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Lau MSH, Madika A, Zhang Y, Minton NP. Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius Strain Engineering Using a Theophylline Responsive RiboCas for Controlled Gene Expression. ACS Synth Biol 2024; 13:1237-1245. [PMID: 38517011 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
The relentless increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations as a consequence of the exploitation of fossil resources compels the adoption of sustainable routes to chemical and fuel manufacture based on biological fermentation processes. The use of thermophilic chassis in such processes is an attractive proposition; however, their effective exploitation will require improved genome editing tools. In the case of the industrially relevant chassis Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius, CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing has been demonstrated. The constitutive promoter used, however, accentuates the deleterious nature of Cas9, causing decreased transformation and low editing efficiencies, together with an increased likelihood of off-target effects or alternative mutations. Here, we rectify this issue by controlling the expression of Cas9 through the use of a synthetic riboswitch that is dependent on the nonmetabolized, nontoxic, and cheap inducer, theophylline. We demonstrate that the riboswitches are dose-dependent, allowing for controlled expression of the target gene. Through their use, we were then able to address the deleterious nature of Cas9 and produce an inducible system, RiboCas93. The benefits of RiboCas93 were demonstrated by increased transformation efficiency of the editing vectors, improved efficiency in mutant generation (100%), and a reduction of Cas9 toxicity, as indicated by a reduction in the number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) observed. This new system provides a quick and efficient way to produce mutants in P. thermoglucosidasius.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew S H Lau
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Abubakar Madika
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria 810107, Nigeria
| | - Ying Zhang
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
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Papatheodorou P, Minton NP, Aktories K, Barth H. An Updated View on the Cellular Uptake and Mode-of-Action of Clostridioides difficile Toxins. Adv Exp Med Biol 2024; 1435:219-247. [PMID: 38175478 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-42108-2_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Research on the human gut pathogen Clostridioides (C.) difficile and its toxins continues to attract much attention as a consequence of the threat to human health posed by hypervirulent strains. Toxin A (TcdA) and Toxin B (TcdB) are the two major virulence determinants of C. difficile. Both are single-chain proteins with a similar multidomain architecture. Certain hypervirulent C. difficile strains also produce a third toxin, namely binary toxin CDT (C. difficile transferase). C. difficile toxins are the causative agents of C. difficile-associated diseases (CDADs), such as antibiotics-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. For that reason, considerable efforts have been expended to unravel their molecular mode-of-action and the cellular mechanisms responsible for their uptake. Many of these studies have been conducted in European laboratories. Here, we provide an update on our previous review (Papatheodorou et al. Adv Exp Med Biol, 2018) on important advances in C. difficile toxins research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panagiotis Papatheodorou
- Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacology of Natural Products, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Klaus Aktories
- Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Holger Barth
- Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacology of Natural Products, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany
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Abstract
Clostridium botulinum, a polyphyletic Gram-positive taxon of bacteria, is classified purely by their ability to produce botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT). BoNT is the primary virulence factor and the causative agent of botulism. A potentially fatal disease, botulism is classically characterized by a symmetrical descending flaccid paralysis, which is left untreated can lead to respiratory failure and death. Botulism cases are classified into three main forms dependent on the nature of intoxication; foodborne, wound and infant. The BoNT, regarded as the most potent biological substance known, is a zinc metalloprotease that specifically cleaves SNARE proteins at neuromuscular junctions, preventing exocytosis of neurotransmitters, leading to muscle paralysis. The BoNT is now used to treat numerous medical conditions caused by overactive or spastic muscles and is extensively used in the cosmetic industry due to its high specificity and the exceedingly small doses needed to exert long-lasting pharmacological effects. Additionally, the ability to form endospores is critical to the pathogenicity of the bacteria. Disease transmission is often facilitated via the metabolically dormant spores that are highly resistant to environment stresses, allowing persistence in the environment in unfavourable conditions. Infant and wound botulism infections are initiated upon germination of the spores into neurotoxin producing vegetative cells, whereas foodborne botulism is attributed to ingestion of preformed BoNT. C. botulinum is a saprophytic bacterium, thought to have evolved its potent neurotoxin to establish a source of nutrients by killing its host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M Rawson
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Andrew W Dempster
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Christopher M Humphreys
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
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Marini E, Olivença C, Ramalhete S, Aguirre AM, Ingle P, Melo MN, Antunes W, Minton NP, Hernandez G, Cordeiro TN, Sorg JA, Serrano M, Henriques AO. A sporulation signature protease is required for assembly of the spore surface layers, germination and host colonization in Clostridioides difficile. PLoS Pathog 2023; 19:e1011741. [PMID: 37956166 PMCID: PMC10681294 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
A genomic signature for endosporulation includes a gene coding for a protease, YabG, which in the model organism Bacillus subtilis is involved in assembly of the spore coat. We show that in the human pathogen Clostridioidesm difficile, YabG is critical for the assembly of the coat and exosporium layers of spores. YabG is produced during sporulation under the control of the mother cell-specific regulators σE and σK and associates with the spore surface layers. YabG shows an N-terminal SH3-like domain and a C-terminal domain that resembles single domain response regulators, such as CheY, yet is atypical in that the conserved phosphoryl-acceptor residue is absent. Instead, the CheY-like domain carries residues required for activity, including Cys207 and His161, the homologues of which form a catalytic diad in the B. subtilis protein, and also Asp162. The substitution of any of these residues by Ala, eliminates an auto-proteolytic activity as well as interdomain processing of CspBA, a reaction that releases the CspB protease, required for proper spore germination. An in-frame deletion of yabG or an allele coding for an inactive protein, yabGC207A, both cause misassemby of the coat and exosporium and the formation of spores that are more permeable to lysozyme and impaired in germination and host colonization. Furthermore, we show that YabG is required for the expression of at least two σK-dependent genes, cotA, coding for a coat protein, and cdeM, coding for a key determinant of exosporium assembly. Thus, YabG also impinges upon the genetic program of the mother cell possibly by eliminating a transcriptional repressor. Although this activity has not been described for the B. subtilis protein and most of the YabG substrates vary among sporeformers, the general role of the protease in the assembly of the spore surface is likely to be conserved across evolutionary distance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora Marini
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República EAN, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Carmen Olivença
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República EAN, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Sara Ramalhete
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República EAN, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Andrea Martinez Aguirre
- Texas A&M University, Department of Biology, College Station, Texas, United States of America
| | - Patrick Ingle
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Manuel N Melo
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República EAN, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Wilson Antunes
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República EAN, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Guillem Hernandez
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República EAN, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Tiago N Cordeiro
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República EAN, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Joseph A Sorg
- Texas A&M University, Department of Biology, College Station, Texas, United States of America
| | - Mónica Serrano
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República EAN, Oeiras, Portugal
| | - Adriano O Henriques
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República EAN, Oeiras, Portugal
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Seys FM, Humphreys CM, Tomi-Andrino C, Li Q, Millat T, Yang S, Minton NP. Base editing enables duplex point mutagenesis in Clostridium autoethanogenum at the price of numerous off-target mutations. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2023; 11:1211197. [PMID: 37496853 PMCID: PMC10366002 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1211197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Base editors are recent multiplex gene editing tools derived from the Cas9 nuclease of Streptomyces pyogenes. They can target and modify a single nucleotide in the genome without inducing double-strand breaks (DSB) of the DNA helix. As such, they hold great potential for the engineering of microbes that lack effective DSB repair pathways such as homologous recombination (HR) or non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). However, few applications of base editors have been reported in prokaryotes to date, and their advantages and drawbacks have not been systematically reported. Here, we used the base editors Target-AID and Target-AID-NG to introduce nonsense mutations into four different coding sequences of the industrially relevant Gram-positive bacterium Clostridium autoethanogenum. While up to two loci could be edited simultaneously using a variety of multiplexing strategies, most colonies exhibited mixed genotypes and most available protospacers led to undesired mutations within the targeted editing window. Additionally, fifteen off-target mutations were detected by sequencing the genome of the resulting strain, among them seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in or near loci bearing some similarity with the targeted protospacers, one 15 nt duplication, and one 12 kb deletion which removed uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG), a key DNA repair enzyme thought to be an obstacle to base editing mutagenesis. A strategy to process prokaryotic single-guide RNA arrays by exploiting tRNA maturation mechanisms is also illustrated.
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Affiliation(s)
- François M. Seys
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher M. Humphreys
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Claudio Tomi-Andrino
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Centre for Analytical Bioscience, Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Nottingham BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Qi Li
- College of Life Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
| | - Thomas Millat
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Sheng Yang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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Poulalier-Delavelle M, Baker JP, Millard J, Winzer K, Minton NP. Endogenous CRISPR/Cas systems for genome engineering in the acetogens Acetobacterium woodii and Clostridium autoethanogenum. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2023; 11:1213236. [PMID: 37425362 PMCID: PMC10328091 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1213236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Acetogenic bacteria can play a major role in achieving Net Zero through their ability to convert CO2 into industrially relevant chemicals and fuels. Full exploitation of this potential will be reliant on effective metabolic engineering tools, such as those based on the Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPR/Cas9 system. However, attempts to introduce cas9-containing vectors into Acetobacterium woodii were unsuccessful, most likely as a consequence of Cas9 nuclease toxicity and the presence of a recognition site for an endogenous A. woodii restriction-modification (R-M) system in the cas9 gene. As an alternative, this study aims to facilitate the exploitation of CRISPR/Cas endogenous systems as genome engineering tools. Accordingly, a Python script was developed to automate the prediction of protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequences and used to identify PAM candidates of the A. woodii Type I-B CRISPR/Cas system. The identified PAMs and the native leader sequence were characterized in vivo by interference assay and RT-qPCR, respectively. Expression of synthetic CRISPR arrays, consisting of the native leader sequence, direct repeats, and adequate spacer, along with an editing template for homologous recombination, successfully led to the creation of 300 bp and 354 bp in-frame deletions of pyrE and pheA, respectively. To further validate the method, a 3.2 kb deletion of hsdR1 was also generated, as well as the knock-in of the fluorescence-activating and absorption-shifting tag (FAST) reporter gene at the pheA locus. Homology arm length, cell density, and the amount of DNA used for transformation were found to significantly impact editing efficiencies. The devised workflow was subsequently applied to the Type I-B CRISPR/Cas system of Clostridium autoethanogenum, enabling the generation of a 561 bp in-frame deletion of pyrE with 100% editing efficiency. This is the first report of genome engineering of both A. woodii and C. autoethanogenum using their endogenous CRISPR/Cas systems.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Nigel P. Minton
- *Correspondence: Margaux Poulalier-Delavelle, ; Nigel P. Minton,
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Omorotionmwan BB, Wang H, Baker JP, Gizynski K, Yoo M, Akaluka C, Zhang Y, Minton NP. Chromosomal engineering of inducible isopropanol- butanol-ethanol production in Clostridium acetobutylicum. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2023; 11:1218099. [PMID: 37397966 PMCID: PMC10312008 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1218099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The use of environmentally damaging petrochemical feedstocks can be displaced by fermentation processes based on engineered microbial chassis that recycle biomass-derived carbon into chemicals and fuels. The stable retention of introduced genes, designed to extend product range and/or increase productivity, is essential. Accordingly, we have created multiply marked auxotrophic strains of Clostridium acetobutylicum that provide distinct loci (pyrE, argH, purD, pheA) at which heterologous genes can be rapidly integrated using allele-coupled exchange (ACE). For each locus, ACE-mediated insertion is conveniently selected on the basis of the restoration of prototrophy on minimal media. The Clostridioides difficile gene (tcdR) encoding an orthogonal sigma factor (TcdR) was integrated at the pyrE locus under the control of the lactose-inducible, bgaR::PbgaL promoter to allow the simultaneous control of genes/operons inserted at other disparate loci (purD and pheA) that had been placed under the control of the PtcdB promoter. In control experiments, dose-dependent expression of a catP reporter gene was observed with increasing lactose concentration. At the highest doses tested (10 mM) the level of expression was over 10-fold higher than if catP was placed directly under the control of bgaR::PbgaL and over 2-fold greater than achieved using the strong Pfdx promoter of the Clostridium sporogenes ferredoxin gene. The utility of the system was demonstrated in the production of isopropanol by the C. acetobutylicum strain carrying an integrated copy of tcdR following the insertion of a synthetic acetone operon (ctfA/B, adc) at the purD locus and a gene (sadh) encoding a secondary dehydrogenase at pheA. Lactose induction (10 mM) resulted in the production of 4.4 g/L isopropanol and 19.8 g/L Isopropanol-Butanol-Ethanol mixture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bunmi B. Omorotionmwan
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Hengzheng Wang
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan P. Baker
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Krzysztof Gizynski
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Minyeong Yoo
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Cynthia Akaluka
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Ying Zhang
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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Simpson M, Bilverstone T, Leslie J, Donlan A, Uddin MJ, Petri WA, Marin N, Kuehne S, Minton NP, Petri WA. Clostridioides difficile Binary Toxin Binding Component Increases Virulence in a Hamster Model. Open Forum Infect Dis 2023; 10:ofad040. [PMID: 36895287 PMCID: PMC9991586 DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofad040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Clostridioides difficile is the leading cause of hospital-acquired gastrointestinal infection, in part due to the existence of binary toxin (CDT)-expressing hypervirulent strains. Although the effects of the CDT holotoxin on disease pathogenesis have been previously studied, we sought to investigate the role of the individual components of CDT during in vivo infection. Methods To determine the contribution of the separate components of CDT during infection, we developed strains of C difficile expressing either CDTa or CDTb individually. We then infected both mice and hamsters with these novel mutant strains and monitored them for development of severe illness. Results Although expression of CDTb without CDTa did not induce significant disease in a mouse model of C difficile infection, we found that complementation of a CDT-deficient C difficile strain with CDTb alone restored virulence in a hamster model of C difficile infection. Conclusions Overall, this study demonstrates that the binding component of C difficile binary toxin, CDTb, contributes to virulence in a hamster model of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan Simpson
- Department of Pathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Terry Bilverstone
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Jhansi Leslie
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases & International Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Alexandra Donlan
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Md Jashim Uddin
- Department of Pathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - William A Petri
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases & International Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Natasha Marin
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Kuehne
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Oral Microbiology Group, School of Dentistry and Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - William A Petri
- Department of Pathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases & International Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
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Rumah B, Claxton Stevens BH, Yeboah JE, Stead CE, Harding EL, Minton NP, Zhang Y. In Vivo Genome Editing in Type I and II Methanotrophs Using a CRISPR/Cas9 System. ACS Synth Biol 2023; 12:544-554. [PMID: 36688528 PMCID: PMC9942187 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Methanotrophic bacteria are Gram-negative, aerobic organisms that use methane as their sole source of carbon and energy. In this study, we constructed and exemplified a CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system and used it to successfully make gene deletions and insertions in the type I methanotroph Methylococcus capsulatus Bath and the type II methanotroph Methylocystis parvus OBBP. High frequencies of gene deletions and insertions were achieved in combination with homology-directed repair. In M. parvus OBBP, we also investigated the impact of several parameters on the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, where the ligD gene was targeted with various PAM sequences and guide RNA spacer sequences, homology arms of variable length, differences in the duration of mating during conjugation, and exploiting promoters of different strengths to control the expression of cas9 and sgRNA. Although not the first attempt to develop a CRISPR/Cas system in methanotrophs, this work demonstrated for the first time an efficient CRISPR/Cas9 system generating scarless clean gene deletions and insertions in methanotroph genomes.
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Sheng L, Madika A, Lau MSH, Zhang Y, Minton NP. Metabolic engineering for the production of acetoin and 2,3-butanediol at elevated temperature in Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius NCIMB 11955. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2023; 11:1191079. [PMID: 37200846 PMCID: PMC10185769 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1191079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The current climate crisis has emphasised the need to achieve global net-zero by 2050, with countries being urged to set considerable emission reduction targets by 2030. Exploitation of a fermentative process that uses a thermophilic chassis can represent a way to manufacture chemicals and fuels through more environmentally friendly routes with a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, the industrially relevant thermophile Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius NCIMB 11955 was engineered to produce 3-hydroxybutanone (acetoin) and 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO), organic compounds with commercial applications. Using heterologous acetolactate synthase (ALS) and acetolactate decarboxylase (ALD) enzymes, a functional 2,3-BDO biosynthetic pathway was constructed. The formation of by-products was minimized by the deletion of competing pathways surrounding the pyruvate node. Redox imbalance was addressed through autonomous overexpression of the butanediol dehydrogenase and by investigating appropriate aeration levels. Through this, we were able to produce 2,3-BDO as the predominant fermentation metabolite, with up to 6.6 g/L 2,3-BDO (0.33 g/g glucose) representing 66% of the theoretical maximum at 50°C. In addition, the identification and subsequent deletion of a previously unreported thermophilic acetoin degradation gene (acoB1) resulted in enhanced acetoin production under aerobic conditions, producing 7.6 g/L (0.38 g/g glucose) representing 78% of the theoretical maximum. Furthermore, through the generation of a ΔacoB1 mutant and by testing the effect of glucose concentration on 2,3-BDO production, we were able to produce 15.6 g/L of 2,3-BDO in media supplemented with 5% glucose, the highest titre of 2,3-BDO produced in Parageobacillus and Geobacillus species to date.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Sheng
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Abubakar Madika
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
| | - Matthew S. H. Lau
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Ying Zhang
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Nigel P. Minton,
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11
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Madika A, Spencer J, Lau MS, Sheng L, Zhang Y, Minton NP. pMTL60000: A modular plasmid vector series for Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius strain engineering. J Microbiol Methods 2022; 202:106600. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2022.106600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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12
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Salinas A, McGregor C, Irorere V, Arenas-López C, Bommareddy RR, Winzer K, Minton NP, Kovács K. Metabolic engineering of Cupriavidus necator H16 for heterotrophic and autotrophic production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid. Metab Eng 2022; 74:178-190. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2022.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Revised: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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13
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Cengic I, Cañadas IC, Minton NP, Hudson EP. Inducible CRISPR/Cas9 Allows for Multiplexed and Rapidly Segregated Single-Target Genome Editing in Synechocystis Sp. PCC 6803. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:3100-3113. [PMID: 35969224 PMCID: PMC9486961 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Establishing various synthetic biology tools is crucial for the development of cyanobacteria for biotechnology use, especially tools that allow for precise and markerless genome editing in a time-efficient manner. Here, we describe a riboswitch-inducible CRISPR/Cas9 system, contained on a single replicative vector, for the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. A theophylline-responsive riboswitch allowed tight control of Cas9 expression, which enabled reliable transformation of the CRISPR/Cas9 vector intoSynechocystis. Induction of the CRISPR/Cas9 mediated various types of genomic edits, specifically deletions and insertions of varying size. The editing efficiency varied depending on the target and intended edit; smaller edits performed better, reaching, e.g., 100% for insertion of a FLAG-tag onto rbcL. Importantly, the single-vector CRISPR/Cas9 system mediated multiplexed editing of up to three targets in parallel inSynechocystis. All single-target and several double-target mutants were also fully segregated after the first round of induction. Lastly, a vector curing system based on the nickel-inducible expression of the toxic mazF (from Escherichia coli) was added to the CRISPR/Cas9 vector. This inducible system allowed for curing of the vector in 25-75% of screened colonies, enabling edited mutants to become markerless.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Cengic
- School
of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, Science
for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute
of Technology, Stockholm 17121, Sweden
| | - Inés C. Cañadas
- BBSRC/EPSRC
Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC
Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Elton P. Hudson
- School
of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, Science
for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute
of Technology, Stockholm 17121, Sweden,
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14
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Pregnon G, Minton NP, Soucaille P. Genome Sequence of Eubacterium limosum B2 and Evolution for Growth on a Mineral Medium with Methanol and CO2 as Sole Carbon Sources. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10091790. [PMID: 36144392 PMCID: PMC9503626 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10091790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Eubacterium limosum is an acetogen that can produce butyrate along with acetate as the main fermentation end-product from methanol, a promising C1 feedstock. Although physiological characterization of E. limosum B2 during methylotrophy was previously performed, the strain was cultured in a semi-defined medium, limiting the scope for further metabolic insights. Here, we sequenced the complete genome of the native strain and performed adaptive laboratory evolution to sustain growth on methanol mineral medium. The evolved population significantly improved its maximal growth rate by 3.45-fold. Furthermore, three clones from the evolved population were isolated on methanol mineral medium without cysteine by the addition of sodium thiosulfate. To identify mutations related to growth improvement, the whole genomes of wild-type E. limosum B2, the 10th, 25th, 50th, and 75th generations, and the three clones were sequenced. We explored the total proteomes of the native and the best evolved clone (n°2) and noticed significant differences in proteins involved in gluconeogenesis, anaplerotic reactions, and sulphate metabolism. Furthermore, a homologous recombination was found in subunit S of the type I restriction-modification system between both strains, changing the structure of the subunit, its sequence recognition and the methylome of the evolved clone. Taken together, the genomic, proteomic and methylomic data suggest a possible epigenetic mechanism of metabolic regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Pregnon
- INSA, UPS, INP, Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI), Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Philippe Soucaille
- INSA, UPS, INP, Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI), Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +33-(0)-561-559-452
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15
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Bourgade B, Humphreys CM, Millard J, Minton NP, Islam MA. Design, Analysis, and Implementation of a Novel Biochemical Pathway for Ethylene Glycol Production in Clostridium autoethanogenum. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:1790-1800. [PMID: 35543716 PMCID: PMC9127970 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
![]()
The platform chemical
ethylene glycol (EG) is used to manufacture
various commodity chemicals of industrial importance, but largely
remains synthesized from fossil fuels. Although several novel metabolic
pathways have been reported for its bioproduction in model organisms,
none has been reported for gas-fermenting, non-model acetogenic chassis
organisms. Here, we describe a novel, synthetic biochemical pathway
to convert acetate into EG in the industrially important gas-fermenting
acetogen,Clostridium autoethanogenum. We not only developed a computational workflow to design and analyze
hundreds of novel biochemical pathways for EG production but also
demonstrated a successful pathway construction in the chosen host.
The EG production was achieved using a two-plasmid system to bypass
unfeasible expression levels and potential toxic enzymatic interactions.
Although only a yield of 0.029 g EG/g fructose was achieved and therefore
requiring further strain engineering efforts to optimize the designed
strain, this work demonstrates an important proof-of-concept approach
to computationally design and experimentally implement fully synthetic
metabolic pathways in a metabolically highly specific, non-model host
organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Bourgade
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, U.K
| | - Christopher M. Humphreys
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - James Millard
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - M. Ahsanul Islam
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, U.K
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16
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Hanko EKR, Sherlock G, Minton NP, Malys N. Biosensor-informed engineering of Cupriavidus necator H16 for autotrophic D-mannitol production. Metab Eng 2022; 72:24-34. [PMID: 35149227 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2022.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2021] [Revised: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Cupriavidus necator H16 is one of the most researched carbon dioxide (CO2)-fixing bacteria. It can store carbon in form of the polymer polyhydroxybutyrate and generate energy by aerobic hydrogen oxidation under lithoautotrophic conditions, making C. necator an ideal chassis for the biological production of value-added compounds from waste gases. Despite its immense potential, however, the experimental evidence of C. necator utilisation for autotrophic biosynthesis of chemicals is limited. Here, we genetically engineered C. necator for the high-level de novo biosynthesis of the industrially relevant sugar alcohol mannitol directly from Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle intermediates. To identify optimal mannitol production conditions in C. necator, a mannitol-responsive biosensor was applied for screening of mono- and bifunctional mannitol 1-phosphate dehydrogenases (MtlDs) and mannitol 1-phosphate phosphatases (M1Ps). We found that MtlD/M1P from brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus performed overall the best under heterotrophic growth conditions and was selected to be chromosomally integrated. Consequently, autotrophic fermentation of recombinant C. necator yielded up to 3.9 g/L mannitol, representing a substantial improvement over mannitol biosynthesis using recombinant cyanobacteria. Importantly, we demonstrate that at the onset of stationary growth phase nearly 100% of carbon can be directed from the CBB cycle into mannitol through the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and fructose 6-phosphate intermediates. This study highlights for the first time the potential of C. necator to generate sugar alcohols from CO2 utilising precursors derived from the CBB cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik K R Hanko
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom; Present address: Manchester Centre for Fine and Speciality Chemicals (SYNBIOCHEM), Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, Manchester, M1 7DN, United Kingdom
| | - Gillian Sherlock
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
| | - Naglis Malys
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
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17
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Nowakowska MB, Selby K, Przykopanski A, Krüger M, Krez N, Dorner BG, Dorner MB, Jin R, Minton NP, Rummel A, Lindström M. Construction and validation of safe Clostridium botulinum Group II surrogate strain producing inactive botulinum neurotoxin type E toxoid. Sci Rep 2022; 12:1790. [PMID: 35110559 PMCID: PMC8810926 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05008-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), produced by the spore-forming bacterium Clostridium botulinum, cause botulism, a rare but fatal illness affecting humans and animals. Despite causing a life-threatening disease, BoNT is a multipurpose therapeutic. Nevertheless, as the most potent natural toxin, BoNT is classified as a Select Agent in the US, placing C. botulinum research under stringent governmental regulations. The extreme toxicity of BoNT, its impact on public safety, and its diverse therapeutic applications urge to devise safe solutions to expand C. botulinum research. Accordingly, we exploited CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing to introduce inactivating point mutations into chromosomal bont/e gene of C. botulinum Beluga E. The resulting Beluga Ei strain displays unchanged physiology and produces inactive BoNT (BoNT/Ei) recognized in serological assays, but lacking biological activity detectable ex- and in vivo. Neither native single-chain, nor trypsinized di-chain form of BoNT/Ei show in vivo toxicity, even if isolated from Beluga Ei sub-cultured for 25 generations. Beluga Ei strain constitutes a safe alternative for the BoNT research necessary for public health risk management, the development of food preservation strategies, understanding toxinogenesis, and for structural BoNT studies. The example of Beluga Ei generation serves as template for future development of C. botulinum producing different inactive BoNT serotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria B Nowakowska
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Katja Selby
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Adina Przykopanski
- Institut Für Toxikologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Maren Krüger
- Biological Toxins, Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nadja Krez
- Institut Für Toxikologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Brigitte G Dorner
- Biological Toxins, Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin B Dorner
- Biological Toxins, Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Rongsheng Jin
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Andreas Rummel
- Institut Für Toxikologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Miia Lindström
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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18
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Piatek P, Humphreys C, Raut MP, Wright PC, Simpson S, Köpke M, Minton NP, Winzer K. Agr Quorum Sensing influences the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway in Clostridium autoethanogenum. Sci Rep 2022; 12:411. [PMID: 35013405 PMCID: PMC8748961 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03999-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Acetogenic bacteria are capable of fermenting CO2 and carbon monoxide containing waste-gases into a range of platform chemicals and fuels. Despite major advances in genetic engineering and improving these biocatalysts, several important physiological functions remain elusive. Among these is quorum sensing, a bacterial communication mechanism known to coordinate gene expression in response to cell population density. Two putative agr systems have been identified in the genome of Clostridium autoethanogenum suggesting bacterial communication via autoinducing signal molecules. Signal molecule-encoding agrD1 and agrD2 genes were targeted for in-frame deletion. During heterotrophic growth on fructose as a carbon and energy source, single deletions of either gene did not produce an observable phenotype. However, when both genes were simultaneously inactivated, final product concentrations in the double mutant shifted to a 1.5:1 ratio of ethanol:acetate, compared to a 0.2:1 ratio observed in the wild type control, making ethanol the dominant fermentation product. Moreover, CO2 re-assimilation was also notably reduced in both hetero- and autotrophic growth conditions. These findings were supported through comparative proteomics, which showed lower expression of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, formate dehydrogenase A and hydrogenases in the ∆agrD1∆agrD2 double mutant, but higher levels of putative alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenases and bacterial micro-compartment proteins. These findings suggest that Agr quorum sensing, and by inference, cell density play a role in carbon resource management and use of the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway as an electron sink.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pawel Piatek
- Department of Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, SINTEF Industry, 7465, Trondheim, Norway
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Christopher Humphreys
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Mahendra P Raut
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The ChELSI Institute, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK
| | - Phillip C Wright
- University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Sean Simpson
- LanzaTech Inc., 8045 Lamon Ave, Suite 400, Skokie, IL, 60077, USA
| | - Michael Köpke
- LanzaTech Inc., 8045 Lamon Ave, Suite 400, Skokie, IL, 60077, USA
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Klaus Winzer
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
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19
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McGregor C, Minton NP, Kovács K. Biosynthesis of Poly(3HB- co-3HP) with Variable Monomer Composition in Recombinant Cupriavidus necator H16. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:3343-3352. [PMID: 34762808 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Polyhydroxyalkanoates are attractive alternatives to traditional plastics. However, although polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is produced in large quantities by Cupriavidus necator H16, its properties are far from ideal for the manufacture of plastic products. These properties may be improved through its coproduction with 3-hydroxypropionate (3HP), which leads to the formation of the copolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxypropionate) (poly(3HB-co-3HP). To achieve this, a pathway was designed to enable C. necator H16 to convert β-alanine to 3HP. The initial low levels of incorporation of 3HP into the copolymer were overcome by the overproduction of the native propionyl-CoA transferase together with PHA synthase from Chromobacterium sp. USM2. Following optimization of 3HP incorporation into the copolymer, the molar fraction of 3HP could be controlled by cultivation in medium containing different concentrations of β-alanine. Between 0 and 80 mol % 3HP could be achieved. Further supplementation with 2 mM cysteine increased the maximum 3HP molar fraction to 89%. Additionally, the effect of deletions of the phaA and phaB1 genes of the phaCAB operon on 3HP molar fraction were investigated. A phaAB1 double knockout resulted in a copolymer containing 91 mol % 3HP without the need for cysteine supplementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Callum McGregor
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Katalin Kovács
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
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20
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Ehsaan M, Baker J, Kovács K, Malys N, Minton NP. The pMTL70000 modular, plasmid vector series for strain engineering in Cupriavidus necator H16. J Microbiol Methods 2021; 189:106323. [PMID: 34506812 PMCID: PMC8482281 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2021.106323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Cupriavidus necator H16 can convert CO2 into industrial chemicals and fuels. To facilitate its engineering, we designed, built and tested the pMTL70000 modular plasmids comprising standardised Cupriavidus and E. coli replicons, selectable markers and application specific modules. Plasmids were characterised in terms of transmissibility, stability, copy number and compatibility. A standardised, modular vector system for engineering Cupriavidus necator H16. An improved procedure for DNA transfer by electroporation. Vectors characterised in terms of segregational stability, copy number and compatibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Ehsaan
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan Baker
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
| | - Katalin Kovács
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
| | - Naglis Malys
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
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21
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Monteford J, Bilverstone TW, Ingle P, Philip S, Kuehne SA, Minton NP. What's a SNP between friends: The lineage of Clostridioides difficile R20291 can effect research outcomes. Anaerobe 2021; 71:102422. [PMID: 34343672 PMCID: PMC8556159 DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2021.102422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile R20291 is the most studied PCR-Ribotype 027 isolate. The two predominant lineages of this hypervirulent strain, however, exhibit substantive phenotypic differences and possess genomes that differ by a small number of nucleotide changes. It is important that the source of R20291 is taken into account in research outcomes. Two phenotypically distinct lineages of C. difficile R20291 are in circulation. Affected are gene transfer, motility, sporulation, biofilm and toxin production. The differences are due to a small number of single nucleotide genomic changes. These findings underline the importance of appropriately maintaining stock cultures. The source of R20291 should be stated in any investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge Monteford
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Terry W Bilverstone
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Patrick Ingle
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Sheryl Philip
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; Biocatalysts Limited, Unit 1, Cefn Coed, Parc Nantgarw, Cardiff, CF15 7QQ, UK
| | - Sarah A Kuehne
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; Oral Microbiology Group, School of Dentistry and Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B5 7EG, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
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22
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Lau MSH, Sheng L, Zhang Y, Minton NP. Development of a Suite of Tools for Genome Editing in Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius and Their Use to Identify the Potential of a Native Plasmid in the Generation of Stable Engineered Strains. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:1739-1749. [PMID: 34197093 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The relentless rise in the levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases caused by the exploitation of fossil fuel necessitates the development of more environmentally friendly routes to the manufacture of chemicals and fuels. The exploitation of a fermentative process that uses a thermophilic chassis represents an attractive option. Its use, however, is hindered by a dearth of genetic tools. Here we expand on those available for the engineering of the industrial chassis Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius through the assembly and testing of a range of promoters, ribosome binding sites, reporter genes, and the implementation of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing based on two different thermostable Cas9 nucleases. The latter were used to demonstrate that the deletion of the two native plasmids carried by P. thermoglucosidasius, pNCI001 and pNCI002, either singly or in combination, had no discernible effects on the overall phenotypic characteristics of the organism. Through the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated insertion of the gene encoding a novel fluorescent reporter, eCGP123, we showed that pNCI001 exhibited a high degree of segregational stability. As the relatively higher copy number of pNCI001 led to higher levels of eCGP123 expression than when the same gene was integrated into the chromosome, we propose that pNCI001 represents the preferred option for the integration of metabolic operons when stable commercial strains are required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew S. H. Lau
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Lili Sheng
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Ying Zhang
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
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23
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Vaud S, Pearcy N, Hanževački M, Van Hagen AMW, Abdelrazig S, Safo L, Ehsaan M, Jonczyk M, Millat T, Craig S, Spence E, Fothergill J, Bommareddy RR, Colin PY, Twycross J, Dalby PA, Minton NP, Jäger CM, Kim DH, Yu J, Maness PC, Lynch S, Eckert CA, Conradie A, Bryan SJ. Engineering improved ethylene production: Leveraging systems biology and adaptive laboratory evolution. Metab Eng 2021; 67:308-320. [PMID: 34245888 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2021.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 07/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Ethylene is a small hydrocarbon gas widely used in the chemical industry. Annual worldwide production currently exceeds 150 million tons, producing considerable amounts of CO2 contributing to climate change. The need for a sustainable alternative is therefore imperative. Ethylene is natively produced by several different microorganisms, including Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola via a process catalyzed by the ethylene-forming enzyme (EFE), subsequent heterologous expression of EFE has led to ethylene production in non-native bacterial hosts including Escherichia coli and cyanobacteria. However, solubility of EFE and substrate availability remain rate-limiting steps in biological ethylene production. We employed a combination of genome-scale metabolic modelling, continuous fermentation, and protein evolution to enable the accelerated development of a high efficiency ethylene producing E. coli strain, yielding a 49-fold increase in production, the most significant improvement reported to date. Furthermore, we have clearly demonstrated that this increased yield resulted from metabolic adaptations that were uniquely linked to EFE (wild type versus mutant). Our findings provide a novel solution to deregulate metabolic bottlenecks in key pathways, which can be readily applied to address other engineering challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Vaud
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Nicole Pearcy
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Marko Hanževački
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Alexander M W Van Hagen
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Salah Abdelrazig
- Centre for Analytical Bioscience, Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Laudina Safo
- Centre for Analytical Bioscience, Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Muhammad Ehsaan
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Magdalene Jonczyk
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Thomas Millat
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Sean Craig
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Edward Spence
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - James Fothergill
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Rajesh Reddy Bommareddy
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Pierre-Yves Colin
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Bernard Katz Building, University College London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Jamie Twycross
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Paul A Dalby
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Bernard Katz Building, University College London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Christof M Jäger
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Dong-Hyun Kim
- Centre for Analytical Bioscience, Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Jianping Yu
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO, USA
| | - Pin-Ching Maness
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO, USA
| | - Sean Lynch
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO, USA; Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), University of Colorado Boulder, USA; Somalogic, Inc., Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Carrie A Eckert
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO, USA; Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), University of Colorado Boulder, USA
| | - Alex Conradie
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Samantha J Bryan
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
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24
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Safo L, Abdelrazig S, Grosse-Honebrink A, Millat T, Henstra AM, Norman R, Thomas NR, Winzer K, Minton NP, Kim DH, Barrett DA. Quantitative Bioreactor Monitoring of Intracellular Bacterial Metabolites in Clostridium autoethanogenum Using Liquid Chromatography-Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry. ACS Omega 2021; 6:13518-13526. [PMID: 34095647 PMCID: PMC8173575 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c05588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
We report a liquid chromatography-isotope dilution mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of 131 intracellular bacterial metabolites of Clostridium autoethanogenum. A comprehensive mixture of uniformly 13C-labeled internal standards (U-13C IS) was biosynthesized from the closely related bacterium Clostridium pasteurianum using 4% 13C-glucose as a carbon source. The U-13C IS mixture combined with 12C authentic standards was used to validate the linearity, precision, accuracy, repeatability, limits of detection, and quantification for each metabolite. A robust-fitting algorithm was employed to reduce the weight of the outliers on the quantification data. The metabolite calibration curves were linear with R 2 ≥ 0.99, limits of detection were ≤1.0 μM, limits of quantification were ≤10 μM, and precision/accuracy was within RSDs of 15% for all metabolites. The method was subsequently applied for the daily monitoring of the intracellular metabolites of C. autoethanogenum during a CO gas fermentation over 40 days as part of a study to optimize biofuel production. The concentrations of the metabolites were estimated at steady states of different pH levels using the robust-fitting mathematical approach, and we demonstrate improved accuracy of results compared to conventional regression. Metabolic pathway analysis showed that reactions of the incomplete (branched) tricarboxylic acid "cycle" were the most affected pathways associated with the pH shift in the bioreactor fermentation of C. autoethanogenum and the concomitant changes in ethanol production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laudina Safo
- Centre
for Analytical Bioscience, Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies
Division, School of Pharmacy, University
of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Salah Abdelrazig
- Centre
for Analytical Bioscience, Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies
Division, School of Pharmacy, University
of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | | | - Thomas Millat
- Clostridia
Research Group, BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC),
Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Anne M. Henstra
- Clostridia
Research Group, BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC),
Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Rupert Norman
- Clostridia
Research Group, BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC),
Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Neil R. Thomas
- Biodiscovery
Institute, School of Chemistry, University
of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Klaus Winzer
- Clostridia
Research Group, BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC),
Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Clostridia
Research Group, BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC),
Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Dong-Hyun Kim
- Centre
for Analytical Bioscience, Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies
Division, School of Pharmacy, University
of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - David A. Barrett
- Centre
for Analytical Bioscience, Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies
Division, School of Pharmacy, University
of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
- . Phone: +44(0)115 9515062
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25
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Grosse-Honebrink A, Little GT, Bean Z, Heldt D, Cornock RHM, Winzer K, Minton NP, Green E, Zhang Y. Development of Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum as a Whole Cell Biocatalyst for Production of Chirally Pure ( R)-1,3-Butanediol. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2021; 9:659895. [PMID: 34055760 PMCID: PMC8155681 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.659895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Chirally pure (R)-1,3-butanediol ((R)-1,3-BDO) is a valuable intermediate for the production of fragrances, pheromones, insecticides and antibiotics. Biotechnological production results in superior enantiomeric excess over chemical production and is therefore the preferred production route. In this study (R)-1,3-BDO was produced in the industrially important whole cell biocatalyst Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum through expression of the enantio-specific phaB gene from Cupriavidus necator. The heterologous pathway was optimised in three ways: at the transcriptional level choosing strongly expressed promoters and comparing plasmid borne with chromosomal gene expression, at the translational level by optimising the codon usage of the gene to fit the inherent codon adaptation index of C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum, and at the enzyme level by introducing point mutations which led to increased enzymatic activity. The resulting whole cell catalyst produced up to 20 mM (1.8 g/l) (R)-1,3-BDO in non-optimised batch fermentation which is a promising starting position for economical production of this chiral chemical.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Grosse-Honebrink
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Gareth T Little
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Zak Bean
- CHAIN Biotechnology Ltd., MediCity, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Dana Heldt
- CHAIN Biotechnology Ltd., MediCity, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Ruth H M Cornock
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Klaus Winzer
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Edward Green
- CHAIN Biotechnology Ltd., MediCity, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Ying Zhang
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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26
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Bourgade B, Minton NP, Islam MA. Genetic and metabolic engineering challenges of C1-gas fermenting acetogenic chassis organisms. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2021; 45:fuab008. [PMID: 33595667 PMCID: PMC8351756 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuab008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Unabated mining and utilisation of petroleum and petroleum resources and their conversion to essential fuels and chemicals have drastic environmental consequences, contributing to global warming and climate change. In addition, fossil fuels are finite resources, with a fast-approaching shortage. Accordingly, research efforts are increasingly focusing on developing sustainable alternatives for chemicals and fuels production. In this context, bioprocesses, relying on microorganisms, have gained particular interest. For example, acetogens use the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway to grow on single carbon C1-gases (CO2 and CO) as their sole carbon source and produce valuable products such as acetate or ethanol. These autotrophs can, therefore, be exploited for large-scale fermentation processes to produce industrially relevant chemicals from abundant greenhouse gases. In addition, genetic tools have recently been developed to improve these chassis organisms through synthetic biology approaches. This review will focus on the challenges of genetically and metabolically modifying acetogens. It will first discuss the physical and biochemical obstacles complicating successful DNA transfer in these organisms. Current genetic tools developed for several acetogens, crucial for strain engineering to consolidate and expand their catalogue of products, will then be described. Recent tool applications for metabolic engineering purposes to allow redirection of metabolic fluxes or production of non-native compounds will lastly be covered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Bourgade
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - M Ahsanul Islam
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK
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27
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Castro-Córdova P, Mora-Uribe P, Reyes-Ramírez R, Cofré-Araneda G, Orozco-Aguilar J, Brito-Silva C, Mendoza-León MJ, Kuehne SA, Minton NP, Pizarro-Guajardo M, Paredes-Sabja D. Entry of spores into intestinal epithelial cells contributes to recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection. Nat Commun 2021; 12:1140. [PMID: 33602902 PMCID: PMC7893008 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21355-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile spores produced during infection are important for the recurrence of the disease. Here, we show that C. difficile spores gain entry into the intestinal mucosa via pathways dependent on host fibronectin-α5β1 and vitronectin-αvβ1. The exosporium protein BclA3, on the spore surface, is required for both entry pathways. Deletion of the bclA3 gene in C. difficile, or pharmacological inhibition of endocytosis using nystatin, leads to reduced entry into the intestinal mucosa and reduced recurrence of the disease in a mouse model. Our findings indicate that C. difficile spore entry into the intestinal barrier can contribute to spore persistence and infection recurrence, and suggest potential avenues for new therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Castro-Córdova
- Microbiota-Host Interactions and Clostridia Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
- ANID - Millennium Science Initiative Program - Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
| | - Paola Mora-Uribe
- Microbiota-Host Interactions and Clostridia Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
| | - Rodrigo Reyes-Ramírez
- Microbiota-Host Interactions and Clostridia Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
- ANID - Millennium Science Initiative Program - Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
| | - Glenda Cofré-Araneda
- Microbiota-Host Interactions and Clostridia Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
| | - Josué Orozco-Aguilar
- Microbiota-Host Interactions and Clostridia Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
- ANID - Millennium Science Initiative Program - Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
| | - Christian Brito-Silva
- Microbiota-Host Interactions and Clostridia Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
- ANID - Millennium Science Initiative Program - Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
| | - María José Mendoza-León
- Microbiota-Host Interactions and Clostridia Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
- ANID - Millennium Science Initiative Program - Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
| | - Sarah A Kuehne
- School of Dentistry and Institute for Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Marjorie Pizarro-Guajardo
- Microbiota-Host Interactions and Clostridia Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
- ANID - Millennium Science Initiative Program - Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Daniel Paredes-Sabja
- Microbiota-Host Interactions and Clostridia Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile.
- ANID - Millennium Science Initiative Program - Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile.
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
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28
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Karyal C, Hughes J, Kelly ML, Luckett JC, Kaye PV, Cockayne A, Minton NP, Griffin R. Colonisation Factor CD0873, an Attractive Oral Vaccine Candidate against Clostridioides difficile. Microorganisms 2021; 9:microorganisms9020306. [PMID: 33540694 PMCID: PMC7913071 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9020306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile is the main cause of health-care-associated infectious diarrhoea. Toxins, TcdA and TcdB, secreted by this bacterium damage colonic epithelial cells and in severe cases this culminates in pseudomembranous colitis, toxic megacolon and death. Vaccines in human trials have focused exclusively on the parenteral administration of toxin-based formulations. These vaccines promote toxin-neutralising serum antibodies but fail to confer protection from infection in the gut. An effective route to immunise against gut pathogens and stimulate a protective mucosal antibody response (secretory immunoglobulin A, IgA) at the infection site is the oral route. Additionally, oral immunisation generates systemic antibodies (IgG). Using this route, two different antigens were tested in the hamster model: The colonisation factor CD0873 and a TcdB fragment. Animals immunised with CD0873 generated a significantly higher titre of sIgA in intestinal fluid and IgG in serum compared to naive animals, which significantly inhibited the adherence of C. difficile to Caco-2 cells. Following challenge with a hypervirulent isolate, the CD0873-immunised group showed a mean increase of 80% in time to experimental endpoint compared to naïve animals. Survival and body condition correlated with bacterial clearance and reduced pathology in the cecum. Our findings advocate CD0873 as a promising oral vaccine candidate against C. difficile.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cansu Karyal
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (C.K.); (J.H.); (M.L.K.); (A.C.); (N.P.M.)
| | - Jaime Hughes
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (C.K.); (J.H.); (M.L.K.); (A.C.); (N.P.M.)
| | - Michelle L. Kelly
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (C.K.); (J.H.); (M.L.K.); (A.C.); (N.P.M.)
| | - Jeni C. Luckett
- The University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK;
| | - Philip V. Kaye
- Department of Histopathology, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK;
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
| | - Alan Cockayne
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (C.K.); (J.H.); (M.L.K.); (A.C.); (N.P.M.)
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (C.K.); (J.H.); (M.L.K.); (A.C.); (N.P.M.)
| | - Ruth Griffin
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, The University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (C.K.); (J.H.); (M.L.K.); (A.C.); (N.P.M.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +44-0115-7486120
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29
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Mertaoja A, Nowakowska MB, Mascher G, Heljanko V, Groothuis D, Minton NP, Lindström M. CRISPR-Cas9-Based Toolkit for Clostridium botulinum Group II Spore and Sporulation Research. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:617269. [PMID: 33584620 PMCID: PMC7873358 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.617269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The spores of Clostridium botulinum Group II strains pose a significant threat to the safety of modern packaged foods due to the risk of their survival in pasteurization and their ability to germinate into neurotoxigenic cultures at refrigeration temperatures. Moreover, spores are the infectious agents in wound botulism, infant botulism, and intestinal toxemia in adults. The identification of factors that contribute to spore formation is, therefore, essential to the development of strategies to control related health risks. Accordingly, development of a straightforward and versatile gene manipulation tool and an efficient sporulation-promoting medium is pivotal. Our strategy was to employ CRISPR-Cas9 and homology-directed repair (HDR) to replace targeted genes with mutant alleles incorporating a unique 24-nt "bookmark" sequence that could act as a single guide RNA (sgRNA) target for Cas9. Following the generation of the sporulation mutant, the presence of the bookmark allowed rapid generation of a complemented strain, in which the mutant allele was replaced with a functional copy of the deleted gene using CRISPR-Cas9 and the requisite sgRNA. Then, we selected the most appropriate medium for sporulation studies in C. botulinum Group II strains by measuring the efficiency of spore formation in seven different media. The most effective medium was exploited to confirm the involvement of a candidate gene in the sporulation process. Using the devised sporulation medium, subsequent comparisons of the sporulation efficiency of the wild type (WT), mutant and "bookmark"-complemented strain allowed the assignment of any defective sporulation phenotype to the mutation made. As a strain generated by complementation with the WT gene in the original locus would be indistinguishable from the parental strain, the gene utilized in complementation studies was altered to contain a unique "watermark" through the introduction of silent nucleotide changes. The mutagenesis system and the devised sporulation medium provide a solid basis for gaining a deeper understanding of spore formation in C. botulinum, a prerequisite for the development of novel strategies for spore control and related food safety and public health risk management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Mertaoja
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Maria B. Nowakowska
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Gerald Mascher
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Viivi Heljanko
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Daphne Groothuis
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), Biodiscovery Institute, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Miia Lindström
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Rumah BL, Stead CE, Claxton Stevens BH, Minton NP, Grosse-Honebrink A, Zhang Y. Isolation and characterisation of Methylocystis spp. for poly-3-hydroxybutyrate production using waste methane feedstocks. AMB Express 2021; 11:6. [PMID: 33409745 PMCID: PMC7788130 DOI: 10.1186/s13568-020-01159-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Waste plastic and methane emissions are two anthropogenic by-products exacerbating environmental pollution. Methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) hold the key to solving these problems simultaneously by utilising otherwise wasted methane gas as carbon source and accumulating the carbon as poly-3-hydroxybutyrate, a biodegradable plastic polymer. Here we present the isolation and characterisation of two novel Methylocystis strains with the ability to produce up to 55.7 ± 1.9% poly-3-hydroxybutyrate of cell dry weight when grown on methane from different waste sources such as landfill and anaerobic digester gas. Methylocystis rosea BRCS1 isolated from a recreational lake and Methylocystis parvus BRCS2 isolated from a bog were whole genome sequenced using PacBio and Illumina genome sequencing technologies. In addition to potassium nitrate, these strains were also shown to grow on ammonium chloride, glutamine and ornithine as nitrogen source. Growth of Methylocystis parvus BRCS2 on Nitrate Mineral Salt (NMS) media with 0.1% methanol vapor as carbon source was demonstrated. The genetic tractability by conjugation was also determined with conjugation efficiencies up to 2.8 × 10–2 and 1.8 × 10–2 for Methylocystis rosea BRCS1 and Methylocystis parvus BRCS2 respectively using a plasmid with ColE1 origin of replication. Finally, we show that Methylocystis species can produce considerable amounts of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate on waste methane sources without impaired growth, a proof of concept which opens doors to their use in integrated bio-facilities like landfills and anaerobic digesters.
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Viacava K, Meibom KL, Ortega D, Dyer S, Gelb A, Falquet L, Minton NP, Mestrot A, Bernier-Latmani R. Variability in Arsenic Methylation Efficiency across Aerobic and Anaerobic Microorganisms. Environ Sci Technol 2020; 54:14343-14351. [PMID: 33125231 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c03908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Microbially-mediated methylation of arsenic (As) plays an important role in the As biogeochemical cycle, particularly in rice paddy soils where methylated As, generated microbially, is translocated into rice grains. The presence of the arsenite (As(III)) methyltransferase gene (arsM) in soil microbes has been used as an indication of their capacity for As methylation. Here, we evaluate the ability of seven microorganisms encoding active ArsM enzymes to methylate As. Amongst those, only the aerobic species were efficient methylators. The anaerobic microorganisms presented high resistance to As exposure, presumably through their efficient As(III) efflux, but methylated As poorly. The only exception were methanogens, for which efficient As methylation was seemingly an artifact of membrane disruption. Deletion of an efflux pump gene (acr3) in one of the anaerobes, Clostridium pasteurianum, rendered the strain sensitive to As and capable of more efficiently methylating As. Our results led to the following conclusions: (i) encoding a functional ArsM enzyme does not guarantee that a microorganism will actively drive As methylation in the presence of the metalloid and (ii) there is an inverse relationship between efficient microbial As efflux and its methylation, because the former prevents the intracellular accumulation of As.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Viacava
- Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Karin Lederballe Meibom
- Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - David Ortega
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Shannon Dyer
- Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Arnaud Gelb
- Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Leia Falquet
- Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Adrien Mestrot
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Rizlan Bernier-Latmani
- Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Bilverstone TW, Garland M, Cave RJ, Kelly ML, Tholen M, Bouley DM, Kaye P, Minton NP, Bogyo M, Kuehne SA, Melnyk RA. The glucosyltransferase activity of C. difficile Toxin B is required for disease pathogenesis. PLoS Pathog 2020; 16:e1008852. [PMID: 32960931 PMCID: PMC7531778 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2020] [Revised: 10/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Enzymatic inactivation of Rho-family GTPases by the glucosyltransferase domain of Clostridioides difficile Toxin B (TcdB) gives rise to various pathogenic effects in cells that are classically thought to be responsible for the disease symptoms associated with C. difficile infection (CDI). Recent in vitro studies have shown that TcdB can, under certain circumstances, induce cellular toxicities that are independent of glucosyltransferase (GT) activity, calling into question the precise role of GT activity. Here, to establish the importance of GT activity in CDI disease pathogenesis, we generated the first described mutant strain of C. difficile producing glucosyltransferase-defective (GT-defective) toxin. Using allelic exchange (AE) technology, we first deleted tcdA in C. difficile 630Δerm and subsequently introduced a deactivating D270N substitution in the GT domain of TcdB. To examine the role of GT activity in vivo, we tested each strain in two different animal models of CDI pathogenesis. In the non-lethal murine model of infection, the GT-defective mutant induced minimal pathology in host tissues as compared to the profound caecal inflammation seen in the wild-type and 630ΔermΔtcdA (ΔtcdA) strains. In the more sensitive hamster model of CDI, whereas hamsters in the wild-type or ΔtcdA groups succumbed to fulminant infection within 4 days, all hamsters infected with the GT-defective mutant survived the 10-day infection period without primary symptoms of CDI or evidence of caecal inflammation. These data demonstrate that GT activity is indispensable for disease pathogenesis and reaffirm its central role in disease and its importance as a therapeutic target for small-molecule inhibition. Novel non-antibiotic therapies are required for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). An emerging class of promising therapeutics for CDI are antivirulence agents that block the actions of C. difficile Toxin B (TcdB), the primary determinant of virulence. In order to develop such treatments, molecular targets and mechanisms must be identified and validated. Historically the glucosyltransferase domain (GTD) represented an ideal target owing to its perceived importance for disease pathogenesis. However, studies capitalizing on recent advances in recombinant TcdB production have unveiled GTD-independent mechanisms of toxicity when applied at high concentrations in vitro, thus questioning the role of the GTD. Here we generate the first-reported mutant strain of C. difficile expressing glucosyltransferase-defective TcdB. Application thereof demonstrates that the GTD is essential for disease in mice and hamsters, thus reoffering the GTD as an ideal candidate for small-molecule inhibitor (SMI) development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terry W. Bilverstone
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United kingdom
| | - Megan Garland
- Cancer Biology Program, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States of America
- Department of Pathology, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Rory J. Cave
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United kingdom
| | - Michelle L. Kelly
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United kingdom
| | - Martina Tholen
- Department of Pathology, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Donna M. Bouley
- Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Philip Kaye
- Department of Histopathology, Nottingham University Hospitals and University of Nottingham NDDC NIHR BRC, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United kingdom
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew Bogyo
- Department of Pathology, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States of America
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Sarah A. Kuehne
- Oral Microbiology Group, School of Dentistry and Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (SAK); (RAM)
| | - Roman A. Melnyk
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, and Program in Molecular Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- * E-mail: (SAK); (RAM)
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Dalwadi MP, Orol D, Walter F, Minton NP, King JR, Kovács K. Using singular perturbation theory to determine kinetic parameters in a non-standard coupled enzyme assay. J Math Biol 2020; 81:649-690. [PMID: 32761360 PMCID: PMC7427744 DOI: 10.1007/s00285-020-01524-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Revised: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
We investigate how to characterize the kinetic parameters of an aminotransaminase using a non-standard coupled (or auxiliary) enzyme assay, where the peculiarity arises for two reasons. First, one of the products of the auxiliary enzyme is a substrate for the primary enzyme and, second, we explicitly account for the reversibility of the auxiliary enzyme reaction. Using singular perturbation theory, we characterize the two distinguished asymptotic limits in terms of the strength of the reverse reaction, which allows us to determine how to deduce the kinetic parameters of the primary enzyme for a characterized auxiliary enzyme. This establishes a parameter-estimation algorithm that is applicable more generally to similar reaction networks. We demonstrate the applicability of our theory by performing enzyme assays to characterize a novel putative aminotransaminase enzyme, CnAptA (UniProtKB Q0KEZ8) from Cupriavidus necator H16, for two different omega-amino acid substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohit P Dalwadi
- Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK.
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
| | - Diego Orol
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Frederik Walter
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - John R King
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
- School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Katalin Kovács
- Synthetic Biology Research Centre, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
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Bommareddy RR, Wang Y, Pearcy N, Hayes M, Lester E, Minton NP, Conradie AV. A Sustainable Chemicals Manufacturing Paradigm Using CO 2 and Renewable H 2. iScience 2020; 23:101218. [PMID: 32559729 PMCID: PMC7303982 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
The chemical industry must decarbonize to align with UN Sustainable Development Goals. A shift toward circular economies makes CO2 an attractive feedstock for producing chemicals, provided renewable H2 is available through technologies such as supercritical water (scH2O) gasification. Furthermore, high carbon and energy efficiency is paramount to favorable techno-economics, which poses a challenge to chemo-catalysis. This study demonstrates continuous gas fermentation of CO2 and H2 by the cell factory, Cupriavidus necator, to (R,R)-2,3-butanediol and isopropanol as case studies. Although a high carbon efficiency of 0.75 [(C-mol product)/(C-mol CO2)] is exemplified, the poor energy efficiency of biological CO2 fixation requires ∼8 [(mol H2)/(mol CO2)], which is techno-economically infeasible for producing commodity chemicals. Heat integration between exothermic gas fermentation and endothermic scH2O gasification overcomes this energy inefficiency. This study unlocks the promise of sustainable manufacturing using renewable feedstocks by combining the carbon efficiency of bio-catalysis with energy efficiency enforced through process engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajesh Reddy Bommareddy
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, Biodiscovery Institute (BDI), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
| | - Yanming Wang
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, Biodiscovery Institute (BDI), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Nicole Pearcy
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, Biodiscovery Institute (BDI), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Martin Hayes
- Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, 28 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 0 FP, UK
| | - Edward Lester
- Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, Biodiscovery Institute (BDI), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Alex V Conradie
- Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
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Kotte AK, Severn O, Bean Z, Schwarz K, Minton NP, Winzer K. RRNPP-type quorum sensing affects solvent formation and sporulation in Clostridium acetobutylicum. Microbiology (Reading) 2020; 166:579-592. [PMID: 32375981 PMCID: PMC7376267 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.000916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 03/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The strictly anaerobic bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum is well known for its ability to convert sugars into organic acids and solvents, most notably the potential biofuel butanol. However, the regulation of its fermentation metabolism, in particular the shift from acid to solvent production, remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate whether cell-cell communication plays a role in controlling the timing of this shift or the extent of solvent formation. Analysis of the available C. acetobutylicum genome sequences revealed the presence of eight putative RRNPP-type quorum-sensing systems, here designated qssA to qssH, each consisting of an RRNPP-type regulator gene followed by a small open reading frame encoding a putative signalling peptide precursor. The identified regulator and signal peptide precursor genes were designated qsrA to qsrH and qspA to qspH, respectively. Triplicate regulator mutants were generated in strain ATCC 824 for each of the eight systems and screened for phenotypic changes. The qsrB mutants showed increased solvent formation during early solventogenesis and hence the QssB system was selected for further characterization. Overexpression of qsrB severely reduced solvent and endospore formation and this effect could be overcome by adding short synthetic peptides to the culture medium representing a specific region of the QspB signalling peptide precursor. In addition, overexpression of qspB increased the production of acetone and butanol and the initial (48 h) titre of heat-resistant endospores. Together, these findings establish a role for QssB quorum sensing in the regulation of early solventogenesis and sporulation in C. acetobutylicum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann-Kathrin Kotte
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Present address: Independent Commodity Intelligence Service, Bishopsgate, London, UK
| | - Oliver Severn
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Present address: Singer Instruments, Roadwater, Watchet, UK
| | - Zak Bean
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Present address: CHAIN Biotechnology Ltd, MediCity, Nottingham, UK
| | - Katrin Schwarz
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Present address: Azotic Technologies Ltd, BioCity, Nottingham, UK
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Klaus Winzer
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
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Seys FM, Rowe P, Bolt EL, Humphreys CM, Minton NP. A Gold Standard, CRISPR/Cas9-Based Complementation Strategy Reliant on 24 Nucleotide Bookmark Sequences. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:genes11040458. [PMID: 32340238 PMCID: PMC7230483 DOI: 10.3390/genes11040458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Phenotypic complementation of gene knockouts is an essential step in establishing function. Here, we describe a simple strategy for ‘gold standard’ complementation in which the mutant allele is replaced in situ with a wild type (WT) allele in a procedure that exploits CRISPR/Cas9. The method relies on the prior incorporation of a unique 24 nucleotide (nt) ‘bookmark’ sequence into the mutant allele to act as a guide RNA target during its Cas9-mediated replacement with the WT allele. The bookmark comprises a 23 nt Cas9 target sequence plus an additional nt to ensure the deletion is in-frame. Here, bookmarks are tailored to Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPR/Cas9 but could be designed for any CRISPR/Cas system. For proof of concept, nine bookmarks were tested in Clostridium autoethanogenum. Complementation efficiencies reached 91%. As complemented strains are indistinguishable from their progenitors, concerns over contamination may be satisfied by the incorporation of ‘watermark’ sequences into the complementing genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- François M. Seys
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (F.M.S.); (P.R.); (C.M.H.)
| | - Peter Rowe
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (F.M.S.); (P.R.); (C.M.H.)
| | - Edward L. Bolt
- School of Life Sciences, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK;
| | - Christopher M. Humphreys
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (F.M.S.); (P.R.); (C.M.H.)
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; (F.M.S.); (P.R.); (C.M.H.)
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +44-(0)115-846-7458
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Hanko EKR, Paiva AC, Jonczyk M, Abbott M, Minton NP, Malys N. A genome-wide approach for identification and characterisation of metabolite-inducible systems. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1213. [PMID: 32139676 PMCID: PMC7057948 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14941-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Inducible gene expression systems are vital tools for the advancement of synthetic biology. Their application as genetically encoded biosensors has the potential to contribute to diagnostics and to revolutionise the field of microbial cell factory development. Currently, the number of compounds of biological interest by far exceeds the number of available biosensors. Here, we address this limitation by developing a generic genome-wide approach to identify transcription factor-based inducible gene expression systems. We construct and validate 15 functional biosensors, provide a characterisation workflow to facilitate forward engineering efforts, exemplify their broad-host-range applicability, and demonstrate their utility in enzyme screening. Previously uncharacterised interactions between sensors and compounds of biological relevance are identified by employing the largest reported library of metabolite-responsive biosensors in an automated high-throughput screen. With the rapidly growing genomic data these innovative capabilities offer a platform to vastly increase the number of biologically detectable molecules. Inducible gene expression tools have important applications as genetically encoded biosensors. Here the authors conduct a genome-wide approach to identify and utilise functional sensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik K R Hanko
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Ana C Paiva
- Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Magdalena Jonczyk
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Matthew Abbott
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Naglis Malys
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
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Woods C, Humphreys CM, Rodrigues RM, Ingle P, Rowe P, Henstra AM, Köpke M, Simpson SD, Winzer K, Minton NP. A novel conjugal donor strain for improved DNA transfer into Clostridium spp. Anaerobe 2019; 59:184-191. [PMID: 31269456 PMCID: PMC6866869 DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2019.06.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2019] [Revised: 06/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Clostridium encompasses species which are relevant to human and animal disease as well as species which have industrial potential, for instance, as producers of chemicals and fuels or as tumour delivery vehicles. Genetic manipulation of these target organisms is critical for advances in these fields. DNA transfer efficiencies, however, vary between species. Low efficiencies can impede the progress of research efforts. A novel conjugal donor strain of Escherichia coli has been created which exhibits a greater than 10-fold increases in conjugation efficiency compared to the traditionally used CA434 strain in the three species tested; C. autoethanogenum DSM 10061, C. sporogenes NCIMB 10696 and C. difficile R20291. The novel strain, designated 'sExpress', does not methylate DNA at Dcm sites (CCWGG) which allows circumvention of cytosine-specific Type IV restriction systems. A robust protocol for conjugation is presented which routinely produces in the order of 105 transconjugants per millilitre of donor cells for C. autoethanogenum, 106 for C. sporogenes and 102 for C. difficile R20291. The novel strain created is predicted to be a superior conjugal donor in a wide range of species which possess Type IV restriction systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Craig Woods
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Christopher M Humphreys
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Raquel Mesquita Rodrigues
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Patrick Ingle
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Peter Rowe
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Anne M Henstra
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Michael Köpke
- LanzaTech Inc., 8045 Lamon Avenue, Suite 400, Skokie, IL, USA
| | - Sean D Simpson
- LanzaTech Inc., 8045 Lamon Avenue, Suite 400, Skokie, IL, USA
| | - Klaus Winzer
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
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Bashir Z, Sheng L, Anil A, Lali A, Minton NP, Zhang Y. Engineering Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius for direct utilisation of holocellulose from wheat straw. Biotechnol Biofuels 2019; 12:199. [PMID: 31452680 PMCID: PMC6701081 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-019-1540-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A consolidated bioprocessing (CBP), where lignocellulose is converted into the desired product(s) in a single fermentative step without the addition of expensive degradative enzymes, represents the ideal solution of renewable routes to chemicals and fuels. Members of the genus Geobacillus are able to grow at elevated temperatures and are able to utilise a wide range of oligosaccharides derived from lignocellulose. This makes them ideally suited to the development of CBP. RESULTS In this study, we engineered Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius NCIMB 11955 to utilise lignocellulosic biomass, in the form of nitric acid/ammonia treated wheat straw to which expensive hydrolytic enzymes had not been added. Two different strains, BZ9 and BZ10, were generated by integrating the cglT (β-1,4-glucosidase) gene from Thermoanaerobacter brockii into the genome, and localising genes encoding different cellulolytic enzymes on autonomous plasmids. The plasmid of strain BZ10 carried a synthetic cellulosomal operon comprising the celA (Endoglucanase A) gene from Clostridium thermocellum and cel6B (Exoglucanase) from Thermobifida fusca; whereas, strain BZ9 contained a plasmid encoding the celA (multidomain cellulase) gene from Caldicellulosiruptor bescii. All of the genes were successfully expressed, and their encoded products secreted in a functionally active form, as evidenced by their detection in culture supernatants by Western blotting and enzymatic assay. In the case of the C. bescii CelA enzyme, this is one of the first times that the heterologous production of this multi-functional enzyme has been achieved in a heterologous host. Both strains (BZ9 and BZ10) exhibited improved growth on pre-treated wheat straw, achieving a higher final OD600 and producing greater numbers of viable cells. To demonstrate that cellulosic ethanol can be produced directly from lignocellulosic biomass by a single organism, we established our consortium of hydrolytic enzymes in a previously engineered ethanologenic G. thermoglucosidasius strain, LS242. We observed approximately twofold and 1.6-fold increase in ethanol production in the recombinant G. thermoglucosidasius equivalent to BZ9 and BZ10, respectively, compared to G. thermoglucosidasius LS242 strain at 24 h of growth. CONCLUSION We engineered G. thermoglucosidasius to utilise a real-world lignocellulosic biomass substrate and demonstrated that cellulosic ethanol can be produced directly from lignocellulosic biomass in one step. Direct conversion of biomass into desired products represents a new paradigm for CBP, offering the potential for carbon neutral, cost-effective production of sustainable chemicals and fuels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeenat Bashir
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Lili Sheng
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Annamma Anil
- DBT-ICT Centre for Energy Biosciences, Institute of Chemical Technology, Nathalal Parikh Marg, Mumbai, 400019 India
| | - Arvind Lali
- DBT-ICT Centre for Energy Biosciences, Institute of Chemical Technology, Nathalal Parikh Marg, Mumbai, 400019 India
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Ying Zhang
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
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Pander B, Harris G, Scott DJ, Winzer K, Köpke M, Simpson SD, Minton NP, Henstra AM. The carbonic anhydrase of Clostridium autoethanogenum represents a new subclass of β-carbonic anhydrases. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2019; 103:7275-7286. [PMID: 31346685 PMCID: PMC6690855 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-019-10015-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Revised: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Carbonic anhydrase catalyses the interconversion of carbon dioxide and water to bicarbonate and protons. It was unknown if the industrial-relevant acetogen Clostridium autoethanogenum possesses these enzymes. We identified two putative carbonic anhydrase genes in its genome, one of the β class and one of the γ class. Carbonic anhydrase activity was found for the purified β class enzyme, but not the γ class candidate. Functional complementation of an Escherichia coli carbonic anhydrase knock-out mutant showed that the β class carbonic anhydrase could complement this activity, but not the γ class candidate gene. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the β class carbonic anhydrase of Clostridium autoethanogenum represents a novel sub-class of β class carbonic anhydrases that form the F-clade. The members of this clade have the shortest primary structure of any known carbonic anhydrase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bart Pander
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Gemma Harris
- Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0FA, UK
| | - David J Scott
- Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0FA, UK.,ISIS Spallation Neutron and Muon Source, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK.,School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, UK
| | - Klaus Winzer
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Michael Köpke
- LanzaTech Inc., 8045 Lamon Avenue, Suite 400, Skokie, IL, USA
| | - Sean D Simpson
- LanzaTech Inc., 8045 Lamon Avenue, Suite 400, Skokie, IL, USA
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Anne M Henstra
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
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Bilverstone TW, Minton NP, Kuehne SA. Phosphorylation and functionality of CdtR in Clostridium difficile. Anaerobe 2019; 58:103-109. [PMID: 31323291 PMCID: PMC6699598 DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2019.102074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2018] [Revised: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The production of TcdA, TcdB and CDT in Clostridium difficile PCR ribotype 027, is regulated by the two-component system response regulator CdtR. Despite this, little is known about the signal transduction pathway leading to the activation of CdtR. In this study, we generated R20291ΔPalocΔcdtR model strains expressing CdtR phospho-variants in which our predicted phospho-accepting Asp, Asp61 was mutated for Ala or Glu. The constructs were assessed for their ability to restore CDT production. Dephospho-CdtR-Asp61Ala was completely non-functional and mirrored the cdtR-deletion mutant, whilst phospho-CdtR-Asp61Glu was functional, possessing 38–52% of wild-type activity. Taken together, these data suggest that CdtR is activated by phosphorylation of Asp61. The same principles were applied to assess the function of PCR ribotype 078-derived CdtR, which was shown to be non-functional owing to polymorphisms present within its coding gene. Conversely, polymorphisms present within its promoter region, provide significantly enhanced promoter activity compared with its PCR ribotype 027 counterpart. To ensure our data were representative for each ribotype, we determined that the cdtR nucleotide sequence was conserved in a small library of eight PCR ribotype 027 clinical isolates and nineteen PCR ribotype 078 isolates from clinical and animal origin. R20291ΔPaLocΔcdtR model strains were applied to study the toxin regulator CdtR. (de)phosphomimetic substitutions revealed that CdtR is activated by phosphorylation of Asp61. Ribotype 078 CdtR was shown to be non-functional. PcdtR derived from ribotype 078 has much stronger activity than its ribotype 027 counterpart. cdtR nucleotide sequence is conserved within eight ribotype 027 and nineteen ribotype 078 strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- T W Bilverstone
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - N P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
| | - S A Kuehne
- Oral Microbiology Group, School of Dentistry and Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B5 7EG, UK
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Sarma S, Ortega D, Minton NP, Dubey VK, Moholkar VS. Homologous overexpression of hydrogenase and glycerol dehydrogenase in Clostridium pasteurianum to enhance hydrogen production from crude glycerol. Bioresour Technol 2019; 284:168-177. [PMID: 30933825 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2019] [Revised: 03/13/2019] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
This study reports engineering of a hypertransformable variant of C. pasteurianum for bioconversion of glycerol into hydrogen (H2). A functional glycerol-triggered hydrogen pathway was engineered based on two approaches: (1) increasing product yield by overexpression of immediate enzyme catalyzing H2 production, (2) increasing substrate uptake by overexpression of enzymes involved in glycerol utilization. The first strategy aimed at overexpression of hydA gene encoding hydrogenase, and the second one, through combination of overexpression of dhaD1 and dhaK genes encoding glycerol dehydrogenase and dihydroxyacetone kinase. These genetic manipulations resulted in two recombinant strains (hydA++/dhaD1K++) capable of producing 97% H2 (v/v), with yields of 1.1 mol H2/mol glycerol in hydA overexpressed strain, and 0.93 mol H2/mol glycerol in dhaD1K overexpressed strain, which was 1.5 fold higher than wild type. Among two strains, dhaD1K++ consumed more glycerol than hydA++ which proves that overexpression of glycerol enzymes has enhanced glycerol intake rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shyamali Sarma
- Centre for Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781 039, Assam, India
| | - David Ortega
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG72RD, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG72RD, United Kingdom
| | - Vikash Kumar Dubey
- Centre for Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781 039, Assam, India
| | - Vijayanand S Moholkar
- Centre for Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781 039, Assam, India.
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Abstract
Members of the genus Clostridium represent a diverse assemblage of species exhibiting both medical and industrial importance. Deriving both a greater understanding of their biology, while at the same time enhancing their exploitable properties, requires effective genome editing tools. Here, we demonstrate the first implementation in the genus of theophylline-dependent, synthetic riboswitches exhibiting a full set of dynamic ranges, also suitable for applications where tight control of gene expression is required. Their utility was highlighted by generating a novel riboswitch-based editing tool-RiboCas-that overcomes the main obstacles associated with CRISPR/Cas9 systems, including low transformation efficiencies and excessive Cas9 toxicity. The universal nature of the tool was established by obtaining chromosomal modifications in C. pasteurianum, C. difficile, and C. sporogenes, as well as by carrying out the first reported example of CRISPR-targeted gene disruption in C. botulinum. The high efficiency (100% mutant generation) and ease of application of RiboCas make it suitable for use in a diverse range of microorganisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inés C. Cañadas
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Daphne Groothuis
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Maria Zygouropoulou
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Raquel Rodrigues
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K
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Norman RO, Millat T, Schatschneider S, Henstra AM, Breitkopf R, Pander B, Annan FJ, Piatek P, Hartman HB, Poolman MG, Fell DA, Winzer K, Minton NP, Hodgman C. Genome‐scale model of
C. autoethanogenum
reveals optimal bioprocess conditions for high‐value chemical production from carbon monoxide. Eng biol 2019. [DOI: 10.1049/enb.2018.5003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rupert O.J. Norman
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
- School of BiosciencesUniversity of NottinghamSutton Bonington Campus, Sutton BoningtonLeicestershireLE12 5RDUK
| | - Thomas Millat
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
| | - Sarah Schatschneider
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
- Evonik Nutrition and Care GmbHKantstr. 233798Halle‐KinsbeckGermany
| | - Anne M. Henstra
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
| | - Ronja Breitkopf
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
| | - Bart Pander
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
| | - Florence J. Annan
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
| | - Pawel Piatek
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
| | - Hassan B. Hartman
- Department of Biology and Medical SciencesOxford Brookes UniversityOxfordOX3 0BPUK
- Public Health England61 Colindale AvenueLondonNW9 5EQUK
| | - Mark G. Poolman
- Department of Biology and Medical SciencesOxford Brookes UniversityOxfordOX3 0BPUK
| | - David A. Fell
- Department of Biology and Medical SciencesOxford Brookes UniversityOxfordOX3 0BPUK
| | - Klaus Winzer
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
| | - Charlie Hodgman
- Synthetic Biology Research CentreUniversity of Nottingham, University ParkNottinghamNG7 2RDUK
- School of BiosciencesUniversity of NottinghamSutton Bonington Campus, Sutton BoningtonLeicestershireLE12 5RDUK
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Sheridan PO, Martin JC, Minton NP, Flint HJ, O'Toole PW, Scott KP. Heterologous gene expression in the human gut bacteria Eubacterium rectale and Roseburia inulinivorans by means of conjugative plasmids. Anaerobe 2019; 59:131-140. [PMID: 31228669 DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2019.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Revised: 05/24/2019] [Accepted: 06/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Commensal butyrate-producing bacteria in the Firmicutes phylum are abundant in the human intestine and are important for maintaining health. However, understanding of the metabolism and host interaction of these bacteria is limited by the lack of genetic modification techniques. Here we establish a protocol enabling the transfer of autonomously-replicating shuttle vectors by conjugative plasmid transfer from an Escherichia coli donor into representatives of an important sub-group of strictly anaerobic human colonic Firmicutes. Five different plasmid shuttle vectors were tested, each carrying a different origin of replication from Gram-positive bacteria. Plasmid pMTL83151 (pCB102 replicon) were successfully transferred into two strains of Eubacterium rectale, while pMTL83151 and pMTL82151 (pBP1 replicon) were transferred into Roseburia inulinivorans A2-194. Plasmids that carried a Streptococcus bovis JB1 glycoside hydrolase family 16 β-(1,3-1,4)-glucanase gene were constructed and conjugated into Roseburia inulinivorans A2-194 and Eubacterium rectale T1-815, resulting in successful heterologous expression of this introduced enzymatic activity in these two strains of butyrate-producing Firmicutes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul O Sheridan
- Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK; School of Microbiology & APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Jennifer C Martin
- Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Harry J Flint
- Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK
| | - Paul W O'Toole
- School of Microbiology & APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Karen P Scott
- Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK.
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Annan FJ, Al-Sinawi B, Humphreys CM, Norman R, Winzer K, Köpke M, Simpson SD, Minton NP, Henstra AM. Engineering of vitamin prototrophy in Clostridium ljungdahlii and Clostridium autoethanogenum. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2019; 103:4633-4648. [PMID: 30972463 PMCID: PMC6505512 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-019-09763-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 03/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Clostridium autoethanogenum and Clostridium ljungdahlii are physiologically and genetically very similar strict anaerobic acetogens capable of growth on carbon monoxide as sole carbon source. While exact nutritional requirements have not been reported, we observed that for growth, the addition of vitamins to media already containing yeast extract was required, an indication that these are fastidious microorganisms. Elimination of complex components and individual vitamins from the medium revealed that the only organic compounds required for growth were pantothenate, biotin and thiamine. Analysis of the genome sequences revealed that three genes were missing from pantothenate and thiamine biosynthetic pathways, and five genes were absent from the pathway for biotin biosynthesis. Prototrophy in C. autoethanogenum and C. ljungdahlii for pantothenate was obtained by the introduction of plasmids carrying the heterologous gene clusters panBCD from Clostridium acetobutylicum, and for thiamine by the introduction of the thiC-purF operon from Clostridium ragsdalei. Integration of panBCD into the chromosome through allele-coupled exchange also conveyed prototrophy. C. autoethanogenum was converted to biotin prototrophy with gene sets bioBDF and bioHCA from Desulfotomaculum nigrificans strain CO-1-SRB, on plasmid and integrated in the chromosome. The genes could be used as auxotrophic selection markers in recombinant DNA technology. Additionally, transformation with a subset of the genes for pantothenate biosynthesis extended selection options with the pantothenate precursors pantolactone and/or beta-alanine. Similarly, growth was obtained with the biotin precursor pimelate combined with genes bioYDA from C. acetobutylicum. The work raises questions whether alternative steps exist in biotin and thiamine biosynthesis pathways in these acetogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florence J Annan
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Bakir Al-Sinawi
- University of New-South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, Kensington, Australia
| | - Christopher M Humphreys
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Rupert Norman
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Klaus Winzer
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Michael Köpke
- LanzaTech Inc., 8045 Lamon Avenue, Suite 400, Skokie, IL, USA
| | - Sean D Simpson
- LanzaTech Inc., 8045 Lamon Avenue, Suite 400, Skokie, IL, USA
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Anne M Henstra
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
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Ingle P, Groothuis D, Rowe P, Huang H, Cockayne A, Kuehne SA, Jiang W, Gu Y, Humphreys CM, Minton NP. Generation of a fully erythromycin-sensitive strain of Clostridioides difficile using a novel CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing system. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8123. [PMID: 31148548 PMCID: PMC6544763 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44458-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the molecular pathogenesis of Clostridioides difficile has relied on the use of ermB-based mutagens in erythromycin-sensitive strains. However, the repeated subcultures required to isolate sensitive variants can lead to the acquisition of ancillary mutations that affect phenotype, including virulence. CRISPR-Cas9 allows the direct selection of mutants, reducing the number of subcultures and thereby minimising the likelihood of acquiring additional mutations. Accordingly, CRISPR-Cas9 was used to sequentially remove from the C. difficile 630 reference strain (NCTC 13307) two ermB genes and pyrE. The genomes of the strains generated (630Δerm* and 630Δerm*ΔpyrE, respectively) contained no ancillary mutations compared to the NCTC 13307 parental strain, making these strains the preferred option where erythromycin-sensitive 630 strains are required. Intriguingly, the cas9 gene of the plasmid used contained a proximal frameshift mutation. Despite this, the frequency of mutant isolation was high (96% and 89% for ermB and pyrE, respectively) indicating that a functional Cas9 is still being produced. Re-initiation of translation from an internal AUG start codon would produce a foreshortened protein lacking a RuvCI nucleolytic domain, effectively a 'nickase'. The mutation allowed cas9 to be cloned downstream of the strong Pthl promoter. It may find application elsewhere where the use of strong, constitutive promoters is preferred.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Ingle
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Daphne Groothuis
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Peter Rowe
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
- Deep Branch Biotechnology, NG8 1AA, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - He Huang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Alan Cockayne
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Sarah A Kuehne
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
- School of Dentistry, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B5 7SA, UK
| | - Weihong Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Yang Gu
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Christopher M Humphreys
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
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Kuehne SA, Dempster AW, Collery MM, Joshi N, Jowett J, Kelly ML, Cave R, Longshaw CM, Minton NP. Characterization of the impact of rpoB mutations on the in vitro and in vivo competitive fitness of Clostridium difficile and susceptibility to fidaxomicin. J Antimicrob Chemother 2019; 73:973-980. [PMID: 29253242 PMCID: PMC5890677 DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkx486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2017] [Accepted: 11/25/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Objectives To establish the role of specific, non-synonymous SNPs in the RNA polymerase β subunit (rpoB) gene in reducing the susceptibility of Clostridium difficile to fidaxomicin and to explore the potential in vivo significance of rpoB mutant strains. Methods Allelic exchange was used to introduce three different SNPs into the rpoB gene of an erythromycin-resistant derivative (CRG20291) of C. difficile R20291. The genome sequences of the created mutants were determined and each mutant analysed with respect to growth and sporulation rates, toxin A/B production and cytotoxicity against Vero cells, and in competition assays. Their comparative virulence and colonization ability was also assessed in a hamster infection model. Results The MIC of fidaxomicin displayed by three mutants CRG20291-TA, CRG20291-TG and CRG20291-GT was substantially increased (>32, 8 and 2 mg/L, respectively) relative to that of the parent strain (0.25 mg/L). Genome sequencing established that the intended mutagenic substitutions in rpoB were the only changes present. Relative to CRG20291, all mutants had attenuated growth, were outcompeted by the parental strain, had lower sporulation and toxin A/B production capacities, and displayed diminished cytotoxicity. In a hamster model, virulence of all three mutants was significantly reduced compared with the progenitor strain, whereas the degree of caecum colonization was unaltered. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that particular SNPs in rpoB lead to reduced fidaxomicin susceptibility. These mutations were associated with a fitness cost in vitro and reduced virulence in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A Kuehne
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.,Gastrointestinal and Liver Disorders Theme of the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.,School of Dentistry, Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Andrew W Dempster
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Mark M Collery
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Nimitray Joshi
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Jamie Jowett
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Michelle L Kelly
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Rory Cave
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | | | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.,Gastrointestinal and Liver Disorders Theme of the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
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Li Q, Seys FM, Minton NP, Yang J, Jiang Y, Jiang W, Yang S. CRISPR-Cas9 D10A nickase-assisted base editing in the solvent producer Clostridium beijerinckii. Biotechnol Bioeng 2019; 116:1475-1483. [PMID: 30739328 DOI: 10.1002/bit.26949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Revised: 01/21/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Clostridium beijerinckii is a potentially important industrial microorganism as it can synthesize valuable chemicals and fuels from various carbon sources. The establishment of convenient to use, effective gene tools with which the organism can be rapidly modified is essential if its full potential is to be realized. Here, we developed a genomic editing tool (pCBEclos) for use in C. beijerinckii based on the fusion of cytidine deaminase (Apobec1), Cas9 D10A nickase and uracil DNA glycosylase inhibitor (UGI). Apobec1 and UGI are guided to the target site where they introduce specific base-pair substitutions through the conversion of C·G to T·A. By appropriate choice of target sequence, these nucleotide changes are capable of creating missense mutation or null mutations in a gene. Through optimization of pCBEclos, the system derived, pCBEclos-opt, has been used to rapidly generate four different mutants in C. beijerinckii, in pyrE, xylR, spo0A, and araR. The efficiency of the system was such that they could sometimes be directly obtained following transformation, otherwise only requiring one single restreaking step. Whilst CRISPR-Cas9 nickase systems, such as pNICKclos2.0, have previously been reported in C. beijerinckii, pCBEclos-opt does not rely on homologous recombination, a process that is intrinsically inefficient in clostridia such as C. beijerinckii. As a consequence, bulky editing templates do not need to be included in the knockout plasmids. This both reduces plasmid size and makes their construction simpler, for example, whereas the assembly of pNICKclos2.0 requires six primers for the assembly of a typical knockout plasmid, pCBEclos-opt requires just two primers. The pCBEclos-opt plasmid established here represents a powerful new tool for genome editing in C. beijerinckii, which should be readily applicable to other clostridial species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Li
- College of Life Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China.,Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - François M Seys
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel P Minton
- Clostridia Research Group, BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Junjie Yang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Yu Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Weihong Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Sheng Yang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.,Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing, China
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50
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Arenas-López C, Locker J, Orol D, Walter F, Busche T, Kalinowski J, Minton NP, Kovács K, Winzer K. The genetic basis of 3-hydroxypropanoate metabolism in Cupriavidus necator H16. Biotechnol Biofuels 2019; 12:150. [PMID: 31236137 PMCID: PMC6572756 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-019-1489-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND 3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) is a promising platform chemical with various industrial applications. Several metabolic routes to produce 3-HP from organic substrates such as sugars or glycerol have been implemented in yeast, enterobacterial species and other microorganisms. In this study, the native 3-HP metabolism of Cupriavidus necator was investigated and manipulated as it represents a promising chassis for the production of 3-HP and other fatty acid derivatives from CO2 and H2. RESULTS When testing C. necator for its tolerance towards 3-HP, it was noted that it could utilise the compound as the sole source of carbon and energy, a highly undesirable trait in the context of biological 3-HP production which required elimination. Inactivation of the methylcitrate pathway needed for propionate utilisation did not affect the organism's ability to grow on 3-HP. Putative genes involved in 3-HP degradation were identified by bioinformatics means and confirmed by transcriptomic analyses, the latter revealing considerably increased expression in the presence of 3-HP. Genes identified in this manner encoded three putative (methyl)malonate semialdehyde dehydrogenases (mmsA1, mmsA2 and mmsA3) and two putative dehydrogenases (hpdH and hbdH). These genes, which are part of three separate mmsA operons, were inactivated through deletion of the entire coding region, either singly or in various combinations, to engineer strains unable to grow on 3-HP. Whilst inactivation of single genes or double deletions could only delay but not abolish growth, a triple ∆mmsA1∆mmsA2∆mmsA3 knock-out strain was unable utilise 3-HP as the sole source of carbon and energy. Under the used conditions this strain was also unable to co-metabolise 3-HP alongside other carbon and energy sources such as fructose and CO2/H2. Further analysis suggested primary roles for the different mmsA operons in the utilisation of β-alanine generating substrates (mmsA1), degradation of 3-HP (mmsA2), and breakdown of valine (mmsA3). CONCLUSIONS Three different (methyl)malonate semialdehyde dehydrogenases contribute to 3-HP breakdown in C. necator H16. The created triple ∆mmsA1∆mmsA2∆mmsA3 knock-out strain represents an ideal chassis for autotrophic 3-HP production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Arenas-López
- BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Jessica Locker
- BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Diego Orol
- BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Frederik Walter
- BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Tobias Busche
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 27, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Jörn Kalinowski
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 27, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Nigel P. Minton
- BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Katalin Kovács
- BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Klaus Winzer
- BBSRC/EPSCR Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
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