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Wu HN, Fujisawa Y, Tozuka Z, Fomenkov A, Nakura Y, Kajiyama SI, Fujiwara S, Yasukawa K, Roberts RJ, Yanagihara I. Identification of an endonuclease and N 6-adenine methyltransferase from Ureaplasma parvum SV3F4 strain. Enzyme Microb Technol 2024; 180:110471. [PMID: 38959818 DOI: 10.1016/j.enzmictec.2024.110471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024]
Abstract
Here, we report a novel endonuclease and N6-adenine DNA methyltransferase (m6A methyltransferase) in the Ureaplasma parvum SV3F4 strain. Our previous study found that the SV3F4 strain carries 17 unique genes, which are not encoded in the two previously reported U. parvum serovar 3 strain, OMC-P162 and ATCC 700970. Of these 17 unique genes, UP3_c0261 and UP3_c0262, were originally annotated as encoding hypothetical proteins. Comparative genomics analyses more recently indicated they encode a Type II restriction endonuclease and an m6A methyltransferase, respectively. The UP3_c0261 and UP3_c0262 genes were individually expressed and purified in Escherichia coli. The UP3_c0261 recombinant protein showed endonuclease activity on the pT7Blue vector, recognizing and cleaving a GTNAC motif, resulting in a 5 base 5' extension. The UP3_c0261 protein digested a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product harboring the GTNAC motif. The endonuclease UP3_c0261 was designated as UpaF4I. Treatment of the PCR product with the recombinant protein UP3_c0262 completely blocked the restriction enzyme activity of UpaF4I. Analysis of the treated PCR product harboring a modified nucleotide by UP3_c0262 with HPLC-MS/MS and MS/MS showed that UP3_c0262 was an m6A methyltransferase containing a methylated A residue in both DNA strands of the GTNAC motif. Whole genome methylation analysis of SV3F4 showed that 99.9 % of the GTNAC motif was m6A modified. These results suggest the UP3_c0261 and UP3_c0262 genes may act as a novel Type II restriction-modification system in the Ureaplasma SV3F4 strain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heng Ning Wu
- Department of Developmental Medicine, Research Institute, Osaka Women's and Children's Hospital, 840 Murodo-cho, Izumi City, Osaka 594-1101, Japan
| | - Yuya Fujisawa
- Department of Developmental Medicine, Research Institute, Osaka Women's and Children's Hospital, 840 Murodo-cho, Izumi City, Osaka 594-1101, Japan; Division of Biotechnological Science, Graduate School of Biology-Oriented Science and Technology, Kindai University, 930 Nishimitani, Kinokawa City, Wakayama 649-6493, Japan
| | - Zenzaburo Tozuka
- Center for Supporting Drug Discovery and Life Science Research, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Alexey Fomenkov
- New England Biolabs Inc., 240 County Rd., Ipswich, MA 01938, USA
| | - Yukiko Nakura
- Department of Developmental Medicine, Research Institute, Osaka Women's and Children's Hospital, 840 Murodo-cho, Izumi City, Osaka 594-1101, Japan
| | - Shin-Ichiro Kajiyama
- Division of Biotechnological Science, Graduate School of Biology-Oriented Science and Technology, Kindai University, 930 Nishimitani, Kinokawa City, Wakayama 649-6493, Japan
| | - Shinsuke Fujiwara
- Department of Biosciences, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Kwansei-Gakuin University, 1 Gakuen-Uegahara, Sanda City, Hyogo 669-1330, Japan
| | - Kiyoshi Yasukawa
- Division of Food Science and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City 606-8502, Japan
| | | | - Itaru Yanagihara
- Department of Developmental Medicine, Research Institute, Osaka Women's and Children's Hospital, 840 Murodo-cho, Izumi City, Osaka 594-1101, Japan.
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2
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Ravinath R, Usha T, Das AJ, Sarangi AN, Sarvashiva Kiran N, Kumar Goyal A, Krishnareddy Prasannakumar M, Ramesh N, Middha SK. Pomegranate Rhizosphere Microbial Diversity Revealed by Metagenomics: Toward Organic Farming, Plant Growth Promotion and Biocontrol? OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2024; 28:303-318. [PMID: 38805323 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2023.0272] [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: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Food production must undergo systems change to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs). For example, organic farming can be empowered by soil microorganisms with plant growth promotion (PGP) and biocontrol features. In this context, there have been limited studies on pomegranate. We investigated microbial diversity in rhizosphere of the pomegranate "Bhagwa" variety and its potential role in PGP and biocontrol. Both bulk and rhizosphere soil samples were analyzed for their physicochemical properties. Whole metagenome sequencing was conducted using the Illumina NovaSeq6000 platform. Surprisingly, we found that bulk and rhizosphere soil samples had comparable microbial diversity. Metagenome sequencing revealed the abundance of Streptomyces indicus, Bradyrhizobium kalamazoonesis, and Pseudomonas cellulosum in the rhizosphere that are reported here for the first time in agricultural literature. Pathway prediction analysis using KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia for Genes and Genomes) and COG (clusters of orthologous genes) databases identified metabolic pathways associated with biocontrol properties against pathogens. We confirmed the metagenome data in vitro, which demonstrated their PGP potential and antimicrobial properties. For instance, S. indicus produced high concentration of indole-3-acetic acid, a PGP phytohormone, that can stimulate plant growth. In addition, an antimicrobial susceptibility assay suggested that bacterial extracts displayed activity against Xanthomonas, a primary pathogen causing the pomegranate wilt disease. In conclusion, this study suggests that S. indicus, B. kalamazoonesis, and P. cellulosum can potentially be PGP and biocontrol agents that may contribute to increased crop productivity in pomegranate cultivation. These agents and their combinations warrant future research with an eye on SDGs and so as to enable and innovate organic farming and pomegranate agricultural practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renuka Ravinath
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Sciences, REVA University, Bengaluru, India
| | - Talambedu Usha
- Department of Biochemistry, Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College for Women, Bengaluru, India
| | - Anupam J Das
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Sciences, REVA University, Bengaluru, India
| | | | | | | | | | - Nijalingappa Ramesh
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Sciences, REVA University, Bengaluru, India
| | - Sushil Kumar Middha
- Department of Biotechnology, Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College for Women, Bengaluru, India
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3
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Wei Y, Ye M, Chen Y, Li YY. Competitive bio-augmentation overcoming unusual direct inhibitor inefficacy in mainstream nitrite-oxidizing bacteria suppression: Unveiling the underpinnings in microbial and nitrogen metabolism aspects. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 926:171900. [PMID: 38527552 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171900] [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: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 03/16/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
The long-stabilized mainstream partial nitritation/Anammox (PN/A) process continues to encounter significant challenges from nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Therefore, this study aimed to determine an efficient, rapid, and easily implementable strategy for inhibiting NOB. A laboratory-scale reactor was operated continuously for 325 days, experiencing NOB outbreak in mainstream and recovery with simulated sidestream support. The results show that direct inhibitory strategies including intermittent aeration and approximately 35 mg/L free ammonia had unusual weak inhibitory effects on NOB activity. Subsequently, the exogenous Anammox from sidestream employed as a competitive bio-augmentation approach rapidly inhibited NOB dynamics. Evidence suggests that the damaged hydroxyapatite granules under low pH conditions might have contributed to NOB dominance by diminishing Anammox bacteria activity, thereby creating a substrate-rich environment favoring NOB survival. In contrast, the introduction of exogenous Candidatus Kuenenia facilitated the nitrogen removal efficiency from 32.5 % to over 80 %. This coincided with a decrease in the relative abundance of Nitrospira from 16.5 % to 2.7 % and NOB activity from 0.34 to 0.07 g N/(g mixed liquor volatile suspended solid)/d. Metagenomic analysis reveals a decrease in the functional potential of most nitrite transport proteins, coupled with a significant increase in eukaryotic-like serine/threonine-protein kinase involved in cellular regulation, during the Anammox activity recovery. This study's findings reveal the feasibility of the bio-augmentation based on substrate competition, wherein sidestream processes support the mainstream PN/A integration, offering significant potential for practical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanxiao Wei
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aza, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Min Ye
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aza, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Yujie Chen
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aza, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Yu-You Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aza, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan; Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, 6-6-20 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
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4
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Silberberg JM, Ketter S, Böhm PJN, Jordan K, Wittenberg M, Grass J, Hänelt I. KdpD is a tandem serine histidine kinase that controls K + pump KdpFABC transcriptionally and post-translationally. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3223. [PMID: 38622146 PMCID: PMC11018627 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47526-8] [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: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Two-component systems, consisting of a histidine kinase and a response regulator, serve signal transduction in bacteria, often regulating transcription in response to environmental stimuli. Here, we identify a tandem serine histidine kinase function for KdpD, previously described as a histidine kinase of the KdpDE two-component system, which controls production of the potassium pump KdpFABC. We show that KdpD additionally mediates an inhibitory serine phosphorylation of KdpFABC at high potassium levels, using not its C-terminal histidine kinase domain but an N-terminal atypical serine kinase domain. Sequence analysis of KdpDs from different species highlights that some KdpDs are much shorter than others. We show that, while Escherichia coli KdpD's atypical serine kinase domain responds directly to potassium levels, a shorter version from Deinococcus geothermalis is controlled by second messenger cyclic di-AMP. Our findings add to the growing functional diversity of sensor kinases while simultaneously expanding the framework for regulatory mechanisms in bacterial potassium homeostasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob M Silberberg
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Sophie Ketter
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Paul J N Böhm
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Kristin Jordan
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Marcel Wittenberg
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Julia Grass
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Inga Hänelt
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
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5
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Odelgard A, Hägglund E, Guy L, Andersson SGE. Phylogeny and Expansion of Serine/Threonine Kinases in Phagocytotic Bacteria in the Phylum Planctomycetota. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae068. [PMID: 38547507 PMCID: PMC11032199 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae068] [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] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The recently isolated bacterium "Candidatus Uabimicrobium amorphum" is the only known prokaryote that can engulf other bacterial cells. Its proteome contains a high fraction of proteins involved in signal transduction systems, which is a feature normally associated with multicellularity in eukaryotes. Here, we present a protein-based phylogeny which shows that "Ca. Uabimicrobium amorphum" represents an early diverging lineage that clusters with the Saltatorellus clade within the phylum Planctomycetota. A gene flux analysis indicated a gain of 126 protein families for signal transduction functions in "Ca. Uabimicrobium amorphum", of which 66 families contained eukaryotic-like Serine/Threonine kinases with Pkinase domains. In total, we predicted 525 functional Serine/Threonine kinases in "Ca. Uabimicrobium amorphum", which represent 8% of the proteome and is the highest fraction of Serine/Threonine kinases in a bacterial proteome. The majority of Serine/Threonine kinases in this species are membrane proteins and 30% contain long, tandem arrays of WD40 or TPR domains. The pKinase domain was predicted to be located in the cytoplasm, while the WD40 and TPR domains were predicted to be located in the periplasm. Such domain combinations were also identified in the Serine/Threonine kinases of other species in the Planctomycetota, although in much lower abundances. A phylogenetic analysis of the Serine/Threonine kinases in the Planctomycetota inferred from the Pkinase domain alone provided support for lineage-specific expansions of the Serine/Threonine kinases in "Ca. Uabimicrobium amorphum". The results imply that expansions of eukaryotic-like signal transduction systems are not restricted to multicellular organisms, but have occurred in parallel in prokaryotes with predatory lifestyles and phagocytotic-like behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Odelgard
- Molecular Evolution, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Emil Hägglund
- Molecular Evolution, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Lionel Guy
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Siv G E Andersson
- Molecular Evolution, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Wei Y, Chen Y, Xia W, Ye M, Li YY. Dynamic pulse approach to enhancing mainstream Anammox process stability: Integrating sidestream support and tackling nitrite-oxidizing bacteria challenges. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2024; 395:130327. [PMID: 38242244 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130327] [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: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) seriously threaten the partial nitritation and Anammox (PN/A) process, hindering its mainstream application. Herein, a one-stage PN/A reactor was continuously operated for 245 days under nitrogen loading rate lifted from 0.4 g N/L/d to 0.6 g N/L/d and 0.8 g N/L/d with the nitrogen removal efficiency of 71 %, 64 %, and 41 %, respectively. Furthermore, the NOB species over time was identified as Nitrospira_sp._OLB3, exhibiting an increase of the relative abundance from 0.9 % to 4.3 %. The hydroxyapatite (HAP) granules gradually lost their microbiological function of Anammox bacteria then aged, leading to NOB dominance. Therefore, one "pulse therapy" was introduced and combined with "continuous enhancement" of Anammox sludge supported by sidestream to competitively limit the NOB dynamics. The treatment's effect persisted for around two months. The strategy that returning at least 50 % of the impaired HAP granular sludge to the sidestream for recultivation could fulfill the bottlenecks of mainstream PN/A.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanxiao Wei
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Yujie Chen
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Weizhe Xia
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Min Ye
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Yu-You Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan; Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, 6-6-20 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
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7
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Chen F, Di H, Wang Y, Peng C, Chen R, Pan H, Yang CG, Liang H, Lan L. The enzyme activity of sortase A is regulated by phosphorylation in Staphylococcus aureus. Virulence 2023; 14:2171641. [PMID: 36694285 PMCID: PMC9928477 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2023.2171641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
In many Gram-positive bacteria, the transpeptidase enzyme sortase A (SrtA) anchors surface proteins to cell wall and plays a critical role in the bacterial pathogenesis. Here, we show that in Staphylococcus aureus, an important human pathogen, the SrtA is phosphorylated by serine/threonine protein kinase Stk1. S. aureus SrtA can also be phosphorylated by small-molecule phosphodonor acetyl phosphate (AcP) in vitro. We determined that various amino acid residues of S. aureus SrtA are subject to phosphorylation, primarily on its catalytic site residue cysteine-184 in the context of a bacterial cell lysate. Both Stk1 and AcP-mediated phosphorylation inhibited the enzyme activity of SrtA in vitro. Consequently, deletion of gene (i.e. stp1) encoding serine/threonine phosphatase Stp1, the corresponding phosphatase of Stk1, caused an increase in the phosphorylation level of SrtA. The stp1 deletion mutant mimicked the phenotypic traits of srtA deletion mutant (i.e. attenuated growth where either haemoglobin or haem as a sole iron source and reduced liver infections in a mouse model of systemic infection). Importantly, the phenotypic defects of the stp1 deletion mutant can be alleviated by overexpressing srtA. Taken together, our finding suggests that phosphorylation plays an important role in modulating the activity of SrtA in S. aureus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feifei Chen
- College of Life Science, Northwest University, Xi’an, China,State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China,Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hongxia Di
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yanhui Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chao Peng
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Zhangjiang Lab, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai, China
| | - Rongrong Chen
- Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Huiwen Pan
- Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Cai-Guang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China,Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Haihua Liang
- College of Life Science, Northwest University, Xi’an, China,School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China,Haihua Liang School of Medicine Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lefu Lan
- College of Life Science, Northwest University, Xi’an, China,State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China,Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China,CONTACT Lefu Lan
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8
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Leasure CS, Grunenwald CM, Choby JE, Sauer JD, Skaar EP. Maintenance of heme homeostasis in Staphylococcus aureus through post-translational regulation of glutamyl-tRNA reductase. J Bacteriol 2023; 205:e0017123. [PMID: 37655914 PMCID: PMC10521356 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00171-23] [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: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen responsible for a variety of infections including skin and soft tissue infections, endocarditis, and sepsis. The combination of increasing antibiotic resistance in this pathogen and the lack of an efficacious vaccine underscores the importance of understanding how S. aureus maintains metabolic homeostasis in a variety of environments, particularly during infection. Within the host, S. aureus must regulate cellular levels of the cofactor heme to support enzymatic activities without encountering heme toxicity. Glutamyl tRNA reductase (GtrR), the enzyme catalyzing the first committed step in heme synthesis, is an important regulatory node of heme synthesis in Bacteria, Archaea, and Plantae. In many organisms, heme status negatively regulates the abundance of GtrR, controlling flux through the heme synthesis pathway. We identified two residues within GtrR, H32 and R214, that are important for GtrR-heme binding. However, in strains expressing either GtrRH32A or GtrRR214A, heme homeostasis was not perturbed, suggesting an alternative mechanism of heme synthesis regulation occurs in S. aureus. In this regard, we report that heme synthesis is regulated through phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of GtrR by the serine/threonine kinase Stk1 and the phosphatase Stp1, respectively. Taken together, these results suggest that the mechanisms governing staphylococcal heme synthesis integrate both the availability of heme and the growth status of the cell. IMPORTANCE Staphylococcus aureus represents a significant threat to human health. Heme is an iron-containing enzymatic cofactor that can be toxic at elevated levels. During infection, S. aureus must control heme levels to replicate and survive within the hostile host environment. We identified residues within a heme biosynthetic enzyme that are critical for heme binding in vitro; however, abrogation of heme binding is not sufficient to perturb heme homeostasis within S. aureus. This marks a divergence from previously reported mechanisms of heme-dependent regulation of the highly conserved enzyme glutamyl tRNA reductase (GtrR). Additionally, we link cell growth arrest to the modulation of heme levels through the post-translational regulation of GtrR by the kinase Stk1 and the phosphatase Stp1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine S. Leasure
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Caroline M. Grunenwald
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Jacob E. Choby
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - John-Demian Sauer
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Eric P. Skaar
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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9
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Li X, Long X, Chen L, Guo X, Lu L, Hu L, He ZG. Mycobacterial phage TM4 requires a eukaryotic-like Ser/Thr protein kinase to silence and escape anti-phage immunity. Cell Host Microbe 2023; 31:1469-1480.e4. [PMID: 37567169 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2023.07.005] [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: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023]
Abstract
In eukaryotic cells, serine/threonine protein kinases (StpKs) play important roles in limiting viral infections. StpKs are commonly activated upon infections, inhibiting the expression of genes central for viral replication. Here, we report that a eukaryotic-like StpK7 encoded by MSMEG_1200 in M. smegmatis is required for mycobacteriophage TM4 to escape bacterial defense. stpK7 is located within a gene island, MSMEG_1191-MSMEG_1200, containing multiple anti-phage genes resembling the BREX (bacteriophage exclusion) phage-resistance system. StpK7 negatively regulates the expression of this gene island. Following phage TM4 infection, StpK7 is induced, directly phosphorylating the transcriptional regulator MSMEG_1198 and inhibiting its positive regulatory activity, thus reducing the expression of multiple downstream genes in the BREX-like gene island. Further analysis showed that genes within this anti-phage island critically regulate mycobacterial lipid hemostasis and phage adsorption. Collectively, this work characterizes a regulatory network driven by StpK7, which is utilized by phage TM4 to escape from the host defense against mycobacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohui Li
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Xiating Long
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Liu Chen
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Xiao Guo
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Lining Lu
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Lihua Hu
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Zheng-Guo He
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
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10
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Shaku MT, Ocius KL, Apostolos AJ, Pires MM, VanNieuwenhze MS, Dhar N, Kana BD. Amidation of glutamate residues in mycobacterial peptidoglycan is essential for cell wall cross-linking. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1205829. [PMID: 37692163 PMCID: PMC10484409 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1205829] [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: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Mycobacteria assemble a complex cell wall with cross-linked peptidoglycan (PG) which plays an essential role in maintenance of cell wall integrity and tolerance to osmotic pressure. We previously demonstrated that various hydrolytic enzymes are required to remodel PG during essential processes such as cell elongation and septal hydrolysis. Here, we explore the chemistry associated with PG cross-linking, specifically the requirement for amidation of the D-glutamate residue found in PG precursors. Methods Synthetic fluorescent probes were used to assess PG remodelling dynamics in live bacteria. Fluorescence microscopy was used to assess protein localization in live bacteria and CRISPR-interference was used to construct targeted gene knockdown strains. Time-lapse microscopy was used to assess bacterial growth. Western blotting was used to assess protein phosphorylation. Results and discussion In Mycobacterium smegmatis, we confirmed the essentiality for D-glutamate amidation in PG biosynthesis by labelling cells with synthetic fluorescent PG probes carrying amidation modifications. We also used CRISPRi targeted knockdown of genes encoding the MurT-GatD complex, previously implicated in D-glutamate amidation, and demonstrated that these genes are essential for mycobacterial growth. We show that MurT-rseGFP co-localizes with mRFP-GatD at the cell poles and septum, which are the sites of cell wall synthesis in mycobacteria. Furthermore, time-lapse microscopic analysis of MurT-rseGFP localization, in fluorescent D-amino acid (FDAA)-labelled mycobacterial cells during growth, demonstrated co-localization with maturing PG, suggestive of a role for PG amidation during PG remodelling and repair. Depletion of MurT and GatD caused reduced PG cross-linking and increased sensitivity to lysozyme and β-lactam antibiotics. Cell growth inhibition was found to be the result of a shutdown of PG biosynthesis mediated by the serine/threonine protein kinase B (PknB) which senses uncross-linked PG. Collectively, these data demonstrate the essentiality of D-glutamate amidation in mycobacterial PG precursors and highlight the MurT-GatD complex as a novel drug target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moagi T. Shaku
- DSI/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis (TB) Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Karl L. Ocius
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States
| | - Alexis J. Apostolos
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States
| | - Marcos M. Pires
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States
| | | | - Neeraj Dhar
- Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Bavesh D. Kana
- DSI/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis (TB) Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
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11
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Kageyama H, Waditee-Sirisattha R. Halotolerance mechanisms in salt‑tolerant cyanobacteria. ADVANCES IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY 2023; 124:55-117. [PMID: 37597948 DOI: 10.1016/bs.aambs.2023.07.003] [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: 08/21/2023]
Abstract
Cyanobacteria are ubiquitously distributed in nature and are the most abundant photoautotrophs on Earth. Their long evolutionary history reveals that cyanobacteria have a remarkable capacity and strong adaptive tendencies to thrive in a variety of conditions. Thus, they can survive successfully, especially in harsh environmental conditions such as salty environments, high radiation, or extreme temperatures. Among others, salt stress because of excessive salt accumulation in salty environments, is the most common abiotic stress in nature and hampers agricultural growth and productivity worldwide. These detrimental effects point to the importance of understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the salt stress response. While it is generally accepted that the stress response mechanism is a complex network, fewer efforts have been made to represent it as a network. Substantial evidence revealed that salt-tolerant cyanobacteria have evolved genomic specific mechanisms and high adaptability in response to environmental changes. For example, extended gene families and/or clusters of genes encoding proteins involved in the adaptation to high salinity have been collectively reported. This chapter focuses on recent advances and provides an overview of the molecular basis of halotolerance mechanisms in salt‑tolerant cyanobacteria as well as multiple regulatory pathways. We elaborate on the major protective mechanisms, molecular mechanisms associated with halotolerance, and the global transcriptional landscape to provide a gateway to uncover gene regulation principles. Both knowledge and omics approaches are utilized in this chapter to decipher the mechanistic insights into halotolerance. Collectively, this chapter would have a profound impact on providing a comprehensive understanding of halotolerance in salt‑tolerant cyanobacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hakuto Kageyama
- Graduate School of Environmental and Human Sciences, Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan.
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12
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Tataru C, Peras M, Rutherford E, Dunlap K, Yin X, Chrisman BS, DeSantis TZ, Wall DP, Iwai S, David MM. Topic modeling for multi-omic integration in the human gut microbiome and implications for Autism. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11353. [PMID: 37443184 PMCID: PMC10345091 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38228-0] [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: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
While healthy gut microbiomes are critical to human health, pertinent microbial processes remain largely undefined, partially due to differential bias among profiling techniques. By simultaneously integrating multiple profiling methods, multi-omic analysis can define generalizable microbial processes, and is especially useful in understanding complex conditions such as Autism. Challenges with integrating heterogeneous data produced by multiple profiling methods can be overcome using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), a promising natural language processing technique that identifies topics in heterogeneous documents. In this study, we apply LDA to multi-omic microbial data (16S rRNA amplicon, shotgun metagenomic, shotgun metatranscriptomic, and untargeted metabolomic profiling) from the stool of 81 children with and without Autism. We identify topics, or microbial processes, that summarize complex phenomena occurring within gut microbial communities. We then subset stool samples by topic distribution, and identify metabolites, specifically neurotransmitter precursors and fatty acid derivatives, that differ significantly between children with and without Autism. We identify clusters of topics, deemed "cross-omic topics", which we hypothesize are representative of generalizable microbial processes observable regardless of profiling method. Interpreting topics, we find each represents a particular diet, and we heuristically label each cross-omic topic as: healthy/general function, age-associated function, transcriptional regulation, and opportunistic pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Tataru
- Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, SW Campus Way, Corvallis, USA.
| | - Marie Peras
- Second Genome Inc, 1000 Marina Blvd, Suite 500, Brisbane, CA, 94005, USA
| | - Erica Rutherford
- Second Genome Inc, 1000 Marina Blvd, Suite 500, Brisbane, CA, 94005, USA
| | - Kaiti Dunlap
- Department of Bioengineering, Serra Mall, Stanford, USA
| | - Xiaochen Yin
- Second Genome Inc, 1000 Marina Blvd, Suite 500, Brisbane, CA, 94005, USA
| | | | - Todd Z DeSantis
- Second Genome Inc, 1000 Marina Blvd, Suite 500, Brisbane, CA, 94005, USA
| | - Dennis P Wall
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Serra Mall, Stanford, USA
- Department of Pediatrics (Systems Medicine), Stanford, 1265 Welch Road, Stanford, USA
| | - Shoko Iwai
- Second Genome Inc, 1000 Marina Blvd, Suite 500, Brisbane, CA, 94005, USA
| | - Maude M David
- Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, SW Campus Way, Corvallis, USA.
- School of Pharmacy, Oregon State University, SW Campus Way, Corvallis, USA.
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13
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Yu Z, Zhang W, Yang H, Chou SH, Galperin MY, He J. Gas and light: triggers of c-di-GMP-mediated regulation. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2023; 47:fuad034. [PMID: 37339911 PMCID: PMC10505747 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuad034] [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: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The widespread bacterial second messenger c-di-GMP is responsible for regulating many important physiological functions such as biofilm formation, motility, cell differentiation, and virulence. The synthesis and degradation of c-di-GMP in bacterial cells depend, respectively, on diguanylate cyclases and c-di-GMP-specific phosphodiesterases. Since c-di-GMP metabolic enzymes (CMEs) are often fused to sensory domains, their activities are likely controlled by environmental signals, thereby altering cellular c-di-GMP levels and regulating bacterial adaptive behaviors. Previous studies on c-di-GMP-mediated regulation mainly focused on downstream signaling pathways, including the identification of CMEs, cellular c-di-GMP receptors, and c-di-GMP-regulated processes. The mechanisms of CME regulation by upstream signaling modules received less attention, resulting in a limited understanding of the c-di-GMP regulatory networks. We review here the diversity of sensory domains related to bacterial CME regulation. We specifically discuss those domains that are capable of sensing gaseous or light signals and the mechanisms they use for regulating cellular c-di-GMP levels. It is hoped that this review would help refine the complete c-di-GMP regulatory networks and improve our understanding of bacterial behaviors in changing environments. In practical terms, this may eventually provide a way to control c-di-GMP-mediated bacterial biofilm formation and pathogenesis in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhaoqing Yu
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, 1 Shizishan Street, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China
- Institute of Agro-Product Processing, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 50 Zhongling Street, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210014, PR China
| | - Wei Zhang
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, 1 Shizishan Street, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China
| | - He Yang
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, 1 Shizishan Street, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China
| | - Shan-Ho Chou
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, 1 Shizishan Street, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China
| | - Michael Y Galperin
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Jin He
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, 1 Shizishan Street, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China
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14
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Gangwal A, Kumar N, Sangwan N, Dhasmana N, Dhawan U, Sajid A, Arora G, Singh Y. Giving a signal: how protein phosphorylation helps Bacillus navigate through different life stages. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2023; 47:fuad044. [PMID: 37533212 PMCID: PMC10465088 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuad044] [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: 03/13/2023] [Revised: 07/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein phosphorylation is a universal mechanism regulating a wide range of cellular responses across all domains of life. The antagonistic activities of kinases and phosphatases can orchestrate the life cycle of an organism. The availability of bacterial genome sequences, particularly Bacillus species, followed by proteomics and functional studies have aided in the identification of putative protein kinases and protein phosphatases, and their downstream substrates. Several studies have established the role of phosphorylation in different physiological states of Bacillus species as they pass through various life stages such as sporulation, germination, and biofilm formation. The most common phosphorylation sites in Bacillus proteins are histidine, aspartate, tyrosine, serine, threonine, and arginine residues. Protein phosphorylation can alter protein activity, structural conformation, and protein-protein interactions, ultimately affecting the downstream pathways. In this review, we summarize the knowledge available in the field of Bacillus signaling, with a focus on the role of protein phosphorylation in its physiological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aakriti Gangwal
- Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Faculty of Science, Delhi- 110007, India
| | - Nishant Kumar
- Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Faculty of Science, Delhi- 110007, India
| | - Nitika Sangwan
- Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Faculty of Science, Delhi- 110007, India
- Department of Biomedical Science, Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi, New Delhi-110075, India
| | - Neha Dhasmana
- School of Medicine, New York University, 550 First Avenue New York-10016, New York, United States
| | - Uma Dhawan
- Department of Biomedical Science, Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi, New Delhi-110075, India
| | - Andaleeb Sajid
- 300 Cedar St, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, New Haven CT, United States
| | - Gunjan Arora
- 300 Cedar St, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, New Haven CT, United States
| | - Yogendra Singh
- Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Faculty of Science, Delhi- 110007, India
- Delhi School of Public Health, Institution of Eminence, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007, India
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15
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Bluma MS, Schultz KM, Kristich CJ, Klug CS. Conformational changes in the activation loop of a bacterial PASTA kinase. Protein Sci 2023; 32:e4697. [PMID: 37312631 PMCID: PMC10303680 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4697] [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: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Many bacterial genomes encode a transmembrane protein kinase belonging to the PASTA kinase family, which controls numerous processes in diverse bacterial pathogens, including antibiotic resistance, cell division, stress resistance, toxin production, and virulence. PASTA kinases share a conserved three-part domain architecture, consisting of an extracellular PASTA domain, proposed to sense the peptidoglycan layer status, a single transmembrane helix, and an intracellular Ser/Thr kinase domain. The crystal structures of the kinase domain from two homologous PASTA kinases reveal a characteristic two-lobed structure typical of eukaryotic protein kinases with a centrally located, but unresolved, activation loop that becomes phosphorylated and regulates downstream signaling pathways. We previously identified three sites of phosphorylation on the activation loop (T163, T166, and T168) of IreK, a PASTA kinase from the pathogen Enterococcus faecalis, as well as a distal phosphorylation site (T218) that each influence IreK activity in vivo. Still, the mechanism by which loop phosphorylation regulates PASTA kinase function is yet unknown. Therefore, we utilized site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) and continuous wave (CW) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to assess the E. faecalis IreK kinase activation loop dynamics, including the effects of phosphorylation on activation loop motion, and the IreK-IreB interaction. Our results reveal that the IreK activation loop occupies a more immobile state when dephosphorylated, and that loop autophosphorylation shifts the loop to a more mobile state that can then enable interaction with IreB, a known substrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew S. Bluma
- Department of Microbiology & ImmunologyMedical College of WisconsinMilwaukeeWisconsinUSA
| | - Kathryn M. Schultz
- Department of BiophysicsMedical College of WisconsinMilwaukeeWisconsinUSA
| | | | - Candice S. Klug
- Department of BiophysicsMedical College of WisconsinMilwaukeeWisconsinUSA
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16
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Tang J, Guo M, Chen M, Xu B, Ran T, Wang W, Ma Z, Lin H, Fan H. A link between STK signalling and capsular polysaccharide synthesis in Streptococcus suis. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2480. [PMID: 37120581 PMCID: PMC10148854 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38210-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Synthesis of capsular polysaccharide (CPS), an important virulence factor of pathogenic bacteria, is modulated by the CpsBCD phosphoregulatory system in Streptococcus. Serine/threonine kinases (STKs, e.g. Stk1) can also regulate CPS synthesis, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we identify a protein (CcpS) that is phosphorylated by Stk1 and modulates the activity of phosphatase CpsB in Streptococcus suis, thus linking Stk1 to CPS synthesis. The crystal structure of CcpS shows an intrinsically disordered region at its N-terminus, including two threonine residues that are phosphorylated by Stk1. The activity of phosphatase CpsB is inhibited when bound to non-phosphorylated CcpS. Thus, CcpS modulates the activity of phosphatase CpsB thereby altering CpsD phosphorylation, which in turn modulates the expression of the Wzx-Wzy pathway and thus CPS production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinsheng Tang
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Mengru Guo
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Min Chen
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Bin Xu
- National Research Center of Veterinary Biologicals Engineering and Technology, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210000, China
| | - Tingting Ran
- Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Weiwu Wang
- Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Zhe Ma
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
- Jiangsu Coinnovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, China
| | - Huixing Lin
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
- Jiangsu Coinnovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, China
| | - Hongjie Fan
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
- Jiangsu Coinnovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, China.
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17
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Kant S, Sun Y, Pancholi V. StkP- and PhpP-Mediated Posttranslational Modifications Modulate the S. pneumoniae Metabolism, Polysaccharide Capsule, and Virulence. Infect Immun 2023; 91:e0029622. [PMID: 36877045 PMCID: PMC10112228 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00296-22] [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: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Pneumococcal Ser/Thr kinase (StkP) and its cognate phosphatase (PhpP) play a crucial role in bacterial cytokinesis. However, their individual and reciprocal metabolic and virulence regulation-related functions have yet to be adequately investigated in encapsulated pneumococci. Here, we demonstrate that the encapsulated pneumococcal strain D39-derived D39ΔPhpP and D39ΔStkP mutants displayed differential cell division defects and growth patterns when grown in chemically defined media supplemented with glucose or nonglucose sugars as the sole carbon source. Microscopic and biochemical analyses supported by RNA-seq-based global transcriptomic analyses of these mutants revealed significantly down- and upregulated polysaccharide capsule formation and cps2 genes in D39ΔPhpP and D39ΔStkP mutants, respectively. While StkP and PhpP individually regulated several unique genes, they also participated in sharing the regulation of the same set of differentially regulated genes. Cps2 genes were reciprocally regulated in part by the StkP/PhpP-mediated reversible phosphorylation but independent of the MapZ-regulated cell division process. StkP-mediated dose-dependent phosphorylation of CcpA proportionately inhibited CcpA-binding to Pcps2A, supporting increased cps2 gene expression and capsule formation in D39ΔStkP. While the attenuation of the D39ΔPhpP mutant in two mouse infection models corroborated with several downregulated capsules-, virulence-, and phosphotransferase systems (PTS)-related genes, the D39ΔStkP mutant with increased amounts of polysaccharide capsules displayed significantly decreased virulence in mice compared to the D39 wild-type, but more virulence compared to D39ΔPhpP. NanoString technology-based inflammation-related gene expression and Meso Scale Discovery-based multiplex chemokine analysis of human lung cells cocultured with these mutants confirmed their distinct virulence phenotypes. StkP and PhpP may, therefore, serve as critical therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sashi Kant
- Department of Pathology, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Youcheng Sun
- Department of Pathology, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Vijay Pancholi
- Department of Pathology, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA
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18
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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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19
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Esposito-Farèse A. [Streptococcus pneumoniae's division is regulated by PASTA repeats of the StkP kinase]. Med Sci (Paris) 2023; 39:390-391. [PMID: 37094274 DOI: 10.1051/medsci/2023045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Esposito-Farèse
- École normale supérieure de Lyon, département de biologie, Master Biosciences, Lyon, France
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20
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Sun Y, Hürlimann S, Garner E. Growth rate is modulated by monitoring cell wall precursors in Bacillus subtilis. Nat Microbiol 2023; 8:469-480. [PMID: 36797487 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01329-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023]
Abstract
How bacteria link their growth rate to external nutrient conditions is unknown. To investigate how Bacillus subtilis cells alter the rate at which they expand their cell walls as they grow, we compared single-cell growth rates of cells grown under agar pads with the density of moving MreB filaments under a variety of growth conditions. MreB filament density increases proportionally with growth rate. We show that both MreB filament density and growth rate depend on the abundance of Lipid II and murAA, the first gene in the biosynthetic pathway creating the cell wall precursor Lipid II. Lipid II is sensed by the serine/threonine kinase PrkC, which phosphorylates RodZ and other proteins. We show that phosphorylated RodZ increases MreB filament density, which in turn increases cell growth rate. We also show that increasing the activity of this pathway in nutrient-poor media results in cells that elongate faster than wild-type cells, which means that B. subtilis contains spare 'growth capacity'. We conclude that PrkC functions as a cellular rheostat, enabling fine-tuning of cell growth rates in response to Lipid II in different nutrient conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingjie Sun
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Sylvia Hürlimann
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Ethan Garner
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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Role of Resuscitation Promoting Factor-like Protein from Nocardiopsis halophila. Microorganisms 2023; 11:microorganisms11020485. [PMID: 36838450 PMCID: PMC9966590 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11020485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Resuscitation promoting factors (Rpf), a class of proteins secreted by gram-positive bacteria including actinobacteria, promote the resuscitation of dormant bacteria and spore germination. Here, we describe the reconstitution of the resuscitation promoting activity of the Rpf protein from Nocardiopsis halophila CGMCC 4.1195Tin vitro and in vivo. The Rpf protein was expressed in the host Escherichia coli BL21 codon plus (DE3) and was confirmed to have a significant resuscitation effect on the viable but non-culturable (VBNC) N. halophila. Subsequently, the rpf gene of N. halophila was knocked out. We found that the growth rate of the mutant strain (Δrpf) was slower than that of the wild strain, and the former produced significantly shorter spores than the wild-type strain. Our results confirmed the activity of the Rpf protein in N. halophila to promote dormant bacteria resuscitation. This study will lay the foundation for the application of the Rpf protein from N. halophila to exploit actinomycetes resources.
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Chaudhary R, Kota S, Misra HS. DivIVA Phosphorylation Affects Its Dynamics and Cell Cycle in Radioresistant Deinococcus radiodurans. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0314122. [PMID: 36744915 PMCID: PMC10100863 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03141-22] [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: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
DivIVA is a member of the Min family of proteins that spatially regulates septum formation at the midcell position and cell pole determination in Bacillus subtilis. Deinococcus radiodurans, a Gram-positive coccus-shaped bacterium, is characterized by its extreme resistance to DNA-damaging agents, including radiation. D. radiodurans cells exposed to gamma radiation undergo cell division arrest by as-yet-uncharacterized mechanisms. divIVA is shown to be an essential cell division gene in this bacterium, and DivIVA of D. radiodurans (drDivIVA) interacts with genome segregation proteins through its N-terminal region. Earlier, RqkA, a gamma radiation-responsive Ser/Thr quinoprotein kinase, was characterized for its role in radioresistance in D. radiodurans. Here, we showed that RqkA phosphorylates drDivIVA at the threonine 19 (T19) residue. The phospho-mimetic mutant with a mutation of T19 to E19 in DivIVA (DivIVAT19E) is found to be functionally different from the phospho-ablative mutant (DivIVAT19A) or the wild-type drDivIVA. A DivIVAT19E-red fluorescent protein (RFP) fusion expressed in the wild-type background showed the arrest in the typical dynamics of drDivIVA and the loss of its interaction with the genome segregation protein ParA2. The allelic replacement of divIVA with divIVAT19E-rfp was not tolerated unless drDivIVA was expressed episomally, while there was no phenotypic change when the wild-type allele was replaced with either divIVAT19A-rfp or divIVA-rfp. These results suggested that the phosphorylation of T19 in drDivIVA by RqkA affected its in vivo functions, which may contribute to the cell cycle arrest in this bacterium. IMPORTANCE Deinococcus radiodurans, a radioresistant bacterium, lacks LexA/RecA-mediated DNA damage response and cell cycle regulation as known in other bacteria. However, it adjusts its transcriptome and proteome upon DNA damage. In eukaryotes, the DNA damage response and cell cycle are regulated by Ser/Thr protein kinases. In D. radiodurans, we characterized a gamma radiation-responsive Ser/Thr quinoprotein kinase (RqkA) that phosphorylated DNA repair and cell division proteins in this bacterium. In previous work, the effect of S/T phosphorylation by RqkA on activity improvement of the DNA repair proteins has been demonstrated. This study reports that Ser phosphorylation by RqkA attenuates the function of a cell polarity and plane of cell division-determining protein, DivIVA, and its cellular dynamics in response to DNA damage, which might help to understand the mechanism of cell cycle regulation in this bacterium.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reema Chaudhary
- Molecular Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
- Life Sciences, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India
| | - Swathi Kota
- Molecular Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
- Life Sciences, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India
| | - Hari S. Misra
- Molecular Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
- Life Sciences, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India
- School of Science, GITAM, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
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Yang R, Wang J, Wang F, Zhang H, Tan C, Chen H, Wang X. Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity Damage in Bacterial Meningitis: The Underlying Link, Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Targets. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24032852. [PMID: 36769171 PMCID: PMC9918147 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24032852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite advances in supportive care and antimicrobial treatment, bacterial meningitis remains the most serious infection of the central nervous system (CNS) that poses a serious risk to life. This clinical dilemma is largely due to our insufficient knowledge of the pathology behind this disease. By controlling the entry of molecules into the CNS microenvironment, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a highly selective cellular monolayer that is specific to the CNS's microvasculature, regulates communication between the CNS and the rest of the body. A defining feature of the pathogenesis of bacterial meningitis is the increase in BBB permeability. So far, several contributing factors for BBB disruption have been reported, including direct cellular damage brought on by bacterial virulence factors, as well as host-specific proteins or inflammatory pathways being activated. Recent studies have demonstrated that targeting pathological factors contributing to enhanced BBB permeability is an effective therapeutic complement to antimicrobial therapy for treating bacterial meningitis. Hence, understanding how these meningitis-causing pathogens affect the BBB permeability will provide novel perspectives for investigating bacterial meningitis's pathogenesis, prevention, and therapies. Here, we summarized the recent research progress on meningitis-causing pathogens disrupting the barrier function of BBB. This review provides handy information on BBB disruption by meningitis-causing pathogens, and helps design future research as well as develop potential combination therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruicheng Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Jundan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Fen Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Huipeng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Chen Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Huanchun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Xiangru Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- Correspondence:
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24
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Yagüe P, Willemse J, Xiao X, Zhang L, Manteca A, van Wezel GP. FtsZ phosphorylation pleiotropically affects Z-ladder formation, antibiotic production, and morphogenesis in Streptomyces coelicolor. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2023; 116:1-19. [PMID: 36383329 PMCID: PMC9823044 DOI: 10.1007/s10482-022-01778-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The GTPase FtsZ forms the cell division scaffold in bacteria, which mediates the recruitment of the other components of the divisome. Streptomycetes undergo two different forms of cell division. Septa without detectable peptidoglycan divide the highly compartmentalised young hyphae during early vegetative growth, and cross-walls are formed that dissect the hyphae into long multinucleoid compartments in the substrate mycelium, while ladders of septa are formed in the aerial hyphae that lead to chains of uninucleoid spores. In a previous study, we analysed the phosphoproteome of Streptomyces coelicolor and showed that FtsZ is phosphorylated at Ser 317 and Ser389. Substituting Ser-Ser for either Glu-Glu (mimicking phosphorylation) or Ala-Ala (mimicking non-phosphorylation) hinted at changes in antibiotic production. Here we analyse development, colony morphology, spore resistance, and antibiotic production in FtsZ knockout mutants expressing FtsZ alleles mimicking Ser319 and Ser387 phosphorylation and non-phosphorylation: AA (no phosphorylation), AE, EA (mixed), and EE (double phosphorylation). The FtsZ-eGFP AE, EA and EE alleles were not able to form observable FtsZ-eGFP ladders when they were expressed in the S. coelicolor wild-type strain, whereas the AA allele could form apparently normal eGFP Z-ladders. The FtsZ mutant expressing the FtsZ EE or EA or AE alleles is able to sporulate indicating that the mutant alleles are able to form functional Z-rings leading to sporulation when the wild-type FtsZ gene is absent. The four mutants were pleiotropically affected in colony morphogenesis, antibiotic production, substrate mycelium differentiation and sporulation (sporulation timing and spore resistance) which may be an indirect result of the effect in sporulation Z-ladder formation. Each mutant showed a distinctive phenotype in antibiotic production, single colony morphology, and sporulation (sporulation timing and spore resistance) indicating that the different FtsZ phosphomimetic alleles led to different phenotypes. Taken together, our data provide evidence for a pleiotropic effect of FtsZ phosphorylation in colony morphology, antibiotic production, and sporulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Yagüe
- grid.5132.50000 0001 2312 1970Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 AB Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Joost Willemse
- grid.5132.50000 0001 2312 1970Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 AB Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Xiansha Xiao
- grid.5132.50000 0001 2312 1970Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 AB Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Le Zhang
- grid.5132.50000 0001 2312 1970Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 AB Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Angel Manteca
- grid.10863.3c0000 0001 2164 6351Departamento de Biología Funcional e IUOPA, Área de Microbiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
| | - Gilles P. van Wezel
- grid.5132.50000 0001 2312 1970Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 AB Leiden, The Netherlands
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Ghosh D, Kokane S, Savita BK, Kumar P, Sharma AK, Ozcan A, Kokane A, Santra S. Huanglongbing Pandemic: Current Challenges and Emerging Management Strategies. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:plants12010160. [PMID: 36616289 PMCID: PMC9824665 DOI: 10.3390/plants12010160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Huanglongbing (HLB, aka citrus greening), one of the most devastating diseases of citrus, has wreaked havoc on the global citrus industry in recent decades. The culprit behind such a gloomy scenario is the phloem-limited bacteria "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" (CLas), which are transmitted via psyllid. To date, there are no effective long-termcommercialized control measures for HLB, making it increasingly difficult to prevent the disease spread. To combat HLB effectively, introduction of multipronged management strategies towards controlling CLas population within the phloem system is deemed necessary. This article presents a comprehensive review of up-to-date scientific information about HLB, including currently available management practices and unprecedented challenges associated with the disease control. Additionally, a triangular disease management approach has been introduced targeting pathogen, host, and vector. Pathogen-targeting approaches include (i) inhibition of important proteins of CLas, (ii) use of the most efficient antimicrobial or immunity-inducing compounds to suppress the growth of CLas, and (iii) use of tools to suppress or kill the CLas. Approaches for targeting the host include (i) improvement of the host immune system, (ii) effective use of transgenic variety to build the host's resistance against CLas, and (iii) induction of systemic acquired resistance. Strategies for targeting the vector include (i) chemical and biological control and (ii) eradication of HLB-affected trees. Finally, a hypothetical model for integrated disease management has been discussed to mitigate the HLB pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dilip Ghosh
- Plant Virology Laboratory, ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur 440033, India
- Correspondence: (D.G.); (A.K.S.); (S.S.)
| | - Sunil Kokane
- Plant Virology Laboratory, ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur 440033, India
| | - Brajesh Kumar Savita
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India
| | - Pranav Kumar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India
| | - Ashwani Kumar Sharma
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India
- Correspondence: (D.G.); (A.K.S.); (S.S.)
| | - Ali Ozcan
- Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Karamanoglu Mehmetbey University, 70200 Karaman, Turkey
- Scientific and Technological Studies Application and Research Center, Karamanoglu Mehmetbey University, 70200 Karaman, Turkey
| | - Amol Kokane
- Plant Virology Laboratory, ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur 440033, India
| | - Swadeshmukul Santra
- Departments of Chemistry, Nano Science Technology Center, and Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
- Correspondence: (D.G.); (A.K.S.); (S.S.)
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26
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A Genome-Wide CRISPR Interference Screen Reveals an StkP-Mediated Connection between Cell Wall Integrity and Competence in Streptococcus salivarius. mSystems 2022; 7:e0073522. [PMID: 36342134 PMCID: PMC9765292 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00735-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Competence is one of the most efficient bacterial evolutionary and adaptative strategies by synchronizing production of antibacterial compounds and integration of DNA released by dead cells. In most streptococci, this tactic is orchestrated by the ComRS system, a pheromone communication device providing a short time window of activation in which only part of the population is responsive. Understanding how this developmental process integrates multiple inputs to fine-tune the adequate response is a long-standing question. However, essential genes involved in the regulation of ComRS have been challenging to study. In this work, we built a conditional mutant library using CRISPR interference and performed three complementary screens to investigate competence genetic regulation in the human commensal Streptococcus salivarius. We show that initiation of competence increases upon cell wall impairment, suggesting a connection between cell envelope stress and competence activation. Notably, we report a key role for StkP, a serine-threonine kinase known to regulate cell wall homeostasis. We show that StkP controls competence by a mechanism that reacts to peptidoglycan fragments. Together, our data suggest a key cell wall sensing mechanism coupling competence to cell envelope integrity. IMPORTANCE Survival of human commensal streptococci in the digestive tract requires efficient strategies which must be tightly and collectively controlled for responding to competitive pressure and drastic environmental changes. In this context, the autocrine signaling system ComRS controlling competence for natural transformation and predation in salivarius streptococci could be seen as a multi-input device integrating a variety of environmental stimuli. In this work, we revealed novel positive and negative competence modulators by using a genome-wide CRISPR interference strategy. Notably, we highlighted an unexpected connection between bacterial envelope integrity and competence activation that involves several cell wall sensors. Together, these results showcase how commensal streptococci can fine-tune the pheromone-based competence system by responding to multiple inputs affecting their physiological status in order to calibrate an appropriate collective behavior.
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27
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A Novel Capsule Network with Attention Routing to Identify Prokaryote Phosphorylation Sites. Biomolecules 2022; 12:biom12121854. [PMID: 36551282 PMCID: PMC9775645 DOI: 10.3390/biom12121854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
By denaturing proteins and promoting the formation of multiprotein complexes, protein phosphorylation has important effects on the activity of protein functional molecules and cell signaling. The regulation of protein phosphorylation allows microbes to respond rapidly and reversibly to specific environmental stimuli or niches, which is closely related to the molecular mechanisms of bacterial drug resistance. Accurate prediction of phosphorylation sites (p-site) of prokaryotes can contribute to addressing bacterial resistance and providing new perspectives for developing novel antibacterial drugs. Most existing studies focus on human phosphorylation sites, while tools targeting phosphorylation site identification of prokaryotic proteins are still relatively scarce. This study designs a capsule network-based prediction technique for p-site in prokaryotes. To address the poor scalability and unreliability of dynamic routing processes in the output space of capsule networks, a more reliable way is introduced to learn the consistency between capsules. We incorporate a self-attention mechanism into the routing algorithm to capture the global information of the capsule, reducing the computational effort while enriching the representation capability of the capsule. Aiming at the weak robustness of the model, EcapsP improves the prediction accuracy and stability by introducing shortcuts and unconditional reconfiguration. In addition, the study compares and analyzes the prediction performance based on word vectors, physicochemical properties, and mixing characteristics in predicting serine (Ser/S), threonine (Thr/T), and tyrosine (Tyr/Y) p-site. The comprehensive experimental results show that the accuracy of the developed technique is close to 70% for the identification of the three phosphorylation sites in prokaryotes. Importantly, in side-by-side comparisons with other state-of-the-art predictors, our method improves the Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) by approximately 7%. The results demonstrate the superiority of EcapsP in terms of high performance and reliability.
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28
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Yueyue W, Feichen X, Yixuan X, Lu L, Yiwen C, Xiaoxing Y. Pathogenicity and virulence of Mycoplasma genitalium: Unraveling Ariadne's Thread. Virulence 2022; 13:1161-1183. [PMID: 35791283 PMCID: PMC9262362 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2022.2095741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycoplasma genitalium, a pathogen from class Mollicutes, has been linked to sexually transmitted diseases and sparked widespread concern. To adapt to its environment, M. genitalium has evolved specific adhesins and motility mechanisms that allow it to adhere to and invade various eukaryotic cells, thereby causing severe damage to the cells. Even though traditional exotoxins have not been identified, secreted nucleases or membrane lipoproteins have been shown to cause cell death and inflammatory injury in M. genitalium infection. However, as both innate and adaptive immune responses are important for controlling infection, the immune responses that develop upon infection do not necessarily eliminate the organism completely. Antigenic variation, detoxifying enzymes, immunoglobulins, neutrophil extracellular trap-degrading enzymes, cell invasion, and biofilm formation are important factors that help the pathogen overcome the host defence and cause chronic infections in susceptible individuals. Furthermore, M. genitalium can increase the susceptibility to several sexually transmitted pathogens, which significantly complicates the persistence and chronicity of M. genitalium infection. This review aimed to discuss the virulence factors of M. genitalium to shed light on its complex pathogenicity and pathogenesis of the infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wu Yueyue
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical School; Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, China
| | - Xiu Feichen
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical School; Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, China
| | - Xi Yixuan
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical School; Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, China
| | - Liu Lu
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical School; Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, China
| | - Chen Yiwen
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical School; Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, China
| | - You Xiaoxing
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical School; Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, China
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29
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Kuwabara S, Landers ER, Fisher DJ. Impact of nutrients on the function of the chlamydial Rsb partner switching mechanism. Pathog Dis 2022; 80:6831632. [PMID: 36385643 DOI: 10.1093/femspd/ftac044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Revised: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis is a leading cause of sexually transmitted infections and infectious blindness. Chlamydia undergo a biphasic developmental cycle alternating between the infectious elementary body (EB) and the replicative reticulate body (RB). The molecular mechanisms governing RB growth and RB-EB differentiation are unclear. We hypothesize that the bacterium senses host cell and bacterial energy levels and metabolites to ensure that development and growth coincide with nutrient availability. We predict that a partner switching mechanism (PSM) plays a key role in the sensing and response process acting as a molecular throttle sensitive to metabolite levels. Using purified wild type and mutant PSM proteins, we discovered that metal type impacts enzyme activity and the substrate specificity of RsbU and that RsbW prefers ATP over GTP as a phosphate donor. Immunoblotting analysis of RsbV1/V2 demonstrated the presence of both proteins beyond 20 hours post infection and we observed that an RsbV1-null strain has a developmental delay and exhibits differential growth attenuation in response to glucose levels. Collectively, our data support that the PSM regulates growth in response to metabolites and further defines biochemical features governing PSM-component interactions which could help in the development of novel PSM-targeted therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiomi Kuwabara
- Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry Graduate Program, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, United States
| | - Evan R Landers
- Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry Graduate Program, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, United States
| | - Derek J Fisher
- Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry Graduate Program, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, United States.,School of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, United States
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30
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Pasquier C, Robichon A. Evolutionary Divergence of Phosphorylation to Regulate Interactive Protein Networks in Lower and Higher Species. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232214429. [PMID: 36430905 PMCID: PMC9697241 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232214429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2022] [Revised: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The phosphorylation of proteins affects their functions in extensively documented circumstances. However, the role of phosphorylation in many interactive networks of proteins remains very elusive due to the experimental limits of exploring the transient interaction in a large complex of assembled proteins induced by stimulation. Previous studies have suggested that phosphorylation is a recent evolutionary process that differently regulates ortholog proteins in numerous lineages of living organisms to create new functions. Despite the fact that numerous phospho-proteins have been compared between species, little is known about the organization of the full phospho-proteome, the role of phosphorylation to orchestrate large interactive networks of proteins, and the intertwined phospho-landscape in these networks. In this report, we aimed to investigate the acquired role of phosphate addition in the phenomenon of protein networking in different orders of living organisms. Our data highlighted the acquired status of phosphorylation in organizing large, connected assemblages in Homo sapiens. The protein networking guided by phosphorylation turned out to be prominent in humans, chaotic in yeast, and weak in flies. Furthermore, the molecular functions of GO annotation enrichment regulated by phosphorylation were found to be drastically different between flies, yeast, and humans, suggesting an evolutionary drift specific to each species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claude Pasquier
- I3S, Université Côte d’Azur, Campus SophiaTech, CNRS, 06903 Nice, France
- Correspondence:
| | - Alain Robichon
- INRAE, ISA, Université Côte d’Azur, Campus SophiaTech, CNRS, 06903 Nice, France
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31
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Garcia-Garcia T, Douché T, Giai Gianetto Q, Poncet S, El Omrani N, Smits WK, Cuenot E, Matondo M, Martin-Verstraete I. In-Depth Characterization of the Clostridioides difficile Phosphoproteome to Identify Ser/Thr Kinase Substrates. Mol Cell Proteomics 2022; 21:100428. [PMID: 36252736 PMCID: PMC9674922 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2022.100428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile is the leading cause of postantibiotic diarrhea in adults. During infection, the bacterium must rapidly adapt to the host environment by using survival strategies. Protein phosphorylation is a reversible post-translational modification employed ubiquitously for signal transduction and cellular regulation. Hanks-type serine/threonine kinases (STKs) and serine/threonine phosphatases have emerged as important players in bacterial cell signaling and pathogenicity. C. difficile encodes two STKs (PrkC and CD2148) and one phosphatase. We optimized a titanium dioxide phosphopeptide enrichment approach to determine the phosphoproteome of C. difficile. We identified and quantified 2500 proteins representing 63% of the theoretical proteome. To identify STK and serine/threonine phosphatase targets, we then performed comparative large-scale phosphoproteomics of the WT strain and isogenic ΔprkC, CD2148, Δstp, and prkC CD2148 mutants. We detected 635 proteins containing phosphorylated peptides. We showed that PrkC is phosphorylated on multiple sites in vivo and autophosphorylates in vitro. We were unable to detect a phosphorylation for CD2148 in vivo, whereas this kinase was phosphorylated in vitro only in the presence of PrkC. Forty-one phosphoproteins were identified as phosphorylated under the control of CD2148, whereas 114 proteins were phosphorylated under the control of PrkC including 27 phosphoproteins more phosphorylated in the ∆stp mutant. We also observed enrichment for phosphothreonine among the phosphopeptides more phosphorylated in the Δstp mutant. Both kinases targeted pathways required for metabolism, translation, and stress response, whereas cell division and peptidoglycan metabolism were more specifically controlled by PrkC-dependent phosphorylation in agreement with the phenotypes of the ΔprkC mutant. Using a combination of approaches, we confirmed that FtsK was phosphorylated in vivo under the control of PrkC and that Spo0A was a substrate of PrkC in vitro. This study provides a detailed mapping of kinase-substrate relationships in C. difficile, paving the way for the identification of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Transito Garcia-Garcia
- Laboratoire Pathogénese des Bactéries Anaérobies, UMR CNRS 6047, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Thibaut Douché
- Plateforme Protéomique, Unité de Technologie et Service Spectrométrie de Masse pour la biologie, CNRS USR 2000, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Quentin Giai Gianetto
- Plateforme Protéomique, Unité de Technologie et Service Spectrométrie de Masse pour la biologie, CNRS USR 2000, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France,Hub de bioinformatique et biostatistiques, Departement de Biologie computationelle, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Sandrine Poncet
- INRAE, AgroParisTech, Micalis Institute, Université Paris-Saclay, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Nesrine El Omrani
- Plateforme Protéomique, Unité de Technologie et Service Spectrométrie de Masse pour la biologie, CNRS USR 2000, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Wiep Klaas Smits
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Elodie Cuenot
- Laboratoire Pathogénese des Bactéries Anaérobies, UMR CNRS 6047, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Mariette Matondo
- Plateforme Protéomique, Unité de Technologie et Service Spectrométrie de Masse pour la biologie, CNRS USR 2000, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France,For correspondence: Isabelle Martin-Verstraete; Mariette Matondo
| | - Isabelle Martin-Verstraete
- Laboratoire Pathogénese des Bactéries Anaérobies, UMR CNRS 6047, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France,Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France,For correspondence: Isabelle Martin-Verstraete; Mariette Matondo
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Giacalone D, Yap RE, Ecker AMV, Tan S. PrrA modulates Mycobacterium tuberculosis response to multiple environmental cues and is critically regulated by serine/threonine protein kinases. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1010331. [PMID: 35913986 PMCID: PMC9371303 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to adapt to its surrounding environment is critical for the bacterium to successfully colonize its host. Transcriptional changes are a vital mechanism by which Mtb responds to key environmental signals experienced, such as pH, chloride (Cl-), nitric oxide (NO), and hypoxia. However, much remains unknown regarding how Mtb coordinates its response to the disparate signals seen during infection. Utilizing a transcription factor (TF) overexpression plasmid library in combination with a pH/Cl--responsive luciferase reporter, we identified the essential TF, PrrA, part of the PrrAB two-component system, as a TF involved in modulation of Mtb response to pH and Cl-. Further studies revealed that PrrA also affected Mtb response to NO and hypoxia, with prrA overexpression dampening induction of NO and hypoxia-responsive genes. PrrA is phosphorylated not just by its cognate sensor histidine kinase PrrB, but also by serine/threonine protein kinases (STPKs) at a second distinct site. Strikingly, a STPK-phosphoablative PrrA variant was significantly dampened in its response to NO versus wild type Mtb, disrupted in its ability to adaptively enter a non-replicative state upon extended NO exposure, and attenuated for in vivo colonization. Together, our results reveal PrrA as an important regulator of Mtb response to multiple environmental signals, and uncover a critical role of STPK regulation of PrrA in its function. Vital to successful host colonization by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis, is the bacterium’s ability to respond and adapt to changes in its local environment during infection. Here, we discover that the essential transcription factor PrrA, part of the PrrAB two-component system (TCS), modulates Mtb response to four important environmental cues encountered within the host: pH, chloride, nitric oxide, and hypoxia. PrrA acts as a rheostat, adjusting the amplitude of Mtb gene expression changes upon bacterial exposure to each of the four environmental signals. Further, we reveal a critical impact of serine/threonine protein kinases (STPKs) on PrrA function, with prevention of STPK phosphorylation of PrrA disrupting adaptive response of Mtb to growth-inhibiting cues and attenuating the bacterium’s ability to colonize its host. Our work uncovers PrrA as a regulator with broad impact across environmental signals, and highlights how two regulatory systems, TCSs and STPKs, critically interact in coordinating Mtb response to environmental cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Giacalone
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Rochelle E. Yap
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Alwyn M. V. Ecker
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Shumin Tan
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Molecular mechanism of toxin neutralization in the HipBST toxin-antitoxin system of Legionella pneumophila. Nat Commun 2022; 13:4333. [PMID: 35882877 PMCID: PMC9325769 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32049-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous genetic modules in bacteria and archaea. Here, we perform structural and biochemical characterization of the Legionella pneumophila effector Lpg2370, demonstrating that it is a Ser/Thr kinase. Together with two upstream genes, lpg2370 constitutes the tripartite HipBST TA. Notably, the toxin Lpg2370 (HipTLp) and the antitoxin Lpg2369 (HipSLp) correspond to the C-terminus and N-terminus of HipA from HipBA TA, respectively. By determining crystal structures of autophosphorylated HipTLp, its complex with AMP-PNP, and the structure of HipTLp-HipSLp complex, we identify residues in HipTLp critical for ATP binding and those contributing to its interactions with HipSLp. Structural analysis reveals that HipSLp binding induces a loop-to-helix shift in the P-loop of HipTLp, leading to the blockage of ATP binding and inhibition of the kinase activity. These findings establish the L. pneumophila effector Lpg2370 as the HipBST TA toxin and elucidate the molecular basis for HipT neutralization in HipBST TA.
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Padilla P, Estévez M, Andrade MJ, Peña FJ, Delgado J. Proteomics reveal the protective effects of chlorogenic acid on Enterococcus faecium Q233 in a simulated pro-oxidant colonic environment. Food Res Int 2022; 157:111464. [PMID: 35761697 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Certain phytochemicals have been found to promote the beneficial effects of probiotic bacteria although the molecular mechanisms of such interactions are poorly understood. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the exposure to 0.5 mM chlorogenic acid (CA) on the redox status and proteome of Enterococcus faecium isolated from cheese and challenged with 2.5 mM hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The bacterium was incubated in anaerobic conditions for 48 h at 37 °C. CA exposure led to a more intense oxidative stress and accretion of bacterial protein carbonyls than those induced by H2O2. The oxidative damage to bacterial proteins was even more severe in the bacterium treated with both CA and H2O2, yet, such combination led to a strengthening of the antioxidant defenses, namely, a catalase-like activity. The proteomic study indicated that H2O2 caused a decrease in energy supply and the bacterium responded by reinforcing the membrane and wall structures and counteracting the redox and pH imbalance. CA stimulated the accretion of proteins related to translation and transcription regulators, and hydrolases. This phytochemical was able to counteract certain proteomic changes induced by H2O2 (i.e. increase of ATP binding cassete (ABC) transporter complex) and cause the increase of Rex, a redox-sensitive protein implicated in controlling metabolism and responses to oxidative stress. Although this protection should be confirmed under in vivo conditions, such effects point to benefits in animals or humans affected by disorders in which oxidative stress plays a major role.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Padilla
- Food Technology and Quality (TECAL), Institute of Meat and Meat Products (IPROCAR), University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain; Food Hygiene and Safety (HISEALI), Institute of Meat and Meat Products (IPROCAR), University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
| | - M Estévez
- Food Technology and Quality (TECAL), Institute of Meat and Meat Products (IPROCAR), University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain.
| | - M J Andrade
- Food Hygiene and Safety (HISEALI), Institute of Meat and Meat Products (IPROCAR), University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
| | - F J Peña
- Spermatology Laboratory, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
| | - J Delgado
- Food Hygiene and Safety (HISEALI), Institute of Meat and Meat Products (IPROCAR), University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
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35
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Khan S. Conformational spread drives the evolution of the calcium-calmodulin protein kinase II. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8499. [PMID: 35589775 PMCID: PMC9120016 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12090-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The calcium calmodulin (Ca2+/CaM) dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) decodes Ca2+ frequency oscillations. The CaMKIIα isoform is predominantly expressed in the brain and has a central role in learning. I matched residue and organismal evolution with collective motions deduced from the atomic structure of the human CaMKIIα holoenzyme to learn how its ring architecture abets function. Protein dynamic simulations showed its peripheral kinase domains (KDs) are conformationally coupled via lateral spread along the central hub. The underlying β-sheet motions in the hub or association domain (AD) were deconvolved into dynamic couplings based on mutual information. They mapped onto a coevolved residue network to partition the AD into two distinct sectors. A second, energetically stressed sector was added to ancient bacterial enzyme dimers for assembly of the ringed hub. The continued evolution of the holoenzyme after AD–KD fusion targeted the sector’s ring contacts coupled to the KD. Among isoforms, the α isoform emerged last and, it alone, mutated rapidly after the poikilotherm–homeotherm jump to match the evolution of memory. The correlation between dynamics and evolution of the CaMKII AD argues single residue substitutions fine-tune hub conformational spread. The fine-tuning could increase CaMKIIα Ca2+ frequency response range for complex learning functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahid Khan
- Molecular Biology Consortium, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA. .,SBA School of Science and Engineering, LUMS, Lahore, Pakistan. .,Laboratory of Cell Biology, NINDS, NIH, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
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36
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Abstract
Microbes rely on signal transduction systems to sense and respond to environmental changes for survival and reproduction. It is generally known that niche adaptation plays an important role in shaping the signaling repertoire. However, the evolution of bacterial signaling capacity lacks systematic studies with a temporal direction. In particular, it is unclear how complexity evolved from simplicity or vice versa for signaling networks. Here, we examine the evolutionary processes of major signal transduction systems in Campylobacterota (formerly Epsilonproteobacteria), a phylum with sufficient evolutionary depth and ecological diversity. We discovered that chemosensory system increases complexity by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of entire chemosensory classes, and different chemosensory classes rarely mix their components. Two-component system gains complexity by atypical histidine kinases fused with receiver domain to achieve multistep or branched signal transduction process. The presence and complexity of c-di-GMP-mediated system is related to the size of signaling network, and c-di-GMP pathways are easy to rewire, since enzymes and effectors can be linked without direct protein-protein interaction. Overall, signaling capacity and complexity rise and drop together in Campylobacterota, determined by sensory demand, genetic resources, and coevolution within the genomic context. These findings reflect plausible evolutionary principles for other cellular networks and genome evolution of the Bacteria domain.
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37
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Malhotra V, Okon BP, Satsangi AT, Das S, Waturuocha UW, Vashist A, Clark-Curtiss JE, Saini DK. Mycobacterium tuberculosis PknK Substrate Profiling Reveals Essential Transcription Terminator Protein Rho and Two-Component Response Regulators PrrA and MtrA as Novel Targets for Phosphorylation. Microbiol Spectr 2022; 10:e0135421. [PMID: 35404097 PMCID: PMC9045387 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01354-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein kinase K regulates growth adaptation by facilitating mycobacterial survival in response to a variety of in vitro and in vivo stress conditions. Here, we further add that pknK transcription is responsive to carbon and nitrogen starvation signals. The increased survival of an M. tuberculosis ΔpknK mutant strain under carbon- and nitrogen-limiting growth conditions compared to the wild-type (WT) H37Rv suggests an integral role of PknK in regulating growth during metabolic stress. To identify the downstream targets of PknK-mediated signaling, we compared phosphoproteomic and transcription profiles of mycobacterial strains overexpressing WT and phosphorylation-defective PknK. Results implicate PknK as a signaling protein that can regulate several enzymes involved in central metabolism, transcription regulation, and signal transduction. A key finding of this study was the identification of two essential two-component response regulator (RR) proteins, PrrA and MtrA, and Rho transcription terminator, as unique targets for PknK. We confirm that PknK interacts with and phosphorylates PrrA, MtrA, and Rho in vivo. PknK-mediated phosphorylation of MtrA appears to increase binding of the RR to the cognate probe DNA. However, dual phosphorylation of MtrA and PrrA response regulators by PknK and their respective cognate sensor kinases in vitro showed nominal additive effect on the mobility of the protein-DNA complex, suggesting the presence of a potential fine-tuning of the signal transduction pathway which might respond to multiple cues. IMPORTANCE Networks of gene regulation and signaling cascades are fundamental to the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in adapting to the continuously changing intracellular environment in the host. M. tuberculosis protein kinase K is a transcription regulator that responds to diverse environmental signals and facilitates stress-induced growth adaptation in culture and during infection. This study identifies multiple signaling interactions of PknK and provides evidence that PknK can change the transcriptional landscape during growth transitions by connecting distinctly different signal transduction and regulatory pathways essential for mycobacterial survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vandana Malhotra
- Department of Biochemistry, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
- Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Blessing P. Okon
- Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Akash T. Satsangi
- Department of Biochemistry, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Sumana Das
- Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Uchenna Watson Waturuocha
- Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Atul Vashist
- Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
| | - Josephine E. Clark-Curtiss
- Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Deepak Kumar Saini
- Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
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Ren L, Shen D, Liu C, Ding Y. Protein Tyrosine and Serine/Threonine Phosphorylation in Oral Bacterial Dysbiosis and Bacteria-Host Interaction. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 11:814659. [PMID: 35087767 PMCID: PMC8787120 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.814659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The human oral cavity harbors approximately 1,000 microbial species, and dysbiosis of the microflora and imbalanced microbiota-host interactions drive many oral diseases, such as dental caries and periodontal disease. Oral microbiota homeostasis is critical for systemic health. Over the last two decades, bacterial protein phosphorylation systems have been extensively studied, providing mounting evidence of the pivotal role of tyrosine and serine/threonine phosphorylation in oral bacterial dysbiosis and bacteria-host interactions. Ongoing investigations aim to discover novel kinases and phosphatases and to understand the mechanism by which these phosphorylation events regulate the pathogenicity of oral bacteria. Here, we summarize the structures of bacterial tyrosine and serine/threonine kinases and phosphatases and discuss the roles of tyrosine and serine/threonine phosphorylation systems in Porphyromonas gingivalis and Streptococcus mutans, emphasizing their involvement in bacterial metabolism and virulence, community development, and bacteria-host interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Daonan Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Chengcheng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yi Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Clostridioides difficile Phosphoproteomics Shows an Expansion of Phosphorylated Proteins in Stationary Growth Phase. mSphere 2022; 7:e0091121. [PMID: 34986318 PMCID: PMC8730811 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00911-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Phosphorylation is a posttranslational modification that can affect both housekeeping functions and virulence characteristics in bacterial pathogens. In the Gram-positive enteropathogen Clostridioides difficile, the extent and nature of phosphorylation events are poorly characterized, though a protein kinase mutant strain demonstrates pleiotropic phenotypes. Here, we used an immobilized metal affinity chromatography strategy to characterize serine, threonine, and tyrosine phosphorylation in C. difficile. We find limited protein phosphorylation in the exponential growth phase but a sharp increase in the number of phosphopeptides after the onset of the stationary growth phase. Our approach identifies expected targets and phosphorylation sites among the more than 1,500 phosphosites, including the protein kinase PrkC, the anti-sigma-F factor antagonist (SpoIIAA), the anti-sigma-B factor antagonist (RsbV), and HPr kinase/phosphorylase (HprK). Analysis of high-confidence phosphosites shows that phosphorylation on serine residues is most common, followed by threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation. This work forms the basis for a further investigation into the contributions of individual kinases to the overall phosphoproteome of C. difficile and the role of phosphorylation in C. difficile physiology and pathogenesis. IMPORTANCE In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of protein phosphorylation in the Gram-positive enteropathogen Clostridioides difficile. To date, only limited evidence on the role of phosphorylation in the regulation of this organism has been published; the current study is expected to form the basis for research on this posttranslational modification in C. difficile.
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Passot FM, Cantlay S, Flärdh K. Protein phosphatase SppA regulates apical growth and dephosphorylates cell polarity determinant DivIVA in Streptomyces coelicolor. Mol Microbiol 2021; 117:411-428. [PMID: 34862689 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.14856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Revised: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Members of the Actinobacteria, including mycobacteria and streptomycetes, exhibit a distinctive mode of polar growth, with cell wall synthesis occurring in zones at cell poles and directed by the essential cell polarity determinant DivIVA. Streptomyces coelicolor modulates polar growth via the Ser/Thr protein kinase AfsK, which phosphorylates DivIVA. Here, we show that the phosphoprotein phosphatase SppA has strong effects on polar growth and cell shape and that it reverses the AfsK-mediated phosphorylation of DivIVA. SppA affects hyphal branching and the rate of tip extension. The sppA mutant hyphae also exhibit a high frequency of spontaneous growth arrests, indicating problems with maintenance of tip extension. The phenotypic effects are partially suppressed in an afsK sppA double mutant, indicating that AfsK and SppA to some extent share target proteins. Strains with a nonphosphorylatable mutant DivIVA confirm that the effect of afsK on hyphal branching during normal growth is mediated by DivIVA phosphorylation. However, the phenotypic effects of sppA deletion are independent of DivIVA phosphorylation and must be mediated via other substrates. This study adds a PPP-family protein phosphatase to the proteins involved in the control of polar growth and cell shape determination in S. coelicolor.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Klas Flärdh
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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41
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Ulrych A, Fabrik I, Kupčík R, Vajrychová M, Doubravová L, Branny P. Cell Wall Stress Stimulates the Activity of the Protein Kinase StkP of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Leading to Multiple Phosphorylation. J Mol Biol 2021; 433:167319. [PMID: 34688688 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is an opportunistic human pathogen that encodes a single eukaryotic-type Ser/Thr protein kinase StkP and its functional counterpart, the protein phosphatase PhpP. These signaling enzymes play critical roles in coordinating cell division and growth in pneumococci. In this study, we determined the proteome and phosphoproteome profiles of relevant mutants. Comparison of those with the wild-type provided a representative dataset of novel phosphoacceptor sites and StkP-dependent substrates. StkP phosphorylates key proteins involved in cell division and cell wall biosynthesis in both the unencapsulated laboratory strain Rx1 and the encapsulated virulent strain D39. Furthermore, we show that StkP plays an important role in triggering an adaptive response induced by a cell wall-directed antibiotic. Phosphorylation of the sensor histidine kinase WalK and downregulation of proteins of the WalRK core regulon suggest crosstalk between StkP and the WalRK two-component system. Analysis of proteomic profiles led to the identification of gene clusters regulated by catabolite control mechanisms, indicating a tight coupling of carbon metabolism and cell wall homeostasis. The imbalance of steady-state protein phosphorylation in the mutants as well as after antibiotic treatment is accompanied by an accumulation of the global Spx regulator, indicating a Spx-mediated envelope stress response. In summary, StkP relays the perceived signal of cell wall status to key cell division and regulatory proteins, controlling the cell cycle and cell wall homeostasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleš Ulrych
- Institute of Microbiology, v.v.i., Czech Academy of Sciences, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20 Prague, Czech Republic.
| | - Ivo Fabrik
- Biomedical Research Center, University Hospital Hradec Králové, Sokolská 581, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.
| | - Rudolf Kupčík
- Biomedical Research Center, University Hospital Hradec Králové, Sokolská 581, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.
| | - Marie Vajrychová
- Biomedical Research Center, University Hospital Hradec Králové, Sokolská 581, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.
| | - Linda Doubravová
- Institute of Microbiology, v.v.i., Czech Academy of Sciences, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20 Prague, Czech Republic.
| | - Pavel Branny
- Institute of Microbiology, v.v.i., Czech Academy of Sciences, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20 Prague, Czech Republic.
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42
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King A, Blackledge MS. Evaluation of small molecule kinase inhibitors as novel antimicrobial and antibiofilm agents. Chem Biol Drug Des 2021; 98:1038-1064. [PMID: 34581492 PMCID: PMC8616828 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is a global and pressing concern. Our current therapeutic arsenal is increasingly limited as bacteria are developing resistance at a rate that far outpaces our ability to create new treatments. Novel approaches to treating and curing bacterial infections are urgently needed. Bacterial kinases have been increasingly explored as novel drug targets and are poised for development into novel therapeutic agents to combat bacterial infections. This review describes several general classes of bacterial kinases that play important roles in bacterial growth, antibiotic resistance, and biofilm formation. General features of these kinase classes are discussed and areas of particular interest for the development of inhibitors will be highlighted. Small molecule kinase inhibitors are described and organized by phenotypic effect, spotlighting particularly interesting inhibitors with novel functions and potential therapeutic benefit. Finally, we provide our perspective on the future of bacterial kinase inhibition as a viable strategy to combat bacterial infections and overcome the pressures of increasing antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley King
- Department of Chemistry, High Point University, One University Parkway, High Point, NC 27268
| | - Meghan S. Blackledge
- Department of Chemistry, High Point University, One University Parkway, High Point, NC 27268
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43
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Hu Q, Yao L, Liao X, Zhang LS, Li HT, Li TT, Jiang QG, Tan MF, Li L, Draheim RR, Huang Q, Zhou R. Comparative Phenotypic, Proteomic, and Phosphoproteomic Analysis Reveals Different Roles of Serine/Threonine Phosphatase and Kinase in the Growth, Cell Division, and Pathogenicity of Streptococcus suis. Microorganisms 2021; 9:microorganisms9122442. [PMID: 34946045 PMCID: PMC8707513 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9122442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Revised: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Eukaryote-like serine/threonine kinases (STKs) and cognate phosphatases (STPs) comprise an important regulatory system in many bacterial pathogens. The complexity of this regulatory system has not been fully understood due to the presence of multiple STKs/STPs in many bacteria and their multiple substrates involved in many different physiological and pathogenetic processes. Streptococci are the best materials for the study due to a single copy of the gene encoding STK and its cognate STP. Although several studies have been done to investigate the roles of STK and STP in zoonotic Streptococcus suis, respectively, few studies were performed on the coordinated regulatory roles of this system. In this study, we carried out a systemic study on STK/STP in S. suis by using a comparative phenotypic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic analysis. Mouse infection assays revealed that STK played a much more important role in S. suis pathogenesis than STP. The ∆stk and ∆stp∆stk strains, but not ∆stp, showed severe growth retardation. Moreover, both ∆stp and ∆stk strains displayed defects in cell division, but they were abnormal in different ways. The comparative proteomics and phosphoproteomics revealed that deletion of stk or stp had a significant influence on protein expression. Interestingly, more virulence factors were found to be downregulated in ∆stk than ∆stp. In ∆stk strain, a substantial number of the proteins with a reduced phosphorylation level were involved in cell division, energy metabolism, and protein translation. However, only a few proteins showed increased phosphorylation in ∆stp, which also included some proteins related to cell division. Collectively, our results show that both STP and STK are critical regulatory proteins for S. suis and that STK seems to play more important roles in growth, cell division, and pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiao Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
| | - Lun Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
| | - Xia Liao
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
| | - Liang-Sheng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
| | - Hao-Tian Li
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
| | - Ting-Ting Li
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
| | - Qing-Gen Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
| | - Mei-Fang Tan
- Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China;
| | - Lu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
- Cooperative Innovation Center of Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
- International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Roger R. Draheim
- School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2UP, UK;
| | - Qi Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
- Cooperative Innovation Center of Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
- International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- Correspondence: (Q.H.); (R.Z.)
| | - Rui Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (Q.H.); (L.Y.); (X.L.); (L.-S.Z.); (H.-T.L.); (T.-T.L.); (Q.-G.J.); (L.L.)
- Cooperative Innovation Center of Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
- International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- Correspondence: (Q.H.); (R.Z.)
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Iannetta AA, Minton NE, Uitenbroek AA, Little JL, Stanton CR, Kristich CJ, Hicks LM. IreK-Mediated, Cell Wall-Protective Phosphorylation in Enterococcus faecalis. J Proteome Res 2021; 20:5131-5144. [PMID: 34672600 PMCID: PMC10037947 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Enterococcus faecalis is a Gram-positive bacterium that is a major cause of hospital-acquired infections due, in part, to its intrinsic resistance to cell wall-active antimicrobials. One critical determinant of this resistance is the transmembrane kinase IreK, which belongs to the penicillin-binding protein and serine/threonine kinase-associated kinase family of bacterial signaling proteins involved with the regulation of cell wall homeostasis. The activity of IreK is enhanced in response to cell wall stress, but direct substrates of IreK phosphorylation, leading to antimicrobial resistance, are largely unknown. To better understand stress-modulated phosphorylation events contributing to antimicrobial resistance, wild type E. faecalis cells treated with cell wall-active antimicrobials, chlorhexidine or ceftriaxone, were examined via phosphoproteomics. Among the most prominent changes was increased phosphorylation of divisome components after both treatments, suggesting that E. faecalis modulates cell division in response to cell wall stress. Phosphorylation mediated by IreK was then determined via a similar analysis with a E. faecalis ΔireK mutant strain, revealing potential IreK substrates involved with the regulation of peptidoglycan biosynthesis and within the E. faecalis CroS/R two-component system, another signal transduction pathway that promotes antimicrobial resistance. These results reveal critical insights into the biological functions of IreK.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony A. Iannetta
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Nicole E. Minton
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226
| | - Alexis A. Uitenbroek
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226
| | - Jaime L. Little
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226
| | - Caroline R. Stanton
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Christopher J. Kristich
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226
| | - Leslie M. Hicks
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
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Rajpurohit YS, Sharma DK, Misra HS. Involvement of Serine / Threonine protein kinases in DNA damage response and cell division in bacteria. Res Microbiol 2021; 173:103883. [PMID: 34624492 DOI: 10.1016/j.resmic.2021.103883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The roles of Serine/Threonine protein kinases (STPKs) in bacterial physiology, including bacterial responses to nutritional stresses and under pathogenesis have been well documented. STPKs roles in bacterial cell cycle regulation and DNA damage response have not been much emphasized, possibly because the LexA/RecA type SOS response became the synonym to DNA damage response and cell cycle regulation in bacteria. This review summarizes current knowledge of STPKs genetics, domain organization, and their roles in DNA damage response and cell division regulation in bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yogendra S Rajpurohit
- Molecular Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, 400085, India; Life Sciences, Homi Bhabha National Institute (DAE- Deemed University), Mumbai, 400094, India.
| | - Dhirendra Kumar Sharma
- Molecular Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, 400085, India; Life Sciences, Homi Bhabha National Institute (DAE- Deemed University), Mumbai, 400094, India
| | - Hari S Misra
- Molecular Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, 400085, India; Life Sciences, Homi Bhabha National Institute (DAE- Deemed University), Mumbai, 400094, India
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46
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Zheng CR, Singh A, Libby A, Silver PA, Libby EA. Modular and Single-Cell Sensors of Bacterial Ser/Thr Kinase Activity. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:2340-2350. [PMID: 34463482 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
At the single-cell level, protein kinase activity is typically inferred from downstream transcriptional reporters. However, promoters are often coregulated by several pathways, making the activity of a specific kinase difficult to deconvolve. Here, we present modular, direct, and specific sensors of bacterial kinase activity, including FRET-based sensors, as well as a synthetic transcription factor based on the lactose repressor (LacI) that has been engineered to respond to phosphorylation. We demonstrate the utility of these sensors in measuring the activity of PrkC, a conserved bacterial Ser/Thr kinase, in different growth conditions from single cells to colonies. We also show that PrkC activity increases in response to a cell-wall active antibiotic that blocks the late steps in peptidoglycan synthesis (cefotaxime), but not the early steps (fosfomycin). These sensors have a modular design that should generalize to other bacterial signaling systems in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine R. Zheng
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Abhyudai Singh
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States
| | - Alexandra Libby
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Pamela A. Silver
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Elizabeth A. Libby
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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47
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Pal S, Sharma G, Subramanian S. Complete genome sequence and identification of polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis genes of the myxobacterium Minicystis rosea DSM 24000 T. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:655. [PMID: 34511070 PMCID: PMC8436480 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-07955-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Myxobacteria harbor numerous biosynthetic gene clusters that can produce a diverse range of secondary metabolites. Minicystis rosea DSM 24000T is a soil-dwelling myxobacterium belonging to the suborderSorangiineae and family Polyangiaceae and is known to produce various secondary metabolites as well as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Here, we use whole-genome sequencing to explore the diversity of biosynthetic gene clusters in M. rosea. Results Using PacBio sequencing technology, we assembled the 16.04 Mbp complete genome of M. rosea DSM 24000T, the largest bacterial genome sequenced to date. About 44% of its coding potential represents paralogous genes predominantly associated with signal transduction, transcriptional regulation, and protein folding. These genes are involved in various essential functions such as cellular organization, diverse niche adaptation, and bacterial cooperation, and enable social behavior like gliding motility, sporulation, and predation, typical of myxobacteria. A profusion of eukaryotic-like kinases (353) and an elevated ratio of phosphatases (8.2/1) in M. rosea as compared to other myxobacteria suggest gene duplication as one of the primary modes of genome expansion. About 7.7% of the genes are involved in the biosynthesis of a diverse array of secondary metabolites such as polyketides, terpenes, and bacteriocins. Phylogeny of the genes involved in PUFA biosynthesis (pfa) together with the conserved synteny of the complete pfa gene cluster suggests acquisition via horizontal gene transfer from Actinobacteria. Conclusion Overall, this study describes the complete genome sequence of M. rosea, comparative genomic analysis to explore the putative reasons for its large genome size, and explores the secondary metabolite potential, including the biosynthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-021-07955-x.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpee Pal
- CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTECH), Chandigarh, India
| | - Gaurav Sharma
- CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTECH), Chandigarh, India.,Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
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Overview of protein phosphorylation in bacteria with a main focus on unusual protein kinases in Bacillus subtilis. Res Microbiol 2021; 172:103871. [PMID: 34500011 DOI: 10.1016/j.resmic.2021.103871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Protein phosphorylation is a post-translational modification that affects protein activity through the addition of a phosphate moiety by protein kinases or phosphotransferases. It occurs in all life forms. In addition to Hanks kinases found also in eukaryotes, bacteria encode membrane histidine kinases that, with their cognate response regulator, constitute two-component systems and phosphotransferases that phosphorylate proteins involved in sugar utilization on histidine and cysteine residues. In addition, they encode BY-kinases and arginine kinases that phosphorylate protein specifically on tyrosine and arginine residues respectively. They also possess unusual bacterial protein kinases illustrated here by examples from Bacillus subtilis.
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Wang L, Wu Y, Du W, Yan Z, Qi Z, Tang W, Han Y, Liu C, Fan S, Hao J. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) analysis shows involvement of the LsSTPK gene in lettuce ( Lactuca sativaL.) in high temperature-induced bolting. PLANT SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR 2021; 16:1913845. [PMID: 33955335 PMCID: PMC8205037 DOI: 10.1080/15592324.2021.1913845] [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: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 04/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
To determine the effect of the serine/threonine protein kinase (STPK) gene on leaf lettuce bolting, we utilized virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) using the TRV vector to silence the target gene. The 'GB30' leaf lettuce cultivar was the test material, and the methods included gene cloning, bioinformatics analysis, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and VIGS. LsSTPK, was cloned from the 'GB30' leaf lettuce cultivar via reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). qRT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of LsSTPK in the stem of leaf lettuce was significantly greater than that in the roots and leaves, and after high-temperature treatment, the gene expression in the stems in the experimental group was markedly lower than that in the control groups. Following LsSTPK silencing via the VIGS method, the stem length in the treatment group was significantly greater than that in the blank and negative control groups, and the contents of auxin (IAA), GA3 and abscisic acid (ABA) in the treatment group were greater than those in the other two groups. Flower bud differentiation occurred in the treatment group but not in the control group. The above findings suggested that LsSTPK inhibits the bolting of leaf lettuce under high-temperature conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Production Education, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China
| | - Yang Wu
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Production Education, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China
| | - Wei Du
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Production Education, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China
| | - Ziqi Yan
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Zhengyang Qi
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Production Education, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China
| | - Wenkun Tang
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Production Education, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China
| | - Yingyan Han
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Production Education, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China
| | - Chaojie Liu
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Production Education, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China
| | - Shuangxi Fan
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Production Education, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China
| | - Jinghong Hao
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Production Education, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China
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50
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Biochemical characterization of a recombinant acid phosphatase from Acinetobacter baumannii. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0252377. [PMID: 34077475 PMCID: PMC8172068 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 05/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Genomic sequence analysis of Acinetobacter baumannii revealed the presence of a putative Acid Phosphatase (AcpA; EC 3.1.3.2). A plasmid construct was made, and recombinant protein (rAcpA) was expressed in E. coli. PAGE analysis (carried out under denaturing/reducing conditions) of nickel-affinity purified protein revealed the presence of a near-homogeneous band of approximately 37 kDa. The identity of the 37 kDa species was verified as rAcpA by proteomic analysis with a molecular mass of 34.6 kDa from the deduced sequence. The dependence of substrate hydrolysis on pH was broad with an optimum observed at 6.0. Kinetic analysis revealed relatively high affinity for PNPP (Km = 90 μM) with Vmax, kcat, and Kcat/Km values of 19.2 pmoles s-1, 4.80 s-1(calculated on the basis of 37 kDa), and 5.30 x 104 M-1s-1, respectively. Sensitivity to a variety of reagents, i.e., detergents, reducing, and chelating agents as well as classic acid phosphatase inhibitors was examined in addition to assessment of hydrolysis of a number of phosphorylated compounds. Removal of phosphate from different phosphorylated compounds is supportive of broad, i.e., ‘nonspecific’ substrate specificity; although, the enzyme appears to prefer phosphotyrosine and/or peptides containing phosphotyrosine in comparison to serine and threonine. Examination of the primary sequence indicated the absence of signature sequences characteristic of Type A, B, and C nonspecific bacterial acid phosphatases.
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