogenic bacterium in the oral cavity and a primary contributor to dental caries. The S. mutans Cid/Lrg system likely contributes to tolerating stresses encountered in this environment as cid and/or lrg mutants exhibit altered oxidative stress sensitivity, genetic competence, and biofilm phenotypes. It was recently noted that the cidB mutant had two stable colony morphologies: a “rough” phenotype (similar to wild type) and a “smooth” phenotype. In our previously published work, the cidB rough mutant exhibited increased sensitivity to oxidative stress, and RNAseq identified widespread transcriptomic changes in central carbon metabolism and oxidative stress response genes. In this current report, we conducted Illumina‐based genome resequencing of wild type, cidB rough, and cidB smooth mutants and compared their resistance to oxidative and acid stress, biofilm formation, and competence phenotypes. Both cidB mutants exhibited comparable aerobic growth inhibition on agar plates, during planktonic growth, and in the presence of 1 mM hydrogen peroxide. The cidB smooth mutant displayed a significant competence defect in BHI, which was rescuable by synthetic CSP. Both cidB mutants also displayed reduced XIP‐mediated competence, although this reduction was more pronounced in the cidB smooth mutant. Anaerobic biofilms of the cidB smooth mutant displayed increased propidium iodide staining, but corresponding biofilm CFU data suggest this phenotype is due to cell damage and not increased cell death. The cidB rough anaerobic biofilms showed altered structure relative to wild type (reduced biomass and average thickness) which correlated with decreased CFU counts. Sequencing data revealed that the cidB smooth mutant has a unique “loss of read coverage” of ~78 kb of DNA, corresponding to the genomic island TnSMU2 and genes flanking its 3′ end. It is therefore likely that the unique biofilm and competence phenotypes of the cidB smooth mutant are related to its genomic changes in this region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew E Turner
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Khanh Huynh
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - O'neshia V Carney
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Dennis Gross
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Ronan K Carroll
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
| | - Sang-Joon Ahn
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Kelly C Rice
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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