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Bhattacharyya S, Bhattarai N, Pfannenstiel DM, Wilkins B, Singh A, Harshey RM. A heritable iron memory enables decision-making in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2309082120. [PMID: 37988472 PMCID: PMC10691332 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2309082120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The importance of memory in bacterial decision-making is relatively unexplored. We show here that a prior experience of swarming is remembered when Escherichia coli encounters a new surface, improving its future swarming efficiency. We conducted >10,000 single-cell swarm assays to discover that cells store memory in the form of cellular iron levels. This "iron" memory preexists in planktonic cells, but the act of swarming reinforces it. A cell with low iron initiates swarming early and is a better swarmer, while the opposite is true for a cell with high iron. The swarming potential of a mother cell, which tracks with its iron memory, is passed down to its fourth-generation daughter cells. This memory is naturally lost by the seventh generation, but artificially manipulating iron levels allows it to persist much longer. A mathematical model with a time-delay component faithfully recreates the observed dynamic interconversions between different swarming potentials. We demonstrate that cellular iron levels also track with biofilm formation and antibiotic tolerance, suggesting that iron memory may impact other physiologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Souvik Bhattacharyya
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
- LaMontagne Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
| | - Nabin Bhattarai
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
- LaMontagne Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
| | - Dylan M. Pfannenstiel
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
- LaMontagne Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
| | - Brady Wilkins
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
- LaMontagne Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
| | - Abhyudai Singh
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE19716
| | - Rasika M. Harshey
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
- LaMontagne Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712
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Jobichen C, Ying Chong T, Rattinam R, Basak S, Srinivasan M, Choong YK, Pandey KP, Ngoc TB, Shi J, Angayarkanni J, Sivaraman J. Bacterioferritin nanocage structures uncover the biomineralization process in ferritins. PNAS NEXUS 2023; 2:pgad235. [PMID: 37529551 PMCID: PMC10388152 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
Iron is an essential element involved in various metabolic processes. The ferritin family of proteins forms nanocage assembly and is involved in iron oxidation, storage, and mineralization. Although several structures of human ferritins and bacterioferritins have been solved, there is still no complete structure that shows both the trapped Fe-biomineral cluster and the nanocage. Furthermore, whereas the mechanism of iron trafficking has been explained using various approaches, structural details on the biomineralization process (i.e. the formation of the mineral itself) are generally lacking. Here, we report the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of apoform and biomineral bound form (holoforms) of the Streptomyces coelicolor bacterioferritin (ScBfr) nanocage and the subunit crystal structure. The holoforms show different stages of Fe-biomineral accumulation inside the nanocage, in which the connections exist in two of the fourfold channels of the nanocage between the C-terminal of the ScBfr monomers and the Fe-biomineral cluster. The mutation and truncation of the bacterioferritin residues involved in these connections significantly reduced the iron and phosphate binding in comparison with those of the wild type and together explain the underlying mechanism. Collectively, our results represent a prototype for the bacterioferritin nanocage, which reveals insight into its biomineralization and the potential channel for bacterioferritin-associated iron trafficking.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tan Ying Chong
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Rajesh Rattinam
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
- Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641046, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Sandip Basak
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Mahalashmi Srinivasan
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Yeu Khai Choong
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Kannu Priya Pandey
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Tran Bich Ngoc
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Jian Shi
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Jayaraman Angayarkanni
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
- Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641046, Tamil Nadu, India
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Huang YF, Li Y, Chen JY, Lin JH, Liu L, Ye JZ, Su YB. Promoting effect of Fe3+ on gentamicin resistance in Escherichia coli. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2022; 625:134-139. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2022.07.102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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