scholarly journals XadM, a Novel Adhesin of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, Exhibits Similarity to Rhs Family Proteins and Is Required for Optimum Attachment, Biofilm Formation, and Virulence

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 1157-1170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Binod B. Pradhan ◽  
Manish Ranjan ◽  
Subhadeep Chatterjee

By screening a transposon-induced mutant library of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, the bacterial blight pathogen of rice, we have identified a novel 5.241-kb open reading frame (ORF) named xadM that is required for optimum virulence and colonization. This ORF encodes a protein, XadM, of 1,746 amino acids that exhibits significant similarity to Rhs family proteins. The XadM protein contains several repeat domains similar to a wall-associated surface protein of Bacillus subtilis, which has been proposed to be involved in carbohydrate binding. The role of XadM in X. oryzae pv. oryzae adhesion was demonstrated by the impaired ability of an xadM mutant strain to attach and form biofilms. Furthermore, we show that XadM is exposed on the cell surface and its expression is regulated by growth conditions and plays an important role in the early attachment and entry inside rice leaves. Interestingly, XadM homologs are present in several diverse bacteria, including many Xanthomonas spp. and animal-pathogenic bacteria belonging to Burkholderia spp. This is the first report of a role for XadM, an Rhs family protein, in adhesion and virulence of any pathogenic bacteria.

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (13) ◽  
pp. 4358-4367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fenghuan Yang ◽  
Fang Tian ◽  
Huamin Chen ◽  
William Hutchins ◽  
Ching-Hong Yang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe PilZ domain proteins have been demonstrated to be one of the major types of receptors mediating cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) signaling pathways in several pathogenic bacteria. However, little is known about the function of PilZ domain proteins in c-di-GMP regulation of virulence in the bacterial blight pathogen of riceXanthomonas oryzaepv. oryzae. Here, the roles of PilZ domain proteins PXO_00049 and PXO_02374 in c-di-GMP binding, regulation of virulence and motility, and subcellular localization were characterized in comparison with PXO_02715, identified previously as an interactor with the c-di-GMP receptor Filp to regulate virulence. The c-di-GMP binding motifs in the PilZ domains were conserved in PXO_00049 and PXO_02374 but were less well conserved in PXO_02715. PXO_00049 and PXO_02374 but not PXO_02715 proteins bound to c-di-GMP with high affinityin vitro, and the R141and R10residues in the PilZ domains of PXO_00049 and PXO_02374, respectively, were crucial for c-di-GMP binding. Gene deletion of PXO_00049 and PXO_02374 resulted in significant increases in virulence andhrpgene transcription, indicating their negative regulation of virulence via type III secretion system expression. All mutants showed significant changes in sliding motility but not exopolysaccharide production and biofilm formation. Intransexpression of the full-length open reading frame (ORF) of each gene in the relevant mutants led to restoration of the phenotype to wild-type levels. Moreover, PXO_00049 and PXO_02374 displayed mainly multisite subcellular localizations, whereas PXO_02715 showed nonpolar distributions in theX. oryzaepv. oryzae cells. Therefore, this study demonstrated the different functions of the PilZ domain proteins in mediation of c-di-GMP regulation of virulence and motility inX. oryzaepv. oryzae.


2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 973-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhadeep Chatterjee ◽  
Rajan Sankaranarayanan ◽  
Ramesh V. Sonti

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae causes bacterial leaf blight, a serious disease of rice. We have identified a novel virulence deficient mutant (BXO1691) of X. oryzae pv. oryzae that has a Tn5 insertion in an open reading frame (phyA; putative phytase A) encoding a 373-amino acid (aa) protein containing a 28-aa predicted signal peptide. Extracellular protein profiles revealed that a 38-kDa band is absent in phyA mutants as compared with phyA+ strains. A BLAST search with phyA and its deduced polypeptide sequence indicated significant similarity with conserved hypothetical proteins in Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri and Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris and limited homology to secreted phytases of Bacillus species. Homology modeling with a Bacillus phytase as the template suggests that the PhyA protein has a similar six-bladed β-propeller architecture and exhibits conservation of certain critical active site residues. Phytases are enzymes that are involved in degradation of phytic acid (inositol hexaphosphate), a stored form of phosphate in plants. The phyA mutants exhibit a growth deficiency in media containing phytic acid as a sole phosphate source. Exogenous phosphate supplementation promotes migration of phyA X. oryzae pv. oryzae mutants in rice leaves. These results suggest that the virulence deficiency of phyA mutants is, at least in part, due to inability to use host phytic acid as a source of phosphate. phyA-like genes have not been previously reported to be involved in the virulence of any plant pathogenic bacterium.


2010 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliano Degrassi ◽  
Giulia Devescovi ◽  
Joseph Bigirimana ◽  
Vittorio Venturi

Chorismate mutase (CM) is a key enzyme in the shikimate pathway which is responsible for the synthesis of aromatic amino acids. There are two classes of CMs, AroQ and AroH, and several pathogenic bacteria have been reported to possess a subgroup of CMs designated AroQγ. These CMs are usually exported to the periplasm or outside the cell; in a few cases, they have been reported to be involved in virulence and their precise role is currently unknown. Here, we report that the important rice pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae XKK.12 produces an AroQγ CM which we have purified and characterized from spent supernatants. This enzyme is synthesized in planta and X. oryzae pv. oryzae knock-out mutants are hypervirulent to rice. The role of this enzyme in X. oryzae pv. oryzae rice virulence is discussed.


2003 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 784-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jukka Hytönen ◽  
Sauli Haataja ◽  
Jukka Finne

ABSTRACT The interactions between pathogenic bacteria and the host need to be resolved at the molecular level in order to develop novel antiadhesive drugs and vaccines. We have previously identified strepadhesin, a novel glycoprotein-binding activity in Streptococcus pyogenes binding to thyroglobulin, submaxillar mucin, fetuin, and asialofetuin. The activity is known to be regulated by Mga, a regulator of streptococcal virulence factors, and is carried by the surface-associated streptococcal cysteine protease, SpeB. In the present study, we focused on the high strepadhesin activity in an S. pyogenes strain (NZ131rgg) lacking SpeB expression. By extracting surface proteins from the bacteria, a new strepadhesin protein was identified, and mass spectrometric analysis and database search identified it as a putative pullulanase. The gene was cloned, and the recombinant pullulanase (PulA) exhibited pullulanase and starch hydrolyzing activity, as well as strepadhesin activity. Sequencing of the pulA gene revealed an open reading frame with 3,498 bp encoding a protein of 1,165 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 129 kDa. PulA exhibited properties typical for a gram-positive surface protein with a putative signal sequence and LPKTGE cell wall anchoring motif and contained the four highly conserved regions common to pullulanases. Mutant bacteria deficient in PulA expression showed diminished strepadhesin activity on bacterial dot blot assay and reduced adherence to thyroglobulin immobilized on microtiter plates. Thus, S. pyogenes strepadhesin activity is carried by a surface-bound pullulanase, which combines glycoprotein-binding and carbohydrate-degrading activities in the same molecule.


Author(s):  
B.J. Panessa-Warren ◽  
G.T. Tortora ◽  
J.B. Warren

Some bacteria are capable of forming highly resistant spores when environmental conditions are not adequate for growth. Depending on the genus and species of the bacterium, these endospores are resistant in varying degrees to heat, cold, pressure, enzymatic degradation, ionizing radiation, chemical sterilants,physical trauma and organic solvents. The genus Clostridium, responsible for botulism poisoning, tetanus, gas gangrene and diarrhea in man, produces endospores which are highly resistant. Although some sporocides can kill Clostridial spores, the spores require extended contact with a sporocidal agent to achieve spore death. In most clinical situations, this extended period of treatment is not possible nor practical. This investigation examines Clostridium sporogenes endospores by light, transmission and scanning electron microscopy under various dormant and growth conditions, cataloging each stage in the germination and outgrowth process, and analyzing the role played by the exosporial membrane in the attachment and germination of the spore.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-62
Author(s):  
Suren T. Zolyan

We discuss the role of linguistic metaphors as a cognitive frame for the understanding of genetic information processing. The essential similarity between language and genetic information processing has been recognized since the very beginning, and many prominent scholars have noted the possibility of considering genes and genomes as texts or languages. Most of the core terms in molecular biology are based on linguistic metaphors. The processing of genetic information is understood as some operations on text – writing, reading and editing and their specification (encoding/decoding, proofreading, transcription, translation, reading frame). The concept of gene reading can be traced from the archaic idea of the equation of Life and Nature with the Book. Thus, the genetics itself can be metaphorically represented as some operations on text (deciphering, understanding, code-breaking, transcribing, editing, etc.), which are performed by scientists. At the same time linguistic metaphors portrayed gene entities also as having the ability of reading. In the case of such “bio-reading” some essential features similar to the processes of human reading can be revealed: this is an ability to identify the biochemical sequences based on their function in an abstract system and distinguish between type and its contextual tokens of the same type. Metaphors seem to be an effective instrument for representation, as they make possible a two-dimensional description: biochemical by its experimental empirical results and textual based on the cognitive models of comprehension. In addition to their heuristic value, linguistic metaphors are based on the essential characteristics of genetic information derived from its dual nature: biochemical by its substance, textual (or quasi-textual) by its formal organization. It can be concluded that linguistic metaphors denoting biochemical objects and processes seem to be a method of description and explanation of these heterogeneous properties.


Author(s):  
Pramod Dhakal ◽  
Ankit a Achary ◽  
Vedamurthy Joshi

Bioenhancers are drug facilitator which do not show the typical drug activity but in combination to enhance the activity of other molecule in several way including increase the bioavailability of drug across the membrane, potentiating the drug molecules by conformational interaction, acting as receptor for drug molecules and making target cell more receptive to drugs and promote and increase the bioactivity or bioavailability or the uptake of drugs in combination therapy. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial and activity of combination in Azadirachta indica extract with cow urine distillate and pepper extract against common pathogenic bacteria, a causative agent of watery diarrhea. It has been found that Indian indigenous cow urine and its distillate also possess bioenhancing ability. Bioenhancing role of cow urine distillate (CUD) and pepper extract was investigated on antibacterial activity of ethanol extract of Azadirachta indica. Antibacterial activity of ethanol extract neem alone and in combination with CUD and pepper extract were determined the ATCC strains against Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and E-coli by cup plate diffusion method. Ethanol extract of neem has showed more effect on P. aeruginosa, E-coli than S. aureus and K. pneumonia with combination of CUD and pepper extract. CUD and pepper did not show any inhibition of test bacteria in low concentration. The antibacterial effect of combination of extract and CUD was higher than the inhibition caused by extract alone and is suggestive of the bioenhancing role of cow urine distillate and pepper. Moreover, inhibition of test bacteria was observed with less concentration of extract on combining with CUD


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonali Bhakta ◽  
Toshifumi Tsukahara

Editing mutated genes is a potential way for the treatment of genetic diseases. G-to-A mutations are common in mammals and can be treated by adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) editing, a type of substitutional RNA editing. The molecular mechanism of A-to-I editing involves the hydrolytic deamination of adenosine to an inosine base; this reaction is mediated by RNA-specific deaminases, adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs), family protein. Here, we review recent findings regarding the application of ADARs to restoring the genetic code along with different approaches involved in the process of artificial RNA editing by ADAR. We have also addressed comparative studies of various isoforms of ADARs. Therefore, we will try to provide a detailed overview of the artificial RNA editing and the role of ADAR with a focus on the enzymatic site directed A-to-I editing.


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