1
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Huang Z, Shu L, He Z, Yan Q. Community coalescence under variable hydrochemical conditions of the Chesapeake Bay shaped bacterial diversity and functional traits. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 257:119272. [PMID: 38823613 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.119272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2024] [Revised: 05/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024]
Abstract
Community coalescence related to bacterial mixing events regulates community characteristics and affects the health of estuary ecosystems. At present, bacterial coalescence and its driving factors are still unclear. The present study used a dataset from the Chesapeake Bay (2017) to address how bacterial community coalescence in response to variable hydrochemistry in estuarine ecosystems. We determined that variable hydrochemistry promoted the deterioration of water quality. Temperature, orthophosphate, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, Secchi disk depth, and dissolved organic phosphorus were the key environmental factors driving community coalescence. Bacteria with high tolerance to environmental change were the primary taxa accumulated in community coalescence, and the significance of deterministic processes to communities was revealed. Community coalescence was significantly correlated with the pathways of metabolism and organismal systems, and promoted the co-occurrence of antibiotic resistance and virulence factor genes. Briefly, community coalescence under variable hydrochemical conditions shaped bacterial diversity and functional traits, to optimise strategies for energy acquisition and lay the foundation for alleviating environmental pressures. However, potential pathogenic bacteria in community coalescence may be harmful to human health and environmental safety. The present study provides a scientific reference for ecological management of estuaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenyu Huang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Marine Synthetic Ecology Research Center, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Marine Ranching in Lingdingyang Bay, China-ASEAN Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Mariculture Technology, State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Longfei Shu
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Marine Synthetic Ecology Research Center, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Marine Ranching in Lingdingyang Bay, China-ASEAN Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Mariculture Technology, State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Zhili He
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Marine Synthetic Ecology Research Center, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Marine Ranching in Lingdingyang Bay, China-ASEAN Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Mariculture Technology, State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Qingyun Yan
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Marine Synthetic Ecology Research Center, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Marine Ranching in Lingdingyang Bay, China-ASEAN Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Mariculture Technology, State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
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2
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Wu Y, Xie L, Liu Y, Xie L. Semi-supervised meta-learning elucidates understudied molecular interactions. Commun Biol 2024; 7:1104. [PMID: 39251833 PMCID: PMC11383949 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06797-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2024] [Accepted: 08/28/2024] [Indexed: 09/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Many biological problems are understudied due to experimental limitations and human biases. Although deep learning is promising in accelerating scientific discovery, its power compromises when applied to problems with scarcely labeled data and data distribution shifts. We develop a deep learning framework-Meta Model Agnostic Pseudo Label Learning (MMAPLE)-to address these challenges by effectively exploring out-of-distribution (OOD) unlabeled data when conventional transfer learning fails. The uniqueness of MMAPLE is to integrate the concept of meta-learning, transfer learning and semi-supervised learning into a unified framework. The power of MMAPLE is demonstrated in three applications in an OOD setting where chemicals or proteins in unseen data are dramatically different from those in training data: predicting drug-target interactions, hidden human metabolite-enzyme interactions, and understudied interspecies microbiome metabolite-human receptor interactions. MMAPLE achieves 11% to 242% improvement in the prediction-recall on multiple OOD benchmarks over various base models. Using MMAPLE, we reveal novel interspecies metabolite-protein interactions that are validated by activity assays and fill in missing links in microbiome-human interactions. MMAPLE is a general framework to explore previously unrecognized biological domains beyond the reach of present experimental and computational techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- You Wu
- Ph.D. Program in Computer Science, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Li Xie
- Department of Computer Science, Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yang Liu
- Department of Computer Science, Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lei Xie
- Ph.D. Program in Computer Science, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Computer Science, Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
- Helen & Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain & Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA.
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3
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Hillary RF, Gadd DA, Kuncheva Z, Mangelis T, Lin T, Ferber K, McLaughlin H, Runz H, Marioni RE, Foley CN, Sun BB. Systematic discovery of gene-environment interactions underlying the human plasma proteome in UK Biobank. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7346. [PMID: 39187491 PMCID: PMC11347662 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51744-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 08/14/2024] [Indexed: 08/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding how gene-environment interactions (GEIs) influence the circulating proteome could aid in biomarker discovery and validation. The presence of GEIs can be inferred from single nucleotide polymorphisms that associate with phenotypic variability - termed variance quantitative trait loci (vQTLs). Here, vQTL association studies are performed on plasma levels of 1463 proteins in 52,363 UK Biobank participants. A set of 677 independent vQTLs are identified across 568 proteins. They include 67 variants that lack conventional additive main effects on protein levels. Over 1100 GEIs are identified between 101 proteins and 153 environmental exposures. GEI analyses uncover possible mechanisms that explain why 13/67 vQTL-only sites lack corresponding main effects. Additional analyses also highlight how age, sex, epistatic interactions and statistical artefacts may underscore associations between genetic variation and variance heterogeneity. This study establishes the most comprehensive database yet of vQTLs and GEIs for the human proteome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert F Hillary
- Optima Partners, Edinburgh, EH2 4HQ, UK
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Danni A Gadd
- Optima Partners, Edinburgh, EH2 4HQ, UK
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Zhana Kuncheva
- Optima Partners, Edinburgh, EH2 4HQ, UK
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA
- Bayes Centre, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9BT, UK
| | - Tasos Mangelis
- Optima Partners, Edinburgh, EH2 4HQ, UK
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA
- Bayes Centre, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9BT, UK
| | - Tinchi Lin
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kyle Ferber
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Helen McLaughlin
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Heiko Runz
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Riccardo E Marioni
- Optima Partners, Edinburgh, EH2 4HQ, UK.
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK.
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Christopher N Foley
- Optima Partners, Edinburgh, EH2 4HQ, UK.
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Bayes Centre, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9BT, UK.
| | - Benjamin B Sun
- Translational Sciences, Research and Development, Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB1 8RN, UK.
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4
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Tang M, You J, Yang T, Sun Q, Jiang S, Xu M, Pan X, Rao Z. Application of modern synthetic biology technology in aromatic amino acids and derived compounds biosynthesis. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2024; 406:131050. [PMID: 38942210 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Revised: 06/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 06/30/2024]
Abstract
Aromatic amino acids (AAA) and derived compounds have enormous commercial value with extensive applications in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical fields. Microbial production of AAA and derived compounds is a promising prospect for its environmental friendliness and sustainability. However, low yield and production efficiency remain major challenges for realizing industrial production. With the advancement of synthetic biology, microbial production of AAA and derived compounds has been significantly facilitated. In this review, a comprehensive overview on the current progresses, challenges and corresponding solutions for AAA and derived compounds biosynthesis is provided. The most cutting-edge developments of synthetic biology technology in AAA and derived compounds biosynthesis, including CRISPR-based system, genetically encoded biosensors and synthetic genetic circuits, were highlighted. Finally, future prospects of modern strategies conducive to the biosynthesis of AAA and derived compounds are discussed. This review offers guidance on constructing microbial cell factory for aromatic compound using synthetic biology technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mi Tang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of the Ministry of Education, Laboratory of Applied Microorganisms and Metabolic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Institute of Future Food Technology, JITRI, Yixing 214200, China
| | - Jiajia You
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of the Ministry of Education, Laboratory of Applied Microorganisms and Metabolic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Institute of Future Food Technology, JITRI, Yixing 214200, China
| | - Tianjin Yang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of the Ministry of Education, Laboratory of Applied Microorganisms and Metabolic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Institute of Future Food Technology, JITRI, Yixing 214200, China
| | - Qisheng Sun
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of the Ministry of Education, Laboratory of Applied Microorganisms and Metabolic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Institute of Future Food Technology, JITRI, Yixing 214200, China
| | - Shuran Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of the Ministry of Education, Laboratory of Applied Microorganisms and Metabolic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Institute of Future Food Technology, JITRI, Yixing 214200, China
| | - Meijuan Xu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of the Ministry of Education, Laboratory of Applied Microorganisms and Metabolic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Institute of Future Food Technology, JITRI, Yixing 214200, China
| | - Xuewei Pan
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of the Ministry of Education, Laboratory of Applied Microorganisms and Metabolic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Institute of Future Food Technology, JITRI, Yixing 214200, China.
| | - Zhiming Rao
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of the Ministry of Education, Laboratory of Applied Microorganisms and Metabolic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Institute of Future Food Technology, JITRI, Yixing 214200, China.
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5
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Jiang G, Wang C, Wang Y, Wang J, Xue Y, Lin Y, Hu X, Lv Y. Exogenous putrescine plays a switch-like influence on the pH stress adaptability of biofilm-based activated sludge. Appl Environ Microbiol 2024; 90:e0056924. [PMID: 38916292 PMCID: PMC11267902 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00569-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Microbial community adaptability to pH stress plays a crucial role in biofilm formation. This study aims to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of exogenous putrescine on pH stress, as well as enhance understanding and application for the technical measures and molecular mechanisms of biofilm regulation. Findings demonstrated that exogenous putrescine acted as a switch-like distributor affecting microorganism pH stress, thus promoting biofilm formation under acid conditions while inhibiting it under alkaline conditions. As pH decreases, the protonation degree of putrescine increases, making putrescine more readily adsorbed. Protonated exogenous putrescine could increase cell membrane permeability, facilitating its entry into the cell. Subsequently, putrescine consumed intracellular H+ by enhancing the glutamate-based acid resistance strategy and the γ-aminobutyric acid metabolic pathway to reduce acid stress on cells. Furthermore, putrescine stimulated ATPase expression, allowing for better utilization of energy in H+ transmembrane transport and enhancing oxidative phosphorylation activity. However, putrescine protonation was limited under alkaline conditions, and the intracellular H+ consumption further exacerbated alkali stress and inhibits cellular metabolic activity. Exogenous putrescine promoted the proportion of fungi and acidophilic bacteria under acidic stress and alkaliphilic bacteria under alkali stress while having a limited impact on fungi in alkaline biofilms. Increasing Bdellovibrio under alkali conditions with putrescine further aggravated the biofilm decomposition. This research shed light on the unclear relationship between exogenous putrescine, environmental pH, and pH stress adaptability of biofilm. By judiciously employing putrescine, biofilm formation could be controlled to meet the needs of engineering applications with different characteristics.IMPORTANCEThe objective of this study is to unravel the regulatory mechanism by which exogenous putrescine influences biofilm pH stress adaptability and understand the role of environmental pH in this intricate process. Our findings revealed that exogenous putrescine functioned as a switch-like distributor affecting the pH stress adaptability of biofilm-based activated sludge, which promoted energy utilization for growth and reproduction processes under acidic conditions while limiting biofilm development to conserve energy under alkaline conditions. This study not only clarified the previously ambiguous relationship between exogenous putrescine, environmental pH, and biofilm pH stress adaptability but also offered fresh insights into enhancing biofilm stability within extreme environments. Through the modulation of energy utilization, exerting control over biofilm growth and achieving more effective engineering goals could be possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guanyu Jiang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Key Lab of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, Tianjin, China
| | - Can Wang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Key Lab of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, Tianjin, China
| | - Yongchao Wang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Key Lab of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, Tianjin, China
| | - Jiayi Wang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Key Lab of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, Tianjin, China
| | - Yimei Xue
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Key Lab of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, Tianjin, China
| | - Yuting Lin
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Key Lab of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, Tianjin, China
| | - Xurui Hu
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Key Lab of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, Tianjin, China
| | - Yahui Lv
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin Key Lab of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, Tianjin, China
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6
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Herencias C, Rivero-Buceta V, Salgado S, Hernández-Herreros N, Baquero F, Del Campo R, Nogales J, Prieto MA. Bdellovibrio's prey-independent lifestyle is fueled by amino acids as a carbon source. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2024; 108:422. [PMID: 39031211 PMCID: PMC11271337 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-024-13250-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/22/2024]
Abstract
Identifying the nutritional requirements and growth conditions of microorganisms is crucial for determining their applicability in industry and understanding their role in clinical ecology. Predatory bacteria such as Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus have emerged as promising tools for combating infections by human bacterial pathogens due to their natural killing features. Bdellovibrio's lifecycle occurs inside prey cells, using the cytoplasm as a source of nutrients and energy. However, this lifecycle supposes a challenge when determining the specific uptake of metabolites from the prey to complete the growth inside cells, a process that has not been completely elucidated. Here, following a model-based approach, we illuminate the ability of B. bacteriovorus to replicate DNA, increase biomass, and generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in an amino acid-based rich media in the absence of prey, keeping intact its predatory capacity. In this culture, we determined the main carbon sources used and their preference, being glutamate, serine, aspartate, isoleucine, and threonine. This study offers new insights into the role of predatory bacteria in natural environments and establishes the basis for developing new Bdellovibrio applications using appropriate metabolic and physiological methodologies. KEY POINTS: • Amino acids support axenic lifestyle of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. • B. bacteriovorus preserves its predatory ability when growing in the absence of prey.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Herencias
- Department of Microbiology, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigacion Sanitaria (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain.
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas-CIBERINFEC, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Virginia Rivero-Buceta
- Polymer Biotechnology Laboratory, Biological Research Center-Margarita Salas, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
- Interdisciplinary Platform for Sustainable Plastics Towards a Circular Economy-CSIC (SusPlast-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Sergio Salgado
- Polymer Biotechnology Laboratory, Biological Research Center-Margarita Salas, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
- Interdisciplinary Platform for Sustainable Plastics Towards a Circular Economy-CSIC (SusPlast-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Natalia Hernández-Herreros
- Polymer Biotechnology Laboratory, Biological Research Center-Margarita Salas, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
- Interdisciplinary Platform for Sustainable Plastics Towards a Circular Economy-CSIC (SusPlast-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Fernando Baquero
- Department of Microbiology, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigacion Sanitaria (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública-CIBERESP, Instituto Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rosa Del Campo
- Department of Microbiology, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigacion Sanitaria (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas-CIBERINFEC, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Nogales
- Systems Biotechnology GroupDepartment of Systems Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
- Interdisciplinary Platform for Sustainable Plastics Towards a Circular Economy-CSIC (SusPlast-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - M Auxiliadora Prieto
- Polymer Biotechnology Laboratory, Biological Research Center-Margarita Salas, CSIC, Madrid, Spain.
- Interdisciplinary Platform for Sustainable Plastics Towards a Circular Economy-CSIC (SusPlast-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
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7
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Held NA, Manhart M. Are microbes colimited by multiple resources? Curr Opin Microbiol 2024; 80:102509. [PMID: 38991468 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2024.102509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
Resource colimitation - the dependence of growth on multiple resources simultaneously - has become an important topic in microbiology due both to the development of systems approaches to cell physiology and ecology and to the relevance of colimitation to environmental science, biotechnology, and human health. Empirical tests of colimitation in microbes suggest that it may be common in nature. However, recent theoretical and empirical work has demonstrated the need for systematic measurements across resource conditions, in contrast to the factorial supplementation experiments used in most previous studies. The mechanistic causes of colimitation remain unclear in most cases and are an important challenge for future work, but we identify the alignment of resource consumption with the environment, interactions between resources, and biological and environmental heterogeneity as major factors. On the other hand, the consequences of colimitation are widespread for microbial physiology and ecology, especially the prediction and control of microbial growth, motivating continued consideration of this state in microbiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noelle A Held
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marine and Enviornmental Biology Section, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Michael Manhart
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
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8
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Guan A, He Z, Wang X, Jia ZJ, Qin J. Engineering the next-generation synthetic cell factory driven by protein engineering. Biotechnol Adv 2024; 73:108366. [PMID: 38663492 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2024.108366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
Synthetic cell factory offers substantial advantages in economically efficient production of biofuels, chemicals, and pharmaceutical compounds. However, to create a high-performance synthetic cell factory, precise regulation of cellular material and energy flux is essential. In this context, protein components including enzymes, transcription factor-based biosensors and transporters play pivotal roles. Protein engineering aims to create novel protein variants with desired properties by modifying or designing protein sequences. This review focuses on summarizing the latest advancements of protein engineering in optimizing various aspects of synthetic cell factory, including: enhancing enzyme activity to eliminate production bottlenecks, altering enzyme selectivity to steer metabolic pathways towards desired products, modifying enzyme promiscuity to explore innovative routes, and improving the efficiency of transporters. Furthermore, the utilization of protein engineering to modify protein-based biosensors accelerates evolutionary process and optimizes the regulation of metabolic pathways. The remaining challenges and future opportunities in this field are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ailin Guan
- College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Zixi He
- College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Xin Wang
- West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Zhi-Jun Jia
- West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Jiufu Qin
- College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China.
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9
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Holbrook-Smith D, Trouillon J, Sauer U. Metabolomics and Microbial Metabolism: Toward a Systematic Understanding. Annu Rev Biophys 2024; 53:41-64. [PMID: 38109374 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biophys-030722-021957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Over the past decades, our understanding of microbial metabolism has increased dramatically. Metabolomics, a family of techniques that are used to measure the quantities of small molecules in biological samples, has been central to these efforts. Advances in analytical chemistry have made it possible to measure the relative and absolute concentrations of more and more compounds with increasing levels of certainty. In this review, we highlight how metabolomics has contributed to understanding microbial metabolism and in what ways it can still be deployed to expand our systematic understanding of metabolism. To that end, we explain how metabolomics was used to (a) characterize network topologies of metabolism and its regulation networks, (b) elucidate the control of metabolic function, and (c) understand the molecular basis of higher-order phenomena. We also discuss areas of inquiry where technological advances should continue to increase the impact of metabolomics, as well as areas where our understanding is bottlenecked by other factors such as the availability of statistical and modeling frameworks that can extract biological meaning from metabolomics data.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Julian Trouillon
- Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland;
| | - Uwe Sauer
- Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland;
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10
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Jasinska W, Dindo M, Cordoba SMC, Serohijos AWR, Laurino P, Brotman Y, Bershtein S. Non-consecutive enzyme interactions within TCA cycle supramolecular assembly regulate carbon-nitrogen metabolism. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5285. [PMID: 38902266 PMCID: PMC11189929 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49646-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Enzymes of the central metabolism tend to assemble into transient supramolecular complexes. However, the functional significance of the interactions, particularly between enzymes catalyzing non-consecutive reactions, remains unclear. Here, by co-localizing two non-consecutive enzymes of the TCA cycle from Bacillus subtilis, malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICD), in phase separated droplets we show that MDH-ICD interaction leads to enzyme agglomeration with a concomitant enhancement of ICD catalytic rate and an apparent sequestration of its reaction product, 2-oxoglutarate. Theory demonstrates that MDH-mediated clustering of ICD molecules explains the observed phenomena. In vivo analyses reveal that MDH overexpression leads to accumulation of 2-oxoglutarate and reduction of fluxes flowing through both the catabolic and anabolic branches of the carbon-nitrogen intersection occupied by 2-oxoglutarate, resulting in impeded ammonium assimilation and reduced biomass production. Our findings suggest that the MDH-ICD interaction is an important coordinator of carbon-nitrogen metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weronika Jasinska
- Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Mirco Dindo
- Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Section of Physiology and Biochemistry, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Sandra M C Cordoba
- Max-Planck-Institut fur Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Adrian W R Serohijos
- Departement de Biochimie, Universite de Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Centre Robert-Cedergren en Bio-informatique et Genomique, Universite de Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Paola Laurino
- Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan.
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
| | - Yariv Brotman
- Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
| | - Shimon Bershtein
- Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
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11
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Moreno R, Yuste L, Morales G, Rojo F. Inactivation of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 pyruvate dehydrogenase relieves catabolite repression and improves the usefulness of this strain for degrading aromatic compounds. Microb Biotechnol 2024; 17:e14514. [PMID: 38923400 PMCID: PMC11196380 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) catalyses the irreversible decarboxylation of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA, which feeds the tricarboxylic acid cycle. We investigated how the loss of PDH affects metabolism in Pseudomonas putida. PDH inactivation resulted in a strain unable to utilize compounds whose assimilation converges at pyruvate, including sugars and several amino acids, whereas compounds that generate acetyl-CoA supported growth. PDH inactivation also resulted in the loss of carbon catabolite repression (CCR), which inhibits the assimilation of non-preferred compounds in the presence of other preferred compounds. Pseudomonas putida can degrade many aromatic compounds, most of which produce acetyl-CoA, making it useful for biotransformation and bioremediation. However, the genes involved in these metabolic pathways are often inhibited by CCR when glucose or amino acids are also present. Our results demonstrate that the PDH-null strain can efficiently degrade aromatic compounds even in the presence of other preferred substrates, which the wild-type strain does inefficiently, or not at all. As the loss of PDH limits the assimilation of many sugars and amino acids and relieves the CCR, the PDH-null strain could be useful in biotransformation or bioremediation processes that require growth with mixtures of preferred substrates and aromatic compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renata Moreno
- Department of Microbial BiotechnologyCentro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSICMadridSpain
| | - Luis Yuste
- Department of Microbial BiotechnologyCentro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSICMadridSpain
| | - Gracia Morales
- Department of Microbial BiotechnologyCentro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSICMadridSpain
- Present address:
European UniversityMadridSpain
| | - Fernando Rojo
- Department of Microbial BiotechnologyCentro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSICMadridSpain
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12
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Sato G, Kinoshita S, Yamada TG, Arai S, Kitaguchi T, Funahashi A, Doi N, Fujiwara K. Metabolic Tug-of-War between Glycolysis and Translation Revealed by Biochemical Reconstitution. ACS Synth Biol 2024; 13:1572-1581. [PMID: 38717981 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.4c00209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Inside cells, various biological systems work cooperatively for homeostasis and self-replication. These systems do not work independently as they compete for shared elements like ATP and NADH. However, it has been believed that such competition is not a problem in codependent biological systems such as the energy-supplying glycolysis and the energy-consuming translation system. In this study, we biochemically reconstituted the coupling system of glycolysis and translation using purified elements and found that the competition for ATP between glycolysis and protein synthesis interferes with their coupling. Both experiments and simulations revealed that this interference is derived from a metabolic tug-of-war between glycolysis and translation based on their reaction rates, which changes the threshold of the initial substrate concentration for the success coupling. By the metabolic tug-of-war, translation energized by strong glycolysis is facilitated by an exogenous ATPase, which normally inhibits translation. These findings provide chemical insights into the mechanism of competition among biological systems in living cells and provide a framework for the construction of synthetic metabolism in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaku Sato
- Department of Biosciences & Informatics, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan
| | - Saki Kinoshita
- Department of Biosciences & Informatics, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan
| | - Takahiro G Yamada
- Department of Biosciences & Informatics, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Satoshi Arai
- Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Kitaguchi
- Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagatsuta-cho, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-8503, Japan
| | - Akira Funahashi
- Department of Biosciences & Informatics, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan
| | - Nobuhide Doi
- Department of Biosciences & Informatics, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan
| | - Kei Fujiwara
- Department of Biosciences & Informatics, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan
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13
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Berkvens A, Salinas L, Remeijer M, Planqué R, Teusink B, Bruggeman FJ. Understanding and computational design of genetic circuits of metabolic networks. Essays Biochem 2024; 68:41-51. [PMID: 38662439 PMCID: PMC11065555 DOI: 10.1042/ebc20230045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
The expression of metabolic proteins is controlled by genetic circuits, matching metabolic demands and changing environmental conditions. Ideally, this regulation brings about a competitive level of metabolic fitness. Understanding how cells can achieve a robust (close-to-optimal) functioning of metabolism by appropriate control of gene expression aids synthetic biology by providing design criteria of synthetic circuits for biotechnological purposes. It also extends our understanding of the designs of genetic circuitry found in nature such as metabolite control of transcription factor activity, promoter architectures and transcription factor dependencies, and operon composition (in bacteria). Here, we review, explain and illustrate an approach that allows for the inference and design of genetic circuitry that steers metabolic networks to achieve a maximal flux per unit invested protein across dynamic conditions. We discuss how this approach and its understanding can be used to rationalize Escherichia coli's strategy to regulate the expression of its ribosomes and infer the design of circuitry controlling gene expression of amino-acid biosynthesis enzymes. The inferred regulation indeed resembles E. coli's circuits, suggesting that these have evolved to maximize amino-acid production fluxes per unit invested protein. We end by an outlook of the use of this approach in metabolic engineering applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Berkvens
- Systems Biology Lab, A-LIFE, AIMMS, VU University, Amsterdam, NL
| | - Luis Salinas
- Systems Biology Lab, A-LIFE, AIMMS, VU University, Amsterdam, NL
| | - Maaike Remeijer
- Systems Biology Lab, A-LIFE, AIMMS, VU University, Amsterdam, NL
| | - Robert Planqué
- Department of Mathematics, Amsterdam Center for Dynamics and Computation, VU University, Amsterdam, NL
| | - Bas Teusink
- Systems Biology Lab, A-LIFE, AIMMS, VU University, Amsterdam, NL
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14
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Li T, Liu Y, Zhu H, Cao L, Zhou Y, Liu D, Shen Q. Cellular ATP redistribution achieved by deleting Tgparp improves lignocellulose utilization of Trichoderma under heat stress. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS 2024; 17:54. [PMID: 38637859 PMCID: PMC11027231 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-024-02502-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Thermotolerance is widely acknowledged as a pivotal factor for fungal survival across diverse habitats. Heat stress induces a cascade of disruptions in various life processes, especially in the acquisition of carbon sources, while the mechanisms by which filamentous fungi adapt to heat stress and maintain carbon sources are still not fully understood. RESULTS Using Trichoderma guizhouense, a representative beneficial microorganism for plants, we discover that heat stress severely inhibits the lignocellulases secretion, affecting carbon source utilization efficiency. Proteomic results at different temperatures suggest that proteins involved in the poly ADP-ribosylation pathway (TgPARP and TgADPRase) may play pivotal roles in thermal adaptation and lignocellulose utilization. TgPARP is induced by heat stress, while the deletion of Tgparp significantly improves the lignocellulose utilization capacity and lignocellulases secretion in T. guizhouense. Simultaneously, the absence of Tgparp prevents the excessive depletion of ATP and NAD+, enhances the protective role of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and elevates the expression levels of the unfolded protein response (UPR)-related regulatory factor Tgire. Further investigations reveal that a stable MMP can establish energy homeostasis, allocating more ATP within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to reduce protein accumulation in the ER, thereby enhancing the lignocellulases secretion in T. guizhouense under heat stress. CONCLUSIONS Overall, these findings underscored the significance of Tgparp as pivotal regulators in lignocellulose utilization under heat stress and provided further insights into the molecular mechanism of filamentous fungi in utilizing lignocellulose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuo Li
- Key Lab of Organic-Based Fertilizers of China and Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing, China
- College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yang Liu
- Key Lab of Organic-Based Fertilizers of China and Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing, China
- College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, Jiangsu, China
| | - Han Zhu
- Key Lab of Organic-Based Fertilizers of China and Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing, China
- College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, Jiangsu, China
| | - Linhua Cao
- Key Lab of Organic-Based Fertilizers of China and Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing, China
- College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yihao Zhou
- Key Lab of Organic-Based Fertilizers of China and Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing, China
- College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, Jiangsu, China
| | - Dongyang Liu
- Key Lab of Organic-Based Fertilizers of China and Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing, China.
- College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, Jiangsu, China.
| | - Qirong Shen
- Key Lab of Organic-Based Fertilizers of China and Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing, China
- College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, Jiangsu, China
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15
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Giacomini JJ, Torres-Morales J, Tang J, Dewhirst FE, Borisy GG, Mark Welch JL. Spatial ecology of Haemophilus and Aggregatibacter in the human oral cavity. Microbiol Spectr 2024; 12:e0401723. [PMID: 38488280 PMCID: PMC10986600 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.04017-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Haemophilus and Aggregatibacter are two of the most common bacterial genera in the human oral cavity, encompassing both commensals and pathogens of substantial ecological and medical significance. In this study, we conducted a metapangenomic analysis of oral Haemophilus and Aggregatibacter species to uncover genomic diversity, phylogenetic relationships, and habitat specialization within the human oral cavity. Using three metrics-pangenomic gene content, phylogenomics, and average nucleotide identity (ANI)-we first identified distinct species and sub-species groups among these genera. Mapping of metagenomic reads then revealed clear patterns of habitat specialization, such as Aggregatibacter species predominantly in dental plaque, a distinctive Haemophilus parainfluenzae sub-species group on the tongue dorsum, and H. sp. HMT-036 predominantly in keratinized gingiva and buccal mucosa. In addition, we found that supragingival plaque samples contained predominantly only one out of the three taxa, H. parainfluenzae, Aggregatibacter aphrophilus, and A. sp. HMT-458, suggesting independent niches or a competitive relationship. Functional analyses revealed the presence of key metabolic genes, such as oxaloacetate decarboxylase, correlated with habitat specialization, suggesting metabolic versatility as a driving force. Additionally, heme synthesis distinguishes H. sp. HMT-036 from closely related Haemophilus haemolyticus, suggesting that the availability of micronutrients, particularly iron, was important in the evolutionary ecology of these species. Overall, our study exemplifies the power of metapangenomics to identify factors that may affect ecological interactions within microbial communities, including genomic diversity, habitat specialization, and metabolic versatility. IMPORTANCE Understanding the microbial ecology of the mouth is essential for comprehending human physiology. This study employs metapangenomics to reveal that various Haemophilus and Aggregatibacter species exhibit distinct ecological preferences within the oral cavity of healthy individuals, thereby supporting the site-specialist hypothesis. Additionally, it was observed that the gene pool of different Haemophilus species correlates with their ecological niches. These findings shed light on the significance of key metabolic functions in shaping microbial distribution patterns and interspecies interactions in the oral ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jonathan Tang
- The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Floyd E. Dewhirst
- The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Jessica L. Mark Welch
- The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
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16
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Abdulnour-Nakhoul SM, Kolls JK, Flemington EK, Ungerleider NA, Nakhoul HN, Song K, Nakhoul NL. Alterations in gene expression and microbiome composition upon calcium-sensing receptor deletion in the mouse esophagus. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2024; 326:G438-G459. [PMID: 38193195 PMCID: PMC11213479 DOI: 10.1152/ajpgi.00066.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
The calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), a G protein-coupled receptor, regulates Ca2+ concentration in plasma by regulating parathyroid hormone secretion. In other tissues, it is reported to play roles in cellular differentiation and migration and in secretion and absorption. We reported previously that CaSR can be conditionally deleted in the mouse esophagus. This conditional knockout (KO) (EsoCaSR-/-) model showed a significant reduction in the levels of adherens and tight junction proteins and had a marked buildup of bacteria on the luminal esophageal surface. To further examine the role of CaSR, we used RNA sequencing to determine gene expression profiles in esophageal epithelia of control and EsoCaSR-/-mice RNA Seq data indicated upregulation of gene sets involved in DNA replication and cell cycle in EsoCaSR-/-. This is accompanied by the downregulation of gene sets involved in the innate immune response and protein homeostasis including peptide elongation and protein trafficking. Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) demonstrated that these genes are mapped to important biological networks including calcium and Ras homologus A (RhoA) signaling pathways. To further explore the bacterial buildup in EsoCaSR-/- esophageal tissue, 16S sequencing of the mucosal-associated bacterial microbiome was performed. Three bacterial species, g_Rodentibacter, s_Rodentibacter_unclassified, and s_Lactobacillus_hilgardi were significantly increased in EsoCaSR-/-. Furthermore, metagenomic analysis of 16S sequences indicated that pathways related to oxidative phosphorylation and metabolism were downregulated in EsoCaSR-/- tissues. These data demonstrate that CaSR impacts major pathways of cell proliferation, differentiation, cell cycle, and innate immune response in esophageal epithelium. The disruption of these pathways causes inflammation and significant modifications of the microbiome.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) plays a significant role in maintaining the barrier function of esophageal epithelium. Using RNA sequencing, we show that conditional deletion of CaSR from mouse esophagus causes upregulation of genes involved in DNA replication and cell cycle and downregulation of genes involved in the innate immune response, protein translation, and cellular protein synthesis. Pathway analysis shows disruption of signaling pathways of calcium and actin cytoskeleton. These changes caused inflammation and esophageal dysbiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solange M Abdulnour-Nakhoul
- Deming Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
- Department of Physiology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
| | - Jay K Kolls
- Deming Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
- Center for Translational Research in Infection and Inflammation, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
| | - Erik K Flemington
- Department of Pathology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
| | - Nathan A Ungerleider
- Department of Pathology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
| | - Hani N Nakhoul
- Department of Pathology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
| | - Kejing Song
- Deming Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
- Center for Translational Research in Infection and Inflammation, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
| | - Nazih L Nakhoul
- Deming Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
- Department of Physiology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
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17
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Lv D, Zheng W, Zhang Z, Lin Z, Wu K, Liu H, Liao X, Sun Y. Microbial imidazole propionate affects glomerular filtration rate in patients with diabetic nephropathy through association with HSP90α. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH 2024; 1871:119703. [PMID: 38453032 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2024.119703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
Imidazole propionate (ImP) is a detrimental metabolite produced by the fermentation of histidine intermediates via the intestinal flora. Here, the untargeted metabolite analysis of plasma metabolites from patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN), in combination with the Human Metabolome Database, revealed significantly increased levels of ImP in patients with DN, with a positive correlation with patients' blood creatinine concentration and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio, and a negative correlation with the glomerular filtration rate. RNA-seq was applied to detect the effects of ImP on renal tissue transcriptome in mice with DN. It demonstrated that ImP exacerbated renal injury in mice with DN and promoted renal tubular epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), leading to renal mesenchymal fibrosis and renal impairment. Furthermore, ImP was found to directly target HAP90α and activate the PI3K-Akt signalling pathway, which is involved in EMT, by the drug affinity response target stability method. The findings showed that ImP may provide a novel target for DN quality, as it can directly bind to and activate HSP90, thereby facilitating the development of DN while acting as a potential indicator for the clinical diagnosis of DN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Lv
- Department of Nephrology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400010, China; Department of Neuroscience Research Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
| | - Wenhan Zheng
- Department of Neuroscience Research Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
| | - Zheng Zhang
- Department of Neuroscience Research Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
| | - Ziyue Lin
- Department of Neuroscience Research Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
| | - Keqian Wu
- Department of Neuroscience Research Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
| | - Handeng Liu
- Laboratory of Tissue and Cell Biology, Experimental Teaching Center, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
| | - Xiaohui Liao
- Department of Nephrology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400010, China.
| | - Yan Sun
- Department of Neuroscience Research Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China.
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18
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Chen Y, Li F. Metabolomes evolve faster than metabolic network structures. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2400519121. [PMID: 38457519 PMCID: PMC10945805 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2400519121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/10/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Yu Chen
- Key Laboratory of Quantitative Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen518055, China
| | - Feiran Li
- Institute of Biopharmaceutical and Health Engineering, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen518055, China
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19
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Thweatt JL, Harman CE, Araújo MN, Marlow JJ, Oliver GC, Sabuda MC, Sevgen S, Wilpiszeki RL. Chapter 6: The Breadth and Limits of Life on Earth. ASTROBIOLOGY 2024; 24:S124-S142. [PMID: 38498824 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2021.0131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
Scientific ideas about the potential existence of life elsewhere in the universe are predominantly informed by knowledge about life on Earth. Over the past ∼4 billion years, life on Earth has evolved into millions of unique species. Life now inhabits nearly every environmental niche on Earth that has been explored. Despite the wide variety of species and diverse biochemistry of modern life, many features, such as energy production mechanisms and nutrient requirements, are conserved across the Tree of Life. Such conserved features help define the operational parameters required by life and therefore help direct the exploration and evaluation of habitability in extraterrestrial environments. As new diversity in the Tree of Life continues to expand, so do the known limits of life on Earth and the range of environments considered habitable elsewhere. The metabolic processes used by organisms living on the edge of habitability provide insights into the types of environments that would be most suitable to hosting extraterrestrial life, crucial for planning and developing future astrobiology missions. This chapter will introduce readers to the breadth and limits of life on Earth and show how the study of life at the extremes can inform the broader field of astrobiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Thweatt
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA. (Former)
| | - C E Harman
- Planetary Systems Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
| | - M N Araújo
- Biochemistry Department, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil
| | - Jeffrey J Marlow
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Gina C Oliver
- Department of Geology, San Bernardino Valley College, San Bernardino, California, USA
| | - Mary C Sabuda
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Biotechnology Institute, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Serhat Sevgen
- Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Erdemli, Mersin, Turkey
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, Washington, USA
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20
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Le Cosquer G, Vergnolle N, Motta JP. Gut microb-aging and its relevance to frailty aging. Microbes Infect 2024; 26:105309. [PMID: 38316374 DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2024.105309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
This review explores 'microb-aging' in the gut and its potential link to frailty aging. We explore this connection through alterations in microbiota's taxonomy and metabolism, as well as with concepts of ecological resilience, pathobionts emergence, and biogeography. We examine microb-aging in interconnected body organs, emphasizing the bidirectional relationship with 'inflammaging'. Finally, we discuss how targeting microb-aging could improve screening, diagnostic, and therapeutic approaches in geriatrics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Le Cosquer
- Institute of Digestive Health Research, IRSD, Toulouse University, INSERM U1220, INRAe, ENVT, UPS, 31300 Toulouse, France; Department of Gastroenterology and Pancreatology, Toulouse University Hospital, Toulouse Paul Sabatier University, 31059 Toulouse, France
| | - Nathalie Vergnolle
- Institute of Digestive Health Research, IRSD, Toulouse University, INSERM U1220, INRAe, ENVT, UPS, 31300 Toulouse, France; Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Jean-Paul Motta
- Institute of Digestive Health Research, IRSD, Toulouse University, INSERM U1220, INRAe, ENVT, UPS, 31300 Toulouse, France.
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21
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Matsuyama C, Seike T, Okahashi N, Niide T, Hara KY, Hirono-Hara Y, Ishii J, Shimizu H, Toya Y, Matsuda F. Metabolome analysis of metabolic burden in Escherichia coli caused by overexpression of green fluorescent protein and delta-rhodopsin. J Biosci Bioeng 2024; 137:187-194. [PMID: 38281859 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2023.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 11/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Overexpression of proteins by introducing a DNA vector is among the most important tools for the metabolic engineering of microorganisms such as Escherichia coli. Protein overexpression imposes a burden on metabolism because metabolic pathways must supply building blocks for protein and DNA synthesis. Different E. coli strains have distinct metabolic capacities. In this study, two proteins were overexpressed in four E. coli strains (MG1655(DE3), W3110(DE3), BL21star(DE3), and Rosetta(DE3)), and their effects on metabolic burden were investigated. Metabolomic analysis showed that E. coli strains overexpressing green fluorescent protein had decreased levels of several metabolites, with a positive correlation between the number of reduced metabolites and green fluorescent protein expression levels. Moreover, nucleic acid-related metabolites decreased, indicating a metabolic burden in the E. coli strains, and the growth rate and protein expression levels were improved by supplementation with the five nucleosides. In contrast, two strains overexpressing delta rhodopsin, a microbial membrane rhodopsin from Haloterrigena turkmenica, led to a metabolic burden and decrease in the amino acids Ala, Val, Leu, Ile, Thr, Phe, Asp, and Trp, which are the most frequent amino acids in the delta rhodopsin protein sequence. The metabolic burden caused by protein overexpression was influenced by the metabolic capacity of the host strains and the sequences of the overexpressed proteins. Detailed characterization of the effects of protein expression on the metabolic state of engineered cells using metabolomics will provide insights into improving the production of target compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chinatsu Matsuyama
- Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Taisuke Seike
- Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Okahashi
- Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Osaka University Shimadzu Omics Innovation Research Laboratories, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Teppei Niide
- Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Kiyotaka Y Hara
- Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan
| | | | - Jun Ishii
- Engineering Biology Research Center, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Shimizu
- Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yoshihiro Toya
- Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Fumio Matsuda
- Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Osaka University Shimadzu Omics Innovation Research Laboratories, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
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22
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Wang Y, Jia X, An S, Yin W, Huang J, Jiang X. Nanozyme-Based Regulation of Cellular Metabolism and Their Applications. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024; 36:e2301810. [PMID: 37017586 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202301810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2023] [Revised: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Metabolism is the sum of the enzyme-dependent chemical reactions, which produces energy in catabolic process and synthesizes biomass in anabolic process, exhibiting high similarity in mammalian cell, microbial cell, and plant cell. Consequently, the loss or gain of metabolic enzyme activity greatly affects cellular metabolism. Nanozymes, as emerging enzyme mimics with diverse functions and adjustable catalytic activities, have shown attractive potential for metabolic regulation. Although the basic metabolic tasks are highly similar for the cells from different species, the concrete metabolic pathway varies with the intracellular structure of different species. Here, the basic metabolism in living organisms is described and the similarities and differences in the metabolic pathways among mammalian, microbial, and plant cells and the regulation mechanism are discussed. The recent progress on regulation of cellular metabolism mainly including nutrient uptake and utilization, energy production, and the accompanied redox reactions by different kinds of oxidoreductases and their applications in the field of disease therapy, antimicrobial therapy, and sustainable agriculture is systematically reviewed. Furthermore, the prospects and challenges of nanozymes in regulating cell metabolism are also discussed, which broaden their application scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130022, China
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Xiaodan Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130022, China
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Shangjie An
- State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130022, China
- School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Wenbo Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130022, China
- School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Jiahao Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130022, China
- School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
| | - Xiue Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130022, China
- School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
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23
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Wu Y, Xie L, Liu Y, Xie L. Model Agnostic Semi-Supervised Meta-Learning Elucidates Understudied Out-of-distribution Molecular Interactions. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.05.17.541172. [PMID: 37292680 PMCID: PMC10245663 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.17.541172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Many biological problems are understudied due to experimental limitations and human biases. Although deep learning is promising in accelerating scientific discovery, its power compromises when applied to problems with scarcely labeled data and data distribution shifts. We developed a semi-supervised meta learning framework - Meta Model Agnostic Pseudo Label Learning (MMAPLE) - to address these challenges by effectively exploring out-of-distribution (OOD) unlabeled data when transfer learning fails. The power of MMAPLE is demonstrated in multiple applications: predicting OOD drug-target interactions, hidden human metabolite-enzyme interactions, and understudied interspecies microbiome metabolite-human receptor interactions, where chemicals or proteins in unseen data are dramatically different from those in training data. MMAPLE achieves 11% to 242% improvement in the prediction-recall on multiple OOD benchmarks over baseline models. Using MMAPLE, we reveal novel interspecies metabolite-protein interactions that are validated by bioactivity assays and fill in missing links in microbiome-human interactions. MMAPLE is a general framework to explore previously unrecognized biological domains beyond the reach of present experimental and computational techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- You Wu
- Ph.D. Program in Computer Science, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Li Xie
- Department of Computer Science, Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Yang Liu
- Department of Computer Science, Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Lei Xie
- Ph.D. Program in Computer Science, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Computer Science, Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
- Helen & Robert Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain & Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, New York, USA
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24
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Ebenhöh O, Ebeling J, Meyer R, Pohlkotte F, Nies T. Microbial Pathway Thermodynamics: Stoichiometric Models Unveil Anabolic and Catabolic Processes. Life (Basel) 2024; 14:247. [PMID: 38398756 PMCID: PMC10890395 DOI: 10.3390/life14020247] [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: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
The biotechnological exploitation of microorganisms enables the use of metabolism for the production of economically valuable substances, such as drugs or food. It is, thus, unsurprising that the investigation of microbial metabolism and its regulation has been an active research field for many decades. As a result, several theories and techniques were developed that allow for the prediction of metabolic fluxes and yields as biotechnologically relevant output parameters. One important approach is to derive macrochemical equations that describe the overall metabolic conversion of an organism and basically treat microbial metabolism as a black box. The opposite approach is to include all known metabolic reactions of an organism to assemble a genome-scale metabolic model. Interestingly, both approaches are rather successful at characterizing and predicting the expected product yield. Over the years, macrochemical equations especially have been extensively characterized in terms of their thermodynamic properties. However, a common challenge when characterizing microbial metabolism by a single equation is to split this equation into two, describing the two modes of metabolism, anabolism and catabolism. Here, we present strategies to systematically identify separate equations for anabolism and catabolism. Based on metabolic models, we systematically identify all theoretically possible catabolic routes and determine their thermodynamic efficiency. We then show how anabolic routes can be derived, and we use these to approximate biomass yield. Finally, we challenge the view of metabolism as a linear energy converter, in which the free energy gradient of catabolism drives the anabolic reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Ebenhöh
- Institute of Quantitative and Theoretical Biology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Josha Ebeling
- Institute of Quantitative and Theoretical Biology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Ronja Meyer
- Institute of Quantitative and Theoretical Biology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Fabian Pohlkotte
- Institute of Quantitative and Theoretical Biology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Tim Nies
- Institute of Quantitative and Theoretical Biology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
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25
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Doting EL, Jensen MB, Peter EK, Ellegaard-Jensen L, Tranter M, Benning LG, Hansen M, Anesio AM. The exometabolome of microbial communities inhabiting bare ice surfaces on the southern Greenland Ice Sheet. Environ Microbiol 2024; 26:e16574. [PMID: 38263628 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
Microbial blooms colonize the Greenland Ice Sheet bare ice surface during the ablation season and significantly reduce its albedo. On the ice surface, microbes are exposed to high levels of irradiance, freeze-thaw cycles, and low nutrient concentrations. It is well known that microorganisms secrete metabolites to maintain homeostasis, communicate with other microorganisms, and defend themselves. Yet, the exometabolome of supraglacial microbial blooms, dominated by the pigmented glacier ice algae Ancylonema alaskanum and Ancylonema nordenskiöldii, remains thus far unstudied. Here, we use a high-resolution mass spectrometry-based untargeted metabolomics workflow to identify metabolites in the exometabolome of microbial blooms on the surface of the southern tip of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Samples were collected every 6 h across two diurnal cycles at 5 replicate sampling sites with high similarity in community composition, in terms of orders and phyla present. Time of sampling explained 46% (permutational multivariate analysis of variance [PERMANOVA], pseudo-F = 3.7771, p = 0.001) and 27% (PERMANOVA, pseudo-F = 1.8705, p = 0.001) of variance in the exometabolome across the two diurnal cycles. Annotated metabolites included riboflavin, lumichrome, tryptophan, and azelaic acid, all of which have demonstrated roles in microbe-microbe interactions in other ecosystems and should be tested for potential roles in the development of microbial blooms on bare ice surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva L Doting
- Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
- Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Marie B Jensen
- Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Elisa K Peter
- Interface Geochemistry Section, German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
- Department of Earth Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lea Ellegaard-Jensen
- Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Martyn Tranter
- Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Liane G Benning
- Interface Geochemistry Section, German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
- Department of Earth Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Hansen
- Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Alexandre M Anesio
- Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
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26
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Tague N, Coriano-Ortiz C, Sheets MB, Dunlop MJ. Light-inducible protein degradation in E. coli with the LOVdeg tag. eLife 2024; 12:RP87303. [PMID: 38270583 PMCID: PMC10945698 DOI: 10.7554/elife.87303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Molecular tools for optogenetic control allow for spatial and temporal regulation of cell behavior. In particular, light-controlled protein degradation is a valuable mechanism of regulation because it can be highly modular, used in tandem with other control mechanisms, and maintain functionality throughout growth phases. Here, we engineered LOVdeg, a tag that can be appended to a protein of interest for inducible degradation in Escherichia coli using blue light. We demonstrate the modularity of LOVdeg by using it to tag a range of proteins, including the LacI repressor, CRISPRa activator, and the AcrB efflux pump. Additionally, we demonstrate the utility of pairing the LOVdeg tag with existing optogenetic tools to enhance performance by developing a combined EL222 and LOVdeg system. Finally, we use the LOVdeg tag in a metabolic engineering application to demonstrate post-translational control of metabolism. Together, our results highlight the modularity and functionality of the LOVdeg tag system and introduce a powerful new tool for bacterial optogenetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Tague
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
- Biological Design Center, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
| | - Cristian Coriano-Ortiz
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
- Biological Design Center, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
| | - Michael B Sheets
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
- Biological Design Center, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
| | - Mary J Dunlop
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
- Biological Design Center, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
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27
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Hassan MG, Hawwa MT, Baraka DM, El-Shora HM, Hamed AA. Biogenic selenium nanoparticles and selenium/chitosan-Nanoconjugate biosynthesized by Streptomyces parvulus MAR4 with antimicrobial and anticancer potential. BMC Microbiol 2024; 24:21. [PMID: 38216871 PMCID: PMC10785380 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-023-03171-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/14/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND As antibiotics and chemotherapeutics are no longer as efficient as they once were, multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens and cancer are presently considered as two of the most dangerous threats to human life. In this study, Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) biosynthesized by Streptomyces parvulus MAR4, nano-chitosan (NCh), and their nanoconjugate (Se/Ch-nanoconjugate) were suggested to be efficacious antimicrobial and anticancer agents. RESULTS SeNPs biosynthesized by Streptomyces parvulus MAR4 and NCh were successfully achieved and conjugated. The biosynthesized SeNPs were spherical with a mean diameter of 94.2 nm and high stability. Yet, Se/Ch-nanoconjugate was semispherical with a 74.9 nm mean diameter and much higher stability. The SeNPs, NCh, and Se/Ch-nanoconjugate showed significant antimicrobial activity against various microbial pathogens with strong inhibitory effect on their tested metabolic key enzymes [phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI), pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and nitrate reductase (NR)]; Se/Ch-nanoconjugate was the most powerful agent. Furthermore, SeNPs revealed strong cytotoxicity against HepG2 (IC50 = 13.04 μg/ml) and moderate toxicity against Caki-1 (HTB-46) tumor cell lines (IC50 = 21.35 μg/ml) but low cytotoxicity against WI-38 normal cell line (IC50 = 85.69 μg/ml). Nevertheless, Se/Ch-nanoconjugate displayed substantial cytotoxicity against HepG2 and Caki-1 (HTB-46) with IC50 values of 11.82 and 7.83 μg/ml, respectively. Consequently, Se/Ch-nanoconjugate may be more easily absorbed by both tumor cell lines. However, it exhibited very low cytotoxicity on WI-38 with IC50 of 153.3 μg/ml. Therefore, Se/Ch-nanoconjugate presented the most anticancer activity. CONCLUSION The biosynthesized SeNPs and Se/Ch-nanoconjugate are convincingly recommended to be used in biomedical applications as versatile and potent antimicrobial and anticancer agents ensuring notable levels of biosafety, environmental compatibility, and efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mervat G Hassan
- Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Benha University, P. O. Box 13511, Banha, Qalyubia, Egypt
| | - Mariam T Hawwa
- Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Benha University, P. O. Box 13511, Banha, Qalyubia, Egypt
| | - Dina M Baraka
- Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Benha University, P. O. Box 13511, Banha, Qalyubia, Egypt
| | - Hamed M El-Shora
- Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, P. O. Box 35516, Mansoura, Dakahliaو, Egypt
| | - Ahmed A Hamed
- Microbial Chemistry Department, National Research Centre, 33 El-Buhouth Street, P. O. Box 12622, Giza, Dokki, Egypt.
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28
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Moreno R, Rojo F. What are the signals that control catabolite repression in Pseudomonas? Microb Biotechnol 2024; 17:e14407. [PMID: 38227132 PMCID: PMC10832556 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Revised: 12/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 01/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Metabolically versatile bacteria exhibit a global regulatory response known as carbon catabolite repression (CCR), which prioritizes some carbon sources over others when all are present in sufficient amounts. This optimizes growth by distributing metabolite fluxes, but can restrict yields in biotechnological applications. The molecular mechanisms and preferred substrates for CCR vary between bacterial groups. Escherichia coli prioritizes glucose whereas Pseudomonas sp. prefer certain organic acids or amino acids. A significant issue in understanding (and potentially bypassing) CCR is the lack of information about the signals that trigger this regulatory response. In E. coli, several key compounds act as flux sensors, governing the flow of metabolites through catabolic pathways and preventing imbalances. These flux sensors can also modulate the CCR response. It has been suggested that the order of substrate preference is determined by carbon uptake flux rather than substrate identity. For Pseudomonas, much less information is available, as the signals that induce CCR are poorly understood. This article briefly discusses the available evidence on the signals that trigger CCR and the questions that remain to be answered in Pseudomonas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renata Moreno
- Department of Microbial BiotechnologyCentro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSICMadridSpain
| | - Fernando Rojo
- Department of Microbial BiotechnologyCentro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSICMadridSpain
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29
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Santos-Merino M, Sakkos JK, Singh AK, Ducat DC. Coordination of carbon partitioning and photosynthesis by a two-component signaling network in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942. Metab Eng 2024; 81:38-52. [PMID: 37925065 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2023.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023]
Abstract
Photosynthetic organisms need to balance the rate of photosynthesis with the utilization of photosynthetic products by downstream reactions. While such "source/sink" pathways are well-interrogated in plants, analogous regulatory systems are unknown or poorly studied in single-celled algal and cyanobacterial species. Towards the identification of energy/sugar sensors in cyanobacteria, we utilized an engineered strain of Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 that allows experimental manipulation of carbon status. We conducted a screening of all two-component systems (TCS) and serine/threonine kinases (STKs) encoded in S. elongatus PCC 7942 by analyzing phenotypes consistent with sucrose-induced relaxation of sink inhibition. We narrowed the candidate sensor proteins by analyzing changes observed after sucrose feeding. We show that a clustered TCS network containing RpaA, CikB, ManS and NblS are involved in the regulation of genes related to photosynthesis, pigment synthesis, and Rubisco concentration in response to sucrose. Altogether, these results highlight a regulatory TCS group that may play under-appreciated functions in carbon partitioning and energy balancing in cyanobacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Santos-Merino
- MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, United States
| | - Jonathan K Sakkos
- MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, United States
| | - Amit K Singh
- MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, United States
| | - Daniel C Ducat
- MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, United States; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, United States.
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30
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Morgan AE, Salcedo-Sora JE, Mc Auley MT. A new mathematical model of folate homeostasis in E. coli highlights the potential importance of the folinic acid futile cycle in cell growth. Biosystems 2024; 235:105088. [PMID: 38000545 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2023.105088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023]
Abstract
Folate (vitamin B9) plays a central role in one-carbon metabolism in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This pathway mediates the transfer of one-carbon units, playing a crucial role in nucleotide synthesis, methylation, and amino acid homeostasis. The folinic acid futile cycle adds a layer of intrigue to this pathway, due to its associations with metabolism, cell growth, and dormancy. It also introduces additional complexity to folate metabolism. A logical way to deal with such complexity is to examine it by using mathematical modelling. This work describes the construction and analysis of a model of folate metabolism, which includes the folinic acid futile cycle. This model was tested under three in silico growth conditions. Model simulations revealed: 1) the folate cycle behaved as a stable biochemical system in three growth states (slow, standard, and rapid); 2) the initial concentration of serine had the greatest impact on metabolite concentrations; 3) 5-formyltetrahydrofolate cyclo-ligase (5-FCL) activity had a significant impact on the levels of the 7 products that carry the one-carbon donated from folates, and the redox couple NADP/NADPH; this was particularly evident in the rapid growth state; 4) 5-FCL may be vital to the survival of the cells by maintaining low levels of homocysteine, as high levels can induce toxicity; and 5) the antifolate therapeutic trimethoprim had a greater impact on folate metabolism with higher nutrient availability. These results highlight the important role of 5-FCL in intracellular folate homeostasis and mass generation under different metabolic scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy E Morgan
- School of Health & Sport Sciences, Hope Park, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, L16 9JD, UK.
| | - J Enrique Salcedo-Sora
- Liverpool Shared Research Facilities, GeneMill, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Mark T Mc Auley
- School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Manchester, M5 4NT, UK
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31
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Li S, You X, Rani A, Özcan E, Sela DA. Bifidobacterium infantis utilizes N-acetylglucosamine-containing human milk oligosaccharides as a nitrogen source. Gut Microbes 2023; 15:2244721. [PMID: 37609905 PMCID: PMC10448974 DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2244721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) utilizes oligosaccharides secreted in human milk as a carbohydrate source. These human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) integrate the nitrogenous residue N-acetylglucosamine (NAG), although HMO nitrogen utilization has not been described to date. Herein, we characterize the B. infantis nitrogen utilization phenotype on two NAG-containing HMO species, LNT and LNnT. This was characterized through in vitro growth kinetics, incorporation of isotopically labeled NAG nitrogen into the proteome, as well as modulation of intracellular 2-oxoglutarate levels while utilizing HMO nitrogen. Further support is provided by comparative transcriptomics and proteomics that identified global regulatory networks deployed during HMO nitrogen utilization. The aggregate data demonstrate that B. infantis strains utilize HMO nitrogen with the potential to significantly impact fundamental and clinical studies, as well as enable applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuqi Li
- Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Xiaomeng You
- Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Asha Rani
- Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Ezgi Özcan
- Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - David A. Sela
- Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
- Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
- Department of Nutrition, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
- Department of Microbiology & Physiological Systems and Center for Microbiome Research, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
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32
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He H, Li Y, Ma X, Xu S, Zhang L, Ding Z, Shi G. Design of a sorbitol-activated nitrogen metabolism-dependent regulatory system for redirection of carbon metabolism flow in Bacillus licheniformis. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:11952-11966. [PMID: 37850640 PMCID: PMC10681722 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Synthetic regulation of metabolic fluxes has emerged as a common strategy to improve the performance of microbial cell factories. The present regulatory toolboxes predominantly rely on the control and manipulation of carbon pathways. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient that plays a vital role in growth and metabolism. However, the availability of broadly applicable tools based on nitrogen pathways for metabolic regulation remains limited. In this work, we present a novel regulatory system that harnesses signals associated with nitrogen metabolism to redirect excess carbon flux in Bacillus licheniformis. By engineering the native transcription factor GlnR and incorporating a sorbitol-responsive element, we achieved a remarkable 99% inhibition of the expression of the green fluorescent protein reporter gene. Leveraging this system, we identified the optimal redirection point for the overflow carbon flux, resulting in a substantial 79.5% reduction in acetoin accumulation and a 2.6-fold increase in acetate production. This work highlight the significance of nitrogen metabolism in synthetic biology and its valuable contribution to metabolic engineering. Furthermore, our work paves the way for multidimensional metabolic regulation in future synthetic biology endeavors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hehe He
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- National Engineering Research Center of Cereal Fermentation and Food Biomanufacturing, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- Jiangsu Provisional Research Center for Bioactive Product Processing Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
| | - Youran Li
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- National Engineering Research Center of Cereal Fermentation and Food Biomanufacturing, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- Jiangsu Provisional Research Center for Bioactive Product Processing Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
| | - Xufan Ma
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- National Engineering Research Center of Cereal Fermentation and Food Biomanufacturing, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- Jiangsu Provisional Research Center for Bioactive Product Processing Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
| | - Sha Xu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- National Engineering Research Center of Cereal Fermentation and Food Biomanufacturing, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- Jiangsu Provisional Research Center for Bioactive Product Processing Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
| | - Liang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- National Engineering Research Center of Cereal Fermentation and Food Biomanufacturing, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- Jiangsu Provisional Research Center for Bioactive Product Processing Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
| | - Zhongyang Ding
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- National Engineering Research Center of Cereal Fermentation and Food Biomanufacturing, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- Jiangsu Provisional Research Center for Bioactive Product Processing Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
| | - Guiyang Shi
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- National Engineering Research Center of Cereal Fermentation and Food Biomanufacturing, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
- Jiangsu Provisional Research Center for Bioactive Product Processing Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214000, PR China
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33
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Jakowec NA, Finegan M, Finkel SE. Disruption of trehalose periplasmic recycling dysregulates cAMP-CRP signaling in Escherichia coli during stationary phase. J Bacteriol 2023; 205:e0029223. [PMID: 37916804 PMCID: PMC10662143 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00292-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Survival during starvation hinges on the ability to manage intracellular energy reserves and to initiate appropriate metabolic responses to perturbations of such reserves. How Escherichia coli manage carbon storage systems under starvation stress, as well as transpose changes in intracellular metabolite levels into regulatory signals, is not well understood. Endogenous trehalose metabolism may be at the center of these processes, coupling carbon storage with carbon starvation responses. The coupled transport to the periplasm and subsequent hydrolysis of trehalose back to glucose for transport to the cytoplasm may function as a crucial metabolic signaling pathway. Although trehalose has been characterized as a stress protectant in E. coli, the disaccharide also functions as both an energy storage compound and a regulator of carbohydrate metabolism in fungi, plants, and other bacteria. Our research explores the metabolic regulatory properties of trehalose in E. coli and a potential mechanism by which the intracellular carbon pool is interconnected with regulatory circuits, enabling long-term survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolaus A. Jakowec
- Molecular and Computational Biology Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Melissa Finegan
- Molecular and Computational Biology Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Steven E. Finkel
- Molecular and Computational Biology Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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34
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Tague N, Coriano-Ortiz C, Sheets MB, Dunlop MJ. Light inducible protein degradation in E. coli with the LOVdeg tag. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.25.530042. [PMID: 36865169 PMCID: PMC9980293 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.25.530042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/27/2023]
Abstract
Molecular tools for optogenetic control allow for spatial and temporal regulation of cell behavior. In particular, light controlled protein degradation is a valuable mechanism of regulation because it can be highly modular, used in tandem with other control mechanisms, and maintain functionality throughout growth phases. Here, we engineered LOVdeg, a tag that can be appended to a protein of interest for inducible degradation in Escherichia coli using blue light. We demonstrate the modularity of LOVdeg by using it to tag a range of proteins, including the LacI repressor, CRISPRa activator, and the AcrB efflux pump. Additionally, we demonstrate the utility of pairing the LOVdeg tag with existing optogenetic tools to enhance performance by developing a combined EL222 and LOVdeg system. Finally, we use the LOVdeg tag in a metabolic engineering application to demonstrate post-translational control of metabolism. Together, our results highlight the modularity and functionality of the LOVdeg tag system, and introduce a powerful new tool for bacterial optogenetics.
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35
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Cuevas-Zuviría B, Fer E, Adam ZR, Kaçar B. The modular biochemical reaction network structure of cellular translation. NPJ Syst Biol Appl 2023; 9:52. [PMID: 37884541 PMCID: PMC10603163 DOI: 10.1038/s41540-023-00315-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Translation is an essential attribute of all living cells. At the heart of cellular operation, it is a chemical information decoding process that begins with an input string of nucleotides and ends with the synthesis of a specific output string of peptides. The translation process is interconnected with gene expression, physiological regulation, transcription, and responses to signaling molecules, among other cellular functions. Foundational efforts have uncovered a wealth of knowledge about the mechanistic functions of the components of translation and their many interactions between them, but the broader biochemical connections between translation, metabolism and polymer biosynthesis that enable translation to occur have not been comprehensively mapped. Here we present a multilayer graph of biochemical reactions describing the translation, polymer biosynthesis and metabolism networks of an Escherichia coli cell. Intriguingly, the compounds that compose these three layers are distinctly aggregated into three modes regardless of their layer categorization. Multimodal mass distributions are well-known in ecosystems, but this is the first such distribution reported at the biochemical level. The degree distributions of the translation and metabolic networks are each likely to be heavy-tailed, but the polymer biosynthesis network is not. A multimodal mass-degree distribution indicates that the translation and metabolism networks are each distinct, adaptive biochemical modules, and that the gaps between the modes reflect evolved responses to the functional use of metabolite, polypeptide and polynucleotide compounds. The chemical reaction network of cellular translation opens new avenues for exploring complex adaptive phenomena such as percolation and phase changes in biochemical contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Cuevas-Zuviría
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Evrim Fer
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Zachary R Adam
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Betül Kaçar
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
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36
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Trouillon J, Doubleday PF, Sauer U. Genomic footprinting uncovers global transcription factor responses to amino acids in Escherichia coli. Cell Syst 2023; 14:860-871.e4. [PMID: 37820729 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2023.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
Our knowledge of transcriptional responses to changes in nutrient availability comes primarily from few well-studied transcription factors (TFs), often lacking an unbiased genome-wide perspective. Leveraging recent advances allowing bacterial genomic footprinting, we comprehensively mapped the genome-wide regulatory responses of Escherichia coli to exogenous leucine, methionine, alanine, and lysine. The global TF Lrp was found to individually sense three amino acids and mount three different target gene responses. Overall, 531 genes had altered RNA polymerase occupancy, and 32 TFs responded directly or indirectly to the presence of amino acids, including regulators of membrane and osmotic pressure homeostasis. About 70% of the detected TF-DNA interactions had not been reported before. We thus identified 682 previously unknown TF-binding locations, for a subset of which the involved TFs were identified by affinity purification. This comprehensive map of amino acid regulation illustrates the incompleteness of the known transcriptional regulation network, even in E. coli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Trouillon
- Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Peter F Doubleday
- Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Uwe Sauer
- Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
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37
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Lyu Z, Villanueva P, O’Malley L, Murphy P, Augenstreich J, Briken V, Singh A, Ling J. Genome-wide screening reveals metabolic regulation of stop-codon readthrough by cyclic AMP. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:9905-9919. [PMID: 37670559 PMCID: PMC10570021 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 08/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Translational fidelity is critical for microbial fitness, survival and stress responses. Much remains unknown about the genetic and environmental control of translational fidelity and its single-cell heterogeneity. In this study, we used a high-throughput fluorescence-based assay to screen a knock-out library of Escherichia coli and identified over 20 genes critical for stop-codon readthrough. Most of these identified genes were not previously known to affect translational fidelity. Intriguingly, we show that several genes controlling metabolism, including cyaA and crp, enhance stop-codon readthrough. CyaA catalyzes the synthesis of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Combining RNA sequencing, metabolomics and biochemical analyses, we show that deleting cyaA impairs amino acid catabolism and production of ATP, thus repressing the transcription of rRNAs and tRNAs to decrease readthrough. Single-cell analyses further show that cAMP is a major driver of heterogeneity in stop-codon readthrough and rRNA expression. Our results highlight that carbon metabolism is tightly coupled with stop-codon readthrough.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhihui Lyu
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, The University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Patricia Villanueva
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, The University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Liam O’Malley
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, The University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Parker Murphy
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, The University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Jacques Augenstreich
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, The University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Volker Briken
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, The University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Abhyudai Singh
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Jiqiang Ling
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, The University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
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38
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Kim J, Ahn SB, Hong S, Kim KS, Ko EHE, Jo IJ, Chang J, Kim M, Lee W, Lee H. Intracellular Dynamics-Resolved Label-Free Scattering Reveals Real-Time Metabolism of Single Bacteria. NANO LETTERS 2023; 23:8225-8232. [PMID: 37650605 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c02370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
Nanoscopic investigation of bacterial cells is essential to reveal their physiological status, impacting all cellular functions. Currently, this requires labeled probes or targeted staining procedures. Herein, we report a new bacterial feature, intracellular dynamics-resolved Rayleigh scattering (IDRS), that visualizes spatiotemporal cytoplasmic transitions in unlabeled bacteria and characterizes their real-time physiological status in 10 s. From single-bacterium IDRS signals, we discovered unique spatial patterns and their multiple transitions in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The magnitude of IDRS signal variation highly correlated with the metabolic status of bacteria, differentiating persistent subpopulations. This is also the first report demonstrating distinct real-time metabolic conditions of unlabeled drug-resistant bacteria that are exposed to different doses of antibiotics. Our strategy opens up a way to simultaneously trace in situ metabolic and antibiotic resistance statuses, which can be applied in single-cell level control of bacterial metabolism and efficacy with a heterogeneous nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jungwoo Kim
- Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
| | - Soo Bin Ahn
- Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of New Drug Discovery and Development, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea
| | - Subin Hong
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Kwang-Sun Kim
- Department of Chemistry and Chemistry Institute for Functional Materials, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Esther Ha-Eun Ko
- Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
| | - I Jeong Jo
- Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
| | - JuOae Chang
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Meehyein Kim
- Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of New Drug Discovery and Development, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea
| | - Wonsik Lee
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Haemi Lee
- Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
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39
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Kleijn IT, Marguerat S, Shahrezaei V. A coarse-grained resource allocation model of carbon and nitrogen metabolism in unicellular microbes. J R Soc Interface 2023; 20:20230206. [PMID: 37751876 PMCID: PMC10522411 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2023.0206] [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: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Coarse-grained resource allocation models (C-GRAMs) are simple mathematical models of cell physiology, where large components of the macromolecular composition are abstracted into single entities. The dynamics and steady-state behaviour of such models provides insights on optimal allocation of cellular resources and have explained experimentally observed cellular growth laws, but current models do not account for the uptake of compound sources of carbon and nitrogen. Here, we formulate a C-GRAM with nitrogen and carbon pathways converging on biomass production, with parametrizations accounting for respirofermentative and purely respiratory growth. The model describes the effects of the uptake of sugars, ammonium and/or compound nutrients such as amino acids on the translational resource allocation towards proteome sectors that maximized the growth rate. It robustly recovers cellular growth laws including the Monod law and the ribosomal growth law. Furthermore, we show how the growth-maximizing balance between carbon uptake, recycling, and excretion depends on the nutrient environment. Lastly, we find a robust linear correlation between the ribosome fraction and the abundance of amino acid equivalents in the optimal cell, which supports the view that simple regulation of translational gene expression can enable cells to achieve an approximately optimal growth state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Istvan T. Kleijn
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
- MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, London, UK
- Division of Breast Cancer Research, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
- Ralph Lauren Centre for Breast Cancer Research, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Samuel Marguerat
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
- MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, London, UK
| | - Vahid Shahrezaei
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK
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40
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Guo L, Liu M, Bi Y, Qi Q, Xian M, Zhao G. Using a synthetic machinery to improve carbon yield with acetylphosphate as the core. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5286. [PMID: 37648707 PMCID: PMC10468489 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41135-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
In microbial cell factory, CO2 release during acetyl-CoA production from pyruvate significantly decreases the carbon atom economy. Here, we construct and optimize a synthetic carbon conserving pathway named as Sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase Cycle with Trifunctional PhosphoKetolase (SCTPK) in Escherichia coli. This cycle relies on a generalist phosphoketolase Xfspk and converts glucose into the stoichiometric amounts of acetylphosphate (AcP). Furthermore, genetic circuits responding to AcP positively or negatively are created. Together with SCTPK, they constitute a gene-metabolic oscillator that regulates Xfspk and enzymes converting AcP into valuable chemicals in response to intracellular AcP level autonomously, allocating metabolic flux rationally and improving the carbon atom economy of bioconversion process. Using this synthetic machinery, mevalonate is produced with a yield higher than its native theoretical yield, and the highest titer and yield of 3-hydroxypropionate via malonyl-CoA pathway are achieved. This study provides a strategy for improving the carbon yield of microbial cell factories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Likun Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Min Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Yujia Bi
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Qingsheng Qi
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Mo Xian
- CAS Key Lab of Biobased Materials, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, China
| | - Guang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China.
- CAS Key Lab of Biobased Materials, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, China.
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41
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Soultanas P, Janniere L. The metabolic control of DNA replication: mechanism and function. Open Biol 2023; 13:230220. [PMID: 37582405 PMCID: PMC10427196 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.230220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Metabolism and DNA replication are the two most fundamental biological functions in life. The catabolic branch of metabolism breaks down nutrients to produce energy and precursors used by the anabolic branch of metabolism to synthesize macromolecules. DNA replication consumes energy and precursors for faithfully copying genomes, propagating the genetic material from generation to generation. We have exquisite understanding of the mechanisms that underpin and regulate these two biological functions. However, the molecular mechanism coordinating replication to metabolism and its biological function remains mostly unknown. Understanding how and why living organisms respond to fluctuating nutritional stimuli through cell-cycle dynamic changes and reproducibly and distinctly temporalize DNA synthesis in a wide-range of growth conditions is important, with wider implications across all domains of life. After summarizing the seminal studies that founded the concept of the metabolic control of replication, we review data linking metabolism to replication from bacteria to humans. Molecular insights underpinning these links are then presented to propose that the metabolic control of replication uses signalling systems gearing metabolome homeostasis to orchestrate replication temporalization. The remarkable replication phenotypes found in mutants of this control highlight its importance in replication regulation and potentially genetic stability and tumorigenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panos Soultanas
- Biodiscovery Institute, School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Laurent Janniere
- Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Université Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, 91057 Evry, France
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42
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Sun Y, Zhang Y, Zhao T, Luan Y, Wang Y, Yang C, Shen B, Huang X, Li G, Zhao S, Zhao G, Wang Q. Acetylation coordinates the crosstalk between carbon metabolism and ammonium assimilation in Salmonella enterica. EMBO J 2023; 42:e112333. [PMID: 37183585 PMCID: PMC10308350 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2022112333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Enteric bacteria use up to 15% of their cellular energy for ammonium assimilation via glutamine synthetase (GS)/glutamate synthase (GOGAT) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) in response to varying ammonium availability. However, the sensory mechanisms for effective and appropriate coordination between carbon metabolism and ammonium assimilation have not been fully elucidated. Here, we report that in Salmonella enterica, carbon metabolism coordinates the activities of GS/GDH via functionally reversible protein lysine acetylation. Glucose promotes Pat acetyltransferase-mediated acetylation and activation of adenylylated GS. Simultaneously, glucose induces GDH acetylation to inactivate the enzyme by impeding its catalytic centre, which is reversed upon GDH deacetylation by deacetylase CobB. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations indicate that adenylylation is required for acetylation-dependent activation of GS. We show that acetylation and deacetylation occur within minutes of "glucose shock" to promptly adapt to ammonium/carbon variation and finely balance glutamine/glutamate synthesis. Finally, in a mouse infection model, reduced S. enterica growth caused by the expression of adenylylation-mimetic GS is rescued by acetylation-mimicking mutations. Thus, glucose-driven acetylation integrates signals from ammonium assimilation and carbon metabolism to fine-tune bacterial growth control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunwei Sun
- Department of Gastroenterology of Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Institute of ImmunologyShanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghaiChina
| | - Yuebin Zhang
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling and Design, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical PhysicsChinese Academy of SciencesDalianChina
| | - Tingting Zhao
- Department of Gastroenterology of Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Institute of ImmunologyShanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghaiChina
| | - Yi Luan
- Department of Pharmacology, Vascular Biology and Therapeutic ProgramYale University School of MedicineNew HavenCTUSA
| | - Ying Wang
- Department of Gastroenterology of Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Institute of ImmunologyShanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghaiChina
| | - Chen Yang
- CAS‐Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesShanghaiChina
| | - Bo Shen
- Department of Gastroenterology of Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Institute of ImmunologyShanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghaiChina
| | - Xi Huang
- Department of Gastroenterology of Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Institute of ImmunologyShanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghaiChina
| | - Guohui Li
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling and Design, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical PhysicsChinese Academy of SciencesDalianChina
| | - Shimin Zhao
- State Key Lab of Genetic Engineering & Institutes of Biomedical SciencesFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
- Department of Microbiology and Microbial Engineering, School of Life SciencesFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, West China HospitalSichuan UniversityChengduChina
| | - Guo‐ping Zhao
- CAS‐Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesShanghaiChina
- State Key Lab of Genetic Engineering & Institutes of Biomedical SciencesFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
- Department of Microbiology and Microbial Engineering, School of Life SciencesFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
- Shanghai‐MOST Key Laboratory of Disease and Health GenomicsChinese National Human Genome Center at ShanghaiShanghaiChina
- Department of Microbiology and Li KaShing Institute of Health SciencesThe Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales HospitalShatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SARChina
| | - Qijun Wang
- Department of Gastroenterology of Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Institute of ImmunologyShanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineShanghaiChina
- Department of Pharmacology, Vascular Biology and Therapeutic ProgramYale University School of MedicineNew HavenCTUSA
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43
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Niu Y, Chen Z, Jiang Z, Yang Y, Liu G, Cheng X, Jiang Z, Zhang G, Tong L, Tang B. Detection of Cysteine Sulfenic Acid on E. coli Proteins with a Biotin-Benzoboroxole Probe. ACS Chem Biol 2023; 18:1351-1359. [PMID: 37260364 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
S-sulfenylation of cysteine residues on proteins can effectively change protein structures and accordingly regulate their functions in vivo. Investigation of S-sulfenylation in different biological environments is thus vital for a systematic understanding of cellular redox regulation. In this work, a functional probe, biotin-benzoboroxole (Bio-ben), was designed for the detection of cysteine sulfenic acid (Cys-SOH). The performance of Bio-ben was characterized by small-molecule sulfenic acid, protein models, and proteome tests via mass spectra and western blotting. The results showed that Bio-ben was validated for cysteine sulfenic acid on proteins with good capture efficiency even at low concentrations. Compared with commonly used probes such as dimedone, the current probe has significantly shortened labeling time and exhibited comparable sensitivity. The proposed method provides a new approach for exploring S-sulfenylation in the oxidative modification of proteins and is helpful for related biological and clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaxin Niu
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhenzhen Chen
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhongyao Jiang
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanmei Yang
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
| | - Guangzhao Liu
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiufen Cheng
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhenhao Jiang
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
| | - Guanglu Zhang
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
| | - Lili Tong
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
| | - Bo Tang
- College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China
- Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266237, People's Republic of China
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44
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Purcell AB, Simpson BW, Trent MS. Impact of the cAMP-cAMP Receptor Protein Regulatory Complex on Lipopolysaccharide Modifications and Polymyxin B Resistance in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol 2023; 205:e0006723. [PMID: 37070977 PMCID: PMC10210979 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00067-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Gram-negative bacteria have a unique cell surface that can be modified to maintain bacterial fitness in diverse environments. A well-defined example is the modification of the lipid A component of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which promotes resistance to polymyxin antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides. In many organisms, such modifications include the addition of the amine-containing constituents 4-amino-4-deoxy-l-arabinose (l-Ara4N) and phosphoethanolamine (pEtN). Addition of pEtN is catalyzed by EptA, which uses phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) as its substrate donor, resulting in production of diacylglycerol (DAG). DAG is then quickly recycled into glycerophospholipid (GPL) synthesis by the DAG kinase A (DgkA) to produce phosphatidic acid, the major GPL precursor. Previously, we hypothesized that loss of DgkA recycling would be detrimental to the cell when LPS is heavily modified. Instead, we found that DAG accumulation inhibits EptA activity, preventing further degradation of PE, the predominant GPL of the cell. However, DAG inhibition of pEtN addition results in complete loss of polymyxin resistance. Here, we selected for suppressors to find a mechanism of resistance independent of DAG recycling or pEtN modification. Disrupting the gene encoding the adenylate cyclase, cyaA, fully restored antibiotic resistance without restoring DAG recycling or pEtN modification. Supporting this, disruptions of genes that reduce CyaA-derived cAMP formation (e.g., ptsI) or disruption of the cAMP receptor protein, Crp, also restored resistance. We found that loss of the cAMP-CRP regulatory complex was necessary for suppression and that resistance arises from a substantial increase in l-Ara4N-modified LPS, bypassing the need for pEtN modification. IMPORTANCE Gram-negative bacteria can alter the structure of their LPS to promote resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides, including polymyxin antibiotics. Polymyxins are considered last-resort antibiotics for treatment against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms. Here, we explore how changes in general metabolism and carbon catabolite repression pathways can alter LPS structure and influence polymyxin resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandria B. Purcell
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
| | - Brent W. Simpson
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
| | - M. Stephen Trent
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
- Department of Microbiology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
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45
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Scott M, Hwa T. Shaping bacterial gene expression by physiological and proteome allocation constraints. Nat Rev Microbiol 2023; 21:327-342. [PMID: 36376406 PMCID: PMC10121745 DOI: 10.1038/s41579-022-00818-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Networks of molecular regulators are often the primary objects of focus in the study of gene regulation, with the machinery of protein synthesis tacitly relegated to the background. Shifting focus to the constraints imposed by the allocation of protein synthesis flux reveals surprising ways in which the actions of molecular regulators are shaped by physiological demands. Using carbon catabolite repression as a case study, we describe how physiological constraints are sensed through metabolic fluxes and how flux-controlled regulation gives rise to simple empirical relations between protein levels and the rate of cell growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Scott
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
| | - Terence Hwa
- Department of Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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Fulton RL, Downs DM. Modulators of a robust and efficient metabolism: Perspective and insights from the Rid superfamily of proteins. Adv Microb Physiol 2023; 83:117-179. [PMID: 37507158 PMCID: PMC10642521 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ampbs.2023.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
Metabolism is an integrated network of biochemical pathways that assemble to generate the robust, responsive physiologies of microorganisms. Despite decades of fundamental studies on metabolic processes and pathways, our understanding of the nuance and complexity of metabolism remains incomplete. The ability to predict and model metabolic network structure, and its influence on cellular fitness, is complicated by the persistence of genes of unknown function, even in the best-studied model organisms. This review describes the definition and continuing study of the Rid superfamily of proteins. These studies are presented with a perspective that illustrates how metabolic complexity can complicate the assignment of function to uncharacterized genes. The Rid superfamily of proteins has been divided into eight subfamilies, including the well-studied RidA subfamily. Aside from the RidA proteins, which are present in all domains of life and prevent metabolic stress, most members of the Rid superfamily have no demonstrated physiological role. Recent progress on functional assignment supports the hypothesis that, overall, proteins in the Rid superfamily modulate metabolic processes to ensure optimal organismal fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronnie L Fulton
- Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Diana M Downs
- Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.
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Bi S, Kargeti M, Colin R, Farke N, Link H, Sourjik V. Dynamic fluctuations in a bacterial metabolic network. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2173. [PMID: 37061520 PMCID: PMC10105761 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37957-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The operation of the central metabolism is typically assumed to be deterministic, but dynamics and high connectivity of the metabolic network make it potentially prone to generating fluctuations. However, time-resolved measurements of metabolite levels in individual cells that are required to characterize such fluctuations remained a challenge, particularly in small bacterial cells. Here we use single-cell metabolite measurements based on Förster resonance energy transfer, combined with computer simulations, to explore the real-time dynamics of the metabolic network of Escherichia coli. We observe that steplike exposure of starved E. coli to glycolytic carbon sources elicits large periodic fluctuations in the intracellular concentration of pyruvate in individual cells. These fluctuations are consistent with predicted oscillatory dynamics of E. coli metabolic network, and they are primarily controlled by biochemical reactions around the pyruvate node. Our results further indicate that fluctuations in glycolysis propagate to other cellular processes, possibly leading to temporal heterogeneity of cellular states within a population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuangyu Bi
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), D-35043, Marburg, Germany
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Manika Kargeti
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), D-35043, Marburg, Germany
| | - Remy Colin
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), D-35043, Marburg, Germany
| | - Niklas Farke
- University of Tübingen, D-72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hannes Link
- University of Tübingen, D-72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Victor Sourjik
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), D-35043, Marburg, Germany.
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Lim S. A Review of the Bacterial Phosphoproteomes of Beneficial Microbes. Microorganisms 2023; 11:microorganisms11040931. [PMID: 37110354 PMCID: PMC10145908 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11040931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The number and variety of protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) found and characterized in bacteria over the past ten years have increased dramatically. Compared to eukaryotic proteins, most post-translational protein changes in bacteria affect relatively few proteins because the majority of modified proteins exhibit substoichiometric modification levels, which makes structural and functional analyses challenging. In addition, the number of modified enzymes in bacterial species differs widely, and degrees of proteome modification depend on environmental conditions. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that protein PTMs play essential roles in various cellular processes, including nitrogen metabolism, protein synthesis and turnover, the cell cycle, dormancy, spore germination, sporulation, persistence, and virulence. Additional investigations on protein post-translational changes will undoubtedly close knowledge gaps in bacterial physiology and create new means of treating infectious diseases. Here, we describe the role of the post-translation phosphorylation of major bacterial proteins and review the progress of research on phosphorylated proteins depending on bacterial species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sooa Lim
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Hoseo University, Asan-si 31499, Republic of Korea
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Zhang Y, Chen R, Zhang D, Qi S, Liu Y. Metabolite interactions between host and microbiota during health and disease: Which feeds the other? Biomed Pharmacother 2023; 160:114295. [PMID: 36709600 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Revised: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Metabolites produced by the host and microbiota play a crucial role in how human bodies develop and remain healthy. Most of these metabolites are produced by microbiota and hosts in the digestive tract. Metabolites in the gut have important roles in energy metabolism, cellular communication, and host immunity, among other physiological activities. Although numerous host metabolites, such as free fatty acids, amino acids, and vitamins, are found in the intestine, metabolites generated by gut microbiota are equally vital for intestinal homeostasis. Furthermore, microbiota in the gut is the sole source of some metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Metabolites produced by microbiota, such as neurotransmitters and hormones, may modulate and significantly affect host metabolism. The gut microbiota is becoming recognized as a second endocrine system. A variety of chronic inflammatory disorders have been linked to aberrant host-microbiota interplays, but the precise mechanisms underpinning these disturbances and how they might lead to diseases remain to be fully elucidated. Microbiome-modulated metabolites are promising targets for new drug discovery due to their endocrine function in various complex disorders. In humans, metabolotherapy for the prevention or treatment of various disorders will be possible if we better understand the metabolic preferences of bacteria and the host in specific tissues and organs. Better disease treatments may be possible with the help of novel complementary therapies that target host or bacterial metabolism. The metabolites, their physiological consequences, and functional mechanisms of the host-microbiota interplays will be highlighted, summarized, and discussed in this overview.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Zhang
- Department of Anethesiology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, People's Republic of China.
| | - Rui Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, People's Republic of China.
| | - DuoDuo Zhang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130021, People's Republic of China.
| | - Shuang Qi
- Department of Anethesiology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yan Liu
- Department of Hand and Foot Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, People's Republic of China.
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Thorfinnsdottir LB, Bø GH, Booth JA, Bruheim P. Survival of Escherichia coli after high-antibiotic stress is dependent on both the pregrown physiological state and incubation conditions. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1149978. [PMID: 36970700 PMCID: PMC10036391 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1149978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
IntroductionThe survival of bacterial cells exposed to antibiotics depends on the mode of action, the antibiotics concentration, and the duration of treatment. However, it also depends on the physiological state of the cells and the environmental conditions. In addition, bacterial cultures contain sub-populations that can survive high antibiotic concentrations, so-called persisters. Research on persisters is challenging due to multiple mechanisms for their formation and low fractions, down to and below one millionth of the total cell population. Here, we present an improved version of the persister assay used to enumerate the amount of persisters in a cell population.MethodsThe persister assay with high antibiotic stress exposure was performed at both growth supporting and non-supporting conditions. Escherichia coli cells were pregrown to various growth stages in shake flasks and bench-top bioreactors. In addition, the physiological state of E. coli before antibiotic treatment was determined by quantitative mass spectrometry-based metabolite profiling.ResultsSurvival of E. coli strongly depended on whether the persister assay medium supported growth or not. The results were also highly dependent on the type of antibiotic and pregrown physiological state of the cells. Therefore, applying the same conditions is critical for consistent and comparable results. No direct connection was observed between antibiotic efficacy to the metabolic state. This also includes the energetic state (i.e., the intracellular concentration of ATP and the adenylate energy charge), which has earlier been hypothesized to be decisive for persister formation.DiscussionThe study provides guides and suggestions for the design of future experimentation in the research fields of persisters and antibiotic tolerance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gaute Hovde Bø
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - James Alexander Booth
- Department of Microbiology, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Per Bruheim
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- *Correspondence: Per Bruheim,
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