1
|
Wang X, Ma W, Shan J, Chen K, Xu W, Lu Z, Ju Z, Dong Z, Li B, Zhang Y. The phosphotransferase system gene ptsH affects persister formation in Klebsiella pneumoniae by regulating cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels. Int J Antimicrob Agents 2023; 62:106925. [PMID: 37451649 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2023.106925] [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: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the most common opportunistic pathogens causing hospital- and community-acquired infections. Antibiotic resistance in K. pneumoniae has emerged as a major clinical and public health threat. Persisters are specific antibiotic-tolerant bacterial cells. Studies on the mechanism underlying their formation mechanism and growth status are scarce. Therefore, it is urgent to explore the key genes and signalling pathways involved in the formation and recovery process of K. pneumoniae persisters to enhance the understanding and develop relevant treatment strategies. In this study, we treated K. pneumoniae with a lethal concentration of levofloxacin. It resulted in a distinct plateau of surviving levofloxacin-tolerant persisters. Subsequently, we obtained bacterial samples at five different time points during the formation and recovery of K. pneumoniae persisters to perform transcriptome analysis. ptsH gene was observed to be upregulated during the formation of persisters, and down-regulated during the recovery of the persisters. Further, we used CRISPR-Cas9 to construct ΔptsH, the ptsH-knockout K. pneumoniae strain, and to investigate the effect of ptsH on the persister formation. We observed that ptsH can promote the formation of persisters, reduce accumulation of reactive oxygen species, and enhance antioxidant capacity by reducing cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report that ptsH plays a vital role in forming K. pneumoniae persisters. This study provided important insights to further explore the mechanism underlying the formation of K. pneumoniae persisters and provided a potential target for treating infection with K. pneumoniae persisters.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xin Wang
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Wenru Ma
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Jiangfan Shan
- The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Kexu Chen
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Weihao Xu
- Inspection Center of Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
| | - Zixuan Lu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Zhuofei Ju
- The First School of Clinical Medicine, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Zhouyan Dong
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Boqing Li
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China.
| | - Yumei Zhang
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Zhu Y, Sang X, Li X, Zhang Y, Hao H, Bi J, Zhang G, Hou H. Effect of quorum sensing and quorum sensing inhibitors on the expression of serine protease gene in Hafnia alvei H4. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 104:7457-7465. [PMID: 32676711 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-020-10730-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2020] [Accepted: 06/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The serp gene codes for a protease that is considered to be an important factor associated with quorum sensing (QS)-based food spoilage caused by microorganisms. In this study, we evaluated the effect of temperature (4-37 °C) and QS inhibitors on the production of N-acyl-L-homoserine lactones (AHLs) and relative expression of the luxR/I, as well as serp in Hafnia alvei H4. Production of AHLs and expression of luxR/I were found to reach maximum levels at 10 °C, suggesting that the QS system of H. alvei H4 might have higher activity at low temperatures; similar result was also obtained for serp expression. Mutants of H. alvei H4 deficient in QS were used to identify the regulation of QS on serp expression. Significant reduction (P < 0.05) in serp expression was found in the mutants ∆luxR, ∆luxI, and ∆luxR/I, with ∆luxI and ∆luxR/I showing greater reduction than ∆luxR. Minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) of Benzyl isothiocyanate and 3-Methylthiopropyl isothiocyanate for H. alvei H4 were determined to be 7.813 and 15.625 mM, respectively. Furthermore, the expression of serp, as well as that of luxR and luxI, was significantly repressed (P < 0.05) by the two QS inhibitors at 1/8 MIC and 1/16 MIC, indicating that these inhibitors might repress serp expression through affecting luxR and luxI expression in H. alvei H4. The findings of this study, therefore, suggested that food spoilage caused by H. alvei could be controlled through the application of QS inhibitors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yaolei Zhu
- School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.,Liaoning Key Lab for Aquatic Processing Quality and Safety, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China
| | - Xue Sang
- School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.,Liaoning Key Lab for Aquatic Processing Quality and Safety, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China
| | - Xue Li
- School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.,Liaoning Key Lab for Aquatic Processing Quality and Safety, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanan Zhang
- School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.,Liaoning Key Lab for Aquatic Processing Quality and Safety, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China
| | - Hongshun Hao
- Liaoning Key Lab for Aquatic Processing Quality and Safety, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China
| | - Jingran Bi
- School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.,Liaoning Key Lab for Aquatic Processing Quality and Safety, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China
| | - Gongliang Zhang
- School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.,Liaoning Key Lab for Aquatic Processing Quality and Safety, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China
| | - Hongman Hou
- School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China. .,Liaoning Key Lab for Aquatic Processing Quality and Safety, No.1, Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.
| |
Collapse
|