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Lu Z, Wang B, Qiu Z, Zhang R, Zheng J, Jia Z. YdfD, a Lysis Protein of the Qin Prophage, Is a Specific Inhibitor of the IspG-Catalyzed Step in the MEP Pathway of Escherichia coli. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23031560. [PMID: 35163484 PMCID: PMC8835842 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23031560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2021] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial cryptic prophage (defective prophage) genes are known to drastically influence host physiology, such as causing cell growth arrest or lysis, upon expression. Many phages encode lytic proteins to destroy the cell envelope. As natural antibiotics, only a few lysis target proteins were identified. ydfD is a lytic gene from the Qin cryptic prophage that encodes a 63-amino-acid protein, the ectopic expression of which in Escherichia coli can cause nearly complete cell lysis rapidly. The bacterial 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway is responsible for synthesizing the isoprenoids uniquely required for sustaining bacterial growth. In this study, we provide evidence that YdfD can interact with IspG, a key enzyme involved in the MEP pathway, both in vivo and in vitro. We show that intact YdfD is required for the interaction with IspG to perform its lysis function and that the mRNA levels of ydfD increase significantly under certain stress conditions. Crucially, the cell lysis induced by YdfD can be abolished by the overexpression of ispG or the complementation of the IspG enzyme catalysis product methylerythritol 2,4-cyclodiphosphate. We propose that YdfD from the Qin cryptic prophage inhibits IspG to block the MEP pathway, leading to a compromised cell membrane and cell wall biosynthesis and eventual cell lysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhifang Lu
- College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; (Z.L.); (B.W.); (Z.Q.); (R.Z.)
| | - Biying Wang
- College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; (Z.L.); (B.W.); (Z.Q.); (R.Z.)
| | - Zhiyu Qiu
- College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; (Z.L.); (B.W.); (Z.Q.); (R.Z.)
| | - Ruiling Zhang
- College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; (Z.L.); (B.W.); (Z.Q.); (R.Z.)
| | - Jimin Zheng
- College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; (Z.L.); (B.W.); (Z.Q.); (R.Z.)
- Correspondence: (J.Z.); (Z.J.)
| | - Zongchao Jia
- Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
- Correspondence: (J.Z.); (Z.J.)
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Characterization of DicB Inhibitory Activity in Cell Division Under Stress Conditions. Chem Res Chin Univ 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s40242-020-0248-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Pan H, Dong K, Rao L, Zhao L, Wang Y, Liao X. The Association of Cell Division Regulated by DicC With the Formation of Viable but Non-culturable Escherichia coli O157:H7. Front Microbiol 2020; 10:2850. [PMID: 31921032 PMCID: PMC6915034 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, in which bacteria fail to grow on routine culture media but are actually alive, has been widely recognized as a strategy adopted by bacteria to cope with stressful environments. However, little is known regarding the molecular mechanism of VBNC formation. Here, we aimed to elucidate the specific roles of cell division regulatory proteins and the cell growth rate during VBNC Escherichia coli O157:H7 formation. We have previously found that expression of dicC is reduced by 20.08-fold in VBNC E. coli O157:H7 compared to non-VBNC cells. Little is known about DicC except that it, along with DicA, appears to act as a regulator of cell division by regulating expression of the cell division inhibitor DicB. First, our results showed that the VBNC cell number increased in the ΔdicC mutant as well as the DicA-overexpressing strain but decreased in the DicC-overexpressing strain induced by high-pressure carbon dioxide, acid, and H2O2. Furthermore, the growth rates of both the DicA-overexpressing strain and the ΔdicC mutant were higher than that of the control strain, while DicC-overexpressing strain grew significantly more slowly than the vector strain. The level of the dicB gene, regulated by dicA and dicC and inhibiting cell division, was increased in the DicC-overexpressing strain and decreased in the ΔdicC mutant and DicA-overexpressing strain, which was consistent with the growth phenotypes. In addition, the dwarfing cell morphology of the ΔdicC mutant and DicA-overexpressing strain were observed by SEM and TEM. Taken together, our study demonstrates that DicC negatively regulates the formation of the VBNC state, and DicA enhances the ability of cells to enter the VBNC state. Besides, the cell growth rate and dwarfing cell morphology may be correlated with the formation of the VBNC state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanxu Pan
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Fruit and Vegetable Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, China
| | - Kai Dong
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Fruit and Vegetable Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, China
| | - Lei Rao
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Fruit and Vegetable Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, China
| | - Liang Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Fruit and Vegetable Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, China
| | - Yongtao Wang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Fruit and Vegetable Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaojun Liao
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Fruit and Vegetable Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, China
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Das A, Biswas S, Biswas M. Expression of Phi11 Gp07 Causes Filamentation in Escherichia coli. Open Microbiol J 2018; 12:107-115. [PMID: 29785217 PMCID: PMC5944126 DOI: 10.2174/1874285801812010107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2018] [Revised: 04/07/2018] [Accepted: 04/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The Gp07 protein of aureophage Phi11 exhibits growth inhibitory effects when overexpressed in E. coli .The protein harbors two domains- an amino terminal Bro-like domain and a carboxy terminal Ant superfamily like KilA domain, of which the KilA domain retains the growth inhibitory effect of Gp07. Methods: We studied the effects exerted by the overexpression of Gp07 and its separate domains upon the growth rate as well as the morphology of the E. coli cells. Additionally, we generated a mutant of Gp07 (designated as ΔGp07) by deleting the first eleven amino acid residues from the amino-terminal region of Gp07, and studied its growth inhibitory effects upon E. coli. Results: Our results indicate that Gp07, ΔGp07 as well as the Carboxy-terminal region of Gp07 upon overexpression, retards the growth rate of the E. coli cells and also induces filamentation in the cells. Surprisingly, our data clearly suggests that the growth inhibition and filamentation induced by the the amino-terminal domain of Gp07 is temporal in nature. Conclusion: The carboxy-terminal of domain of gp07 is essential for its activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avijit Das
- BITS Pilani, K.K.Birla Goa Campus, Zuarinagar, Goa-403726, India
| | - Sumit Biswas
- BITS Pilani, K.K.Birla Goa Campus, Zuarinagar, Goa-403726, India
| | - Malabika Biswas
- BITS Pilani, K.K.Birla Goa Campus, Zuarinagar, Goa-403726, India
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Interaction of Type IV Toxin/Antitoxin Systems in Cryptic Prophages of Escherichia coli K-12. Toxins (Basel) 2017; 9:toxins9030077. [PMID: 28257056 PMCID: PMC5371832 DOI: 10.3390/toxins9030077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Revised: 02/23/2017] [Accepted: 02/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Toxin/antitoxin (TA) systems are widespread in prokaryotic chromosomes and in mobile genetic elements including plasmids and prophages. The first characterized Type IV TA system CbtA/CbeA was found in cryptic prophage CP4-44 in Escherichia coli K-12. Two homologous TA loci of CbtA/CbeA also reside in cryptic prophages of E. coli K-12, YkfI/YafW in CP4-6 and YpjF/YfjZ in CP4-57. In this study, we demonstrated that YkfI and YpjF inhibited cell growth and led to the formation of "lemon-shaped" cells. Prolonged overproduction of YkfI led to the formation of "gourd-shaped" cells and immediate cell lysis. YafW and YfjZ can neutralize the toxicity of YkfI or YpjF. Furthermore, we found that YkfI and YpjF interacted with cell division protein FtsZ in E. coli, but ectopic expression in Pseudomonas and Shewanella did not cause the formation of "lemon-shaped" cells. Moreover, deletion of all of the three toxin genes together decreased resistance to oxidative stress and deletion of the antitoxin genes increased early biofilm formation. Collectively, these results demonstrated that the homologous Type IV TA systems in E. coli may target cell division protein FtsZ in E. coli and may have different physiological functions in E. coli.
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