An improved Tn7-lux reporter for broad host range, chromosomally-integrated promoter fusions in Gram-negative bacteria

Modulation of OMV Production by the Lysis Module of the DLP12 Defective Prophage of Escherichia coli K12

Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are nanostructures mostly produced by blebbing of the outer membrane in Gram negative bacteria. They contain biologically active proteins and perform a variety of processes. OMV production is also a typical response to events inducing stress in the bacterial envelope. In these cases, hypervesiculation is regarded as a strategy to avoid the dangerous accumulation of undesired products within the periplasm. Several housekeeping genes influence the biogenesis of OMVs, including those correlated with peptidoglycan and cell wall dynamics. In this work, we have investigated the relationship between OMV production and the lysis module of the E. coli DLP12 cryptic prophage. This module is an operon encoding a holin, an endolysin and two spannins, and is known to be involved in cell wall maintenance. We find that deleting the lysis module increases OMV production, suggesting that during evolution this operon has been domesticated to regulate vesiculation, likely through the elimination of non-recyclable peptidoglycan fragments. We also show that the expression of the lysis module is negatively regulated by environmental stress stimuli as high osmolarity, low pH and low temperature. Our data further highlight how defective prophages finely contribute to bacterial host fitness.

From macro to micro: a combined bioluminescence-fluorescence approach to monitor bacterial localization

Bacterial bioluminescence is widely used to study the spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterial populations and gene expression in vivo at a population level but cannot easily be used to study bacterial activity at the level of individual cells. In this study, we describe the development of a new library of mini‐Tn7‐lux and lux::eyfp reporter constructs that provide a wide range of lux expression levels, and which combine the advantages of both bacterial bioluminescence and fluorescent proteins to bridge the gap between macro‐ and micro‐scale imaging techniques. We demonstrate that a dual bioluminescence‐fluorescence approach using the lux operon and eYFP can be used to monitor bacterial movement in plants both macro‐ and microscopically and demonstrate that Pseudomonas syringae pv phaseolicola can colonize the leaf vascular system and systemically infect leaves of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). We also show that bacterial bioluminescence can be used to study the impact of plant immune responses on bacterial multiplication, viability and spread within plant tissues. The constructs and approach described in this study can be used to study the spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterial colonization and to link population dynamics and cellular interactions in a wide range of biological contexts.

NADH Dehydrogenases in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Growth and Virulence

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen with a complex respiratory chain. The bacterium is predicted to express three NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductases (NDH-1, NDH-2 and Nqr). We created deletions strains of the predicted NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductases alone, and in combination to determine the respective roles of the NADH dehydrogenases in growth and virulence. NDH-1 and NDH-2 were largely redundant under aerobic conditions. Aerobic NADH dehydrogenase enzymatic activity assay was lost with deletion of both NDH-1 and NDH-2. Under anaerobic conditions, NDH-1 was required for robust growth, and overexpression of NDH-2 rescued the NDH-1 anaerobic growth defect in rich media. There was not compensatory upregulation of NDH-2 under anaerobic conditions in NDH-1 deletion strains. To test which genes were required for in vivo virulence, we used both an insect and plant disease model. In the Galleria mellonella model, neither deletion of NDH-1 nor NDH-2 led to a change in median lethal dose, although death occurred more slowly in the NDH-1 deletion infections. In a lettuce model of virulence, loss of NDH-1 caused a decrease in recovered viable bacteria and a decrease in visual tissue damage. The compound deletion of NDH-1/NDH-2 causes a severe growth defect, both under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and was avirulent in a lettuce model. Together, these results demonstrate the redundancy of the P. aeruginosa respiratory chain at the NADH dehydrogenase level in aerobic growth and virulence.