scholarly journals Comparative analysis and mutation effects of fpp2–fpp1 tandem genes encoding proteolytic extracellular enzymes of Flavobacterium psychrophilum

Microbiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 157 (4) ◽  
pp. 1196-1204 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Pérez-Pascual ◽  
Esther Gómez ◽  
Beatriz Álvarez ◽  
Jessica Méndez ◽  
Pilar Reimundo ◽  
...  

Flavobacterium psychrophilum is a very significant fish pathogen that secretes two biochemically characterized extracellular proteolytic enzymes, Fpp1 and Fpp2. The genes encoding these enzymes are organized as an fpp2–fpp1 tandem in the genome of strain F. psychrophilum THC02/90. Analysis of the corresponding encoded proteins showed that they belong to two different protease families. For gene function analysis, new genetic tools were developed in F. psychrophilum by constructing stable isogenic fpp1 and fpp2 mutants via single-crossover homologous recombination. RT-PCR analysis of wild-type and mutant strains suggested that both genes are transcribed as a single mRNA from the promoter located upstream of the fpp2 gene. Phenotypic characterization of the fpp2 mutant showed lack of caseinolytic activity and higher colony spreading compared with the wild-type strain. Both characteristics were recovered in the complemented strain. One objective of this work was to assess the contribution to virulence of these proteolytic enzymes. LD50 experiments using the wild-type strain and mutants showed no significant differences in virulence in a rainbow trout challenge model, suggesting instead a possible nutritional role. The gene disruption procedure developed in this work, together with the knowledge of the complete genome sequence of F. psychrophilum, open new perspectives for the study of gene function in this bacterium.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Francisco Cruz-Pérez ◽  
Roxana Lara-Oueilhe ◽  
Cynthia Marcos-Jiménez ◽  
Ricardo Cuatlayotl-Olarte ◽  
María Luisa Xiqui-Vázquez ◽  
...  

AbstractThe plant growth-promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense contains several genes encoding proteins involved in the biosynthesis and degradation of the second messenger cyclic-di-GMP, which may control key bacterial functions, such as biofilm formation and motility. Here, we analysed the function and expression of the cdgD gene, encoding a multidomain protein that includes GGDEF-EAL domains and CHASE and PAS domains. An insertional cdgD gene mutant was constructed, and analysis of biofilm and extracellular polymeric substance production, as well as the motility phenotype indicated that cdgD encoded a functional diguanylate protein. These results were correlated with a reduced overall cellular concentration of cyclic-di-GMP in the mutant over 48 h compared with that observed in the wild-type strain, which was recovered in the complemented strain. In addition, cdgD gene expression was measured in cells growing under planktonic or biofilm conditions, and differential expression was observed when KNO3 or NH4Cl was added to the minimal medium as a nitrogen source. The transcriptional fusion of the cdgD promoter with the gene encoding the autofluorescent mCherry protein indicated that the cdgD gene was expressed both under abiotic conditions and in association with wheat roots. Reduced colonization of wheat roots was observed for the mutant compared with the wild-type strain grown in the same soil conditions. The Azospirillum-plant association begins with the motility of the bacterium towards the plant rhizosphere followed by the adsorption and adherence of these bacteria to plant roots. Therefore, it is important to study the genes that contribute to this initial interaction of the bacterium with its host plant.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Marina Zoppo ◽  
Fabrizio Fiorentini ◽  
Cosmeri Rizzato ◽  
Mariagrazia Di Luca ◽  
Antonella Lupetti ◽  
...  

The Candida parapsilosis genome encodes for five agglutinin-like sequence (Als) cell-wall glycoproteins involved in adhesion to biotic and abiotic surfaces. The work presented here is aimed at analyzing the role of the two still uncharacterized ALS genes in C. parapsilosis, CpALS4790 and CpALS0660, by the generation and characterization of CpALS4790 and CpALS066 single mutant strains. Phenotypic characterization showed that both mutant strains behaved as the parental wild type strain regarding growth rate in liquid/solid media supplemented with cell-wall perturbing agents, and in the ability to produce pseudohyphae. Interestingly, the ability of the CpALS0660 null mutant to adhere to human buccal epithelial cells (HBECs) was not altered when compared with the wild-type strain, whereas deletion of CpALS4790 led to a significant loss of the adhesion capability. RT-qPCR analysis performed on the mutant strains in co-incubation with HBECs did not highlight significant changes in the expression levels of others ALS genes. In vivo experiments in a murine model of vaginal candidiasis indicated a significant reduction in CFUs recovered from BALB/C mice infected with each mutant strain in comparison to those infected with the wild type strain, confirming the involvement of CpAls4790 and CpAls5600 proteins in C. parapsilosis vaginal candidiasis in mice.


2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (3) ◽  
pp. 679-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brant K. J. Pohorelic ◽  
Johanna K. Voordouw ◽  
Elisabeth Lojou ◽  
Alain Dolla ◽  
Jens Harder ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The physiological properties of a hyd mutant of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, lacking periplasmic Fe-only hydrogenase, have been compared with those of the wild-type strain. Fe-only hydrogenase is the main hydrogenase of D. vulgaris Hildenborough, which also has periplasmic NiFe- and NiFeSe-hydrogenases. The hyd mutant grew less well than the wild-type strain in media with sulfate as the electron acceptor and H2 as the sole electron donor, especially at a high sulfate concentration. Although the hyd mutation had little effect on growth with lactate as the electron donor for sulfate reduction when H2 was also present, growth in lactate- and sulfate-containing media lacking H2 was less efficient. The hyd mutant produced, transiently, significant amounts of H2 under these conditions, which were eventually all used for sulfate reduction. The results do not confirm the essential role proposed elsewhere for Fe-only hydrogenase as a hydrogen-producing enzyme in lactate metabolism (W. A. M. van den Berg, W. M. A. M. van Dongen, and C. Veeger, J. Bacteriol. 173:3688–3694, 1991). This role is more likely played by a membrane-bound, cytoplasmic Ech-hydrogenase homolog, which is indicated by the D. vulgaris genome sequence. The physiological role of periplasmic Fe-only hydrogenase is hydrogen uptake, both when hydrogen is and when lactate is the electron donor for sulfate reduction.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meg Walsh ◽  
William Casey ◽  
Shane T. Kenny ◽  
Tanja Narancic ◽  
Lars M. Blank ◽  
...  

AbstractPseudomonas putidaKT2440 is known to metabolise glycerol via glycerol-3-phosphate using glycerol kinase an enzyme previously described as critical for glycerol metabolism (1). However, when glycerol kinase was knocked out inP. putidaKT2440 it retained the ability to use glycerol as the sole carbon source, albeit with a much-extended lag period and 2 fold lower final biomass compared to the wild type strain. A metabolomic study identified glycerate as a major and the most abundant intermediate in glycerol metabolism in this mutated strain with levels 21-fold higher than wild type. Erythrose-4-phosphate was detected in the mutant strain, but not in the wild type strain. Glyceraldehyde and glycraldehyde-3-phosphate were detected at similar levels in the mutant strain and the wild type. Transcriptomic studies identified 191 genes that were more than 2-fold upregulated in the mutant compared to the wild type and 175 that were down regulated. The genes involved in short chain length fatty acid metabolism were highly upregulated in the mutant strain. The genes encoding 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase were 5.8-fold upregulated and thus the gene was cloned, expressed and purified to reveal it can act on glyceraldehyde but not glycerol as a substrate.


1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (21) ◽  
pp. 5612-5618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel J. Mouncey ◽  
Samuel Kaplan

ABSTRACT The ability of Rhodobacter sphaeroides2.4.1T to respire anaerobically with the alternative electron acceptor dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or trimethylamineN-oxide (TMAO) is manifested by the molybdoenzyme DMSO reductase, which is encoded by genes of the dor locus. Previously, we have demonstrated that dor expression is regulated in response to lowered oxygen tensions and the presence of DMSO or TMAO in the growth medium. Several regulatory proteins have been identified as key players in this regulatory cascade: FnrL, DorS-DorR, and DorX-DorY. To further examine the role of redox potentiation in the regulation of dor expression, we measured DMSO reductase synthesis and β-galactosidase activity fromdor::lacZ fusions in strains containing mutations in the redox-active proteins CcoP and RdxB, which have previously been implicated in the generation of a redox signal affecting photosynthesis gene expression. Unlike the wild-type strain, both mutants were able to synthesize DMSO reductase under strictly aerobic conditions, even in the absence of DMSO. When cells were grown photoheterotrophically, dorC::lacZexpression was stimulated by increasing light intensity in the CcoP mutant, whereas it is normally repressed in the wild-type strain under such conditions. Furthermore, the expression of genes encoding the DorS sensor kinase and DorR response regulator proteins was also affected by the ccoP mutation. By using CcoP-DorR and CcoP-DorY double mutants, it was shown that the DorR protein is strictly required for altered dor expression in CcoP mutants. These results further demonstrate a role for redox-generated responses in the expression of genes encoding DMSO reductase in R. sphaeroides and identify the DorS-DorR proteins as a redox-dependent regulatory system controlling dorexpression.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (19) ◽  
pp. 6028-6032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique Sabaty ◽  
Carole Schwintner ◽  
Sandrine Cahors ◽  
Pierre Richaud ◽  
Andre Verméglio

ABSTRACT We have cloned the nap locus encoding the periplasmic nitrate reductase in Rhodobacter sphaeroides f. sp.denitrificans IL106. A mutant with this enzyme deleted is unable to grow under denitrifying conditions. Biochemical analysis of this mutant shows that in contrast to the wild-type strain, the level of synthesis of the nitrite and N2O reductases is not increased by the addition of nitrate. Growth under denitrifying conditions and induction of N oxide reductase synthesis are both restored by the presence of a plasmid containing the genes encoding the nitrate reductase. This demonstrates that R. sphaeroides f. sp. denitrificans IL106 does not possess an efficient membrane-bound nitrate reductase and that nitrate is not the direct inducer for the nitrite and N2O reductases in this species. In contrast, we show that nitrite induces the synthesis of the nitrate reductase.


2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (3) ◽  
pp. 646-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels-Ulrik Frigaard ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
Kirstin J. Milks ◽  
Donald A. Bryant

ABSTRACT Chlorosomes of the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum comprise mostly bacteriochlorophyll c (BChl c), small amounts of BChl a, carotenoids, and quinones surrounded by a lipid-protein envelope. These structures contain 10 different protein species (CsmA, CsmB, CsmC, CsmD, CsmE, CsmF, CsmH, CsmI, CsmJ, and CsmX) but contain relatively little total protein compared to other photosynthetic antenna complexes. Except for CsmA, which has been suggested to bind BChl a, the functions of the chlorosome proteins are not known. Nine mutants in which a single csm gene was inactivated were created; these mutants included genes encoding all chlorosome proteins except CsmA. All mutants had BChl c contents similar to that of the wild-type strain and had growth rates indistinguishable from or within ∼90% (CsmC− and CsmJ−) of those of the wild-type strain. Chlorosomes isolated from the mutants lacked only the protein whose gene had been inactivated and were generally similar to those from the wild-type strain with respect to size, shape, and BChl c, BChl a, and carotenoid contents. However, chlorosomes from the csmC mutant were about 25% shorter than those from the wild-type strain, and the BChl c absorbance maximum was blue-shifted about 8 nm, indicating that the structure of the BChl c aggregates in these chlorosomes is altered. The results of the present study establish that, except with CsmA, when the known chlorosome proteins are eliminated individually, none of them are essential for the biogenesis, light harvesting, or structural organization of BChl c and BChl a within the chlorosome. These results demonstrate that chlorosomes are remarkably robust structures that can tolerate considerable changes in protein composition.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Ho Lee ◽  
Jungkwan Lee ◽  
Seunghoon Lee ◽  
Eun-Hee Park ◽  
Ki-Woo Kim ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The sucrose nonfermenting 1 (SNF1) protein kinase of yeast plays a central role in the transcription of glucose-repressible genes in response to glucose starvation. In this study, we deleted an ortholog of SNF1 from Gibberella zeae to characterize its functions by using a gene replacement strategy. The mycelial growth of deletion mutants (ΔGzSNF1) was reduced by 21 to 74% on diverse carbon sources. The virulence of ΔGzSNF1 mutants on barley decreased, and the expression of genes encoding cell-wall-degrading enzymes was reduced. The most distinct phenotypic changes were in sexual and asexual development. ΔGzSNF1 mutants produced 30% fewer perithecia, which matured more slowly, and asci that contained one to eight abnormally shaped ascospores. Mutants in which only the GzSNF1 catalytic domain was deleted had the same phenotype changes as the ΔGzSNF1 strains, but the phenotype was less extreme in the mutants with the regulatory domain deleted. In outcrosses between the ΔGzSNF1 mutants, each perithecium contained ∼70% of the abnormal ascospores, and ∼50% of the asci showed unexpected segregation patterns in a single locus tested. The asexual spores of the ΔGzSNF1 mutants were shorter and had fewer septa than those of the wild-type strain. The germination and nucleation of both ascospores and conidia were delayed in ΔGzSNF1 mutants in comparison with those of the wild-type strain. GzSNF1 expression and localization depended on the developmental stage of the fungus. These results suggest that GzSNF1 is critical for normal sexual and asexual development in addition to virulence and the utilization of alternative carbon sources.


2008 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 3561-3568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria P. Isaza ◽  
Matthew S. Duncan ◽  
Jeffrey B. Kaplan ◽  
Scott C. Kachlany

ABSTRACT Aggregatibacter (formerly Actinobacillus) actinomycetemcomitans is a pathogen that causes localized aggressive periodontitis and extraoral infections including infective endocarditis. Recently, we reported that A. actinomycetemcomitans is beta-hemolytic on certain growth media due to the production of leukotoxin (LtxA). Based on this observation and our ability to generate random transposon insertions in A. actinomycetemcomitans, we developed and carried out a rapid screen for LtxA mutants. Using PCR, we mapped several of the mutations to genes that are known or predicted to be required for LtxA production, including ltxA, ltxB, ltxD, and tdeA. In addition, we identified an insertion in a gene previously not recognized to be involved in LtxA biosynthesis, ptsH. ptsH encodes the protein HPr, a phosphocarrier protein that is part of the sugar phosphotransferase system. HPr results in the phosphorylation of other proteins and ultimately in the activation of adenylate cyclase and cyclic AMP (cAMP) production. The ptsH mutant showed only partial hemolysis on blood agar and did not produce LtxA. The phenotype was complemented by supplying wild-type ptsH in trans, and real-time PCR analysis showed that the ptsH mutant produced approximately 10-fold less ltxA mRNA than the wild-type strain. The levels of cAMP in the ptsH mutant were significantly lower than in the wild-type strain, and LtxA production could be restored by adding exogenous cAMP to the culture.


2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (15) ◽  
pp. 4786-4797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank G. Healy ◽  
Kevin P. Eaton ◽  
Prajit Limsirichai ◽  
Joel F. Aldrich ◽  
Alaina K. Plowman ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Organisms belonging to the genus Streptomyces produce numerous important secondary metabolites and undergo a sophisticated morphological differentiation program. In many instances these processes are under the control of γ-butyrolactone (GBL) autoregulatory systems. Streptomyces acidiscabies strain 84.104 produces the secondary metabolite aromatic angucyclinone polyketide WS5995B. In order to explore the role of GBL regulatory circuitry in WS5995B production and morphogenesis in S. acidiscabies, a gene cluster encoding GBL autoregulatory signaling homologs was identified and characterized. Two GBL receptor homologs, sabR and sabS, were found flanking a GBL synthase homolog sabA. Strains carrying mutations in sabS produced elevated levels of WS5995B and displayed conditional morphological defects reminiscent of defects seen in Streptomyces bldA mutants. Notably, sabS possesses a TTA codon predicted to be recognized by tRNAleu. sabA mutants produced higher levels of WS5995B than the wild-type strain but to a lesser extent than the levels of WS5995B seen in sabS mutants. Purified recombinant SabR and SabS were tested for their abilities to bind predicted AT-rich autoregulatory element (ARE) boxes within the sabRAS region. SabS did not bind any DNA sequences in this region, while SabR bound an ARE box in the region upstream of sabS. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR analysis revealed higher levels of sabS transcript in sabR mutants than in the wild-type strain, suggesting that sabS expression is repressed by SabR. Based on these data, we propose that the S. acidiscabies sabRAS genes encode components of a signaling pathway which participates in the regulation of WS5995B production and morphogenesis.


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