scholarly journals Micrarchaeota are covered by a proteinaceous S-Layer

Author(s):  
Sabrina Gfrerer ◽  
Dennis Winkler ◽  
Julia Novion Ducassou ◽  
Yohann Couté ◽  
Reinhard Rachel ◽  
...  

AbstractIn previous publications, it was hypothesized that Micrarchaeota cells are covered by two individual membrane systems. This study proofs that at least the recently cultivated “Candidatus Micrarchaeum harzensis A_DKE” possesses an S-layer covering its cytoplasmic membrane. The potential S-layer protein was found to be among the proteins with the highest abundance in A_DKE and in silico characterization of its primary structure indicated homologies to other known S-layer proteins. Homologs of this protein were found in other Micrarchaeota genomes, which raises the question, whether the ability to form an S-layer is a common trait within this phylum. The S-layer protein seems to be glycosylated and the Micrarchaeum expresses genes for N-glycosylation under cultivation conditions, despite not being able to synthesize carbohydrates. Electron micrographs of freeze-etched samples of a previously described co-culture, containing Micrarchaeum A_DKE and a Thermoplasmatales member as its host organism, verified the hypothesis of an S-layer on the surface of A_DKE. Both organisms are clearly distinguishable by cell size, shape and surface structure.

Author(s):  
Sabrina Gfrerer ◽  
Dennis Winkler ◽  
Julia Novion Ducassou ◽  
Yohann Couté ◽  
Reinhard Rachel ◽  
...  

In previous publications, it was hypothesized that Micrarchaeota cells are covered by two individual membrane systems. This study proves that at least the recently cultivated “ Candidatus Micrarchaeum harzensis A_DKE” possesses an S-layer covering its cytoplasmic membrane. The potential S-layer protein was found to be among the proteins with the highest abundance in “ Ca. Micrarchaeum harzensis A_DKE” and in silico characterisation of its primary structure indicated homologies to other known S-layer proteins. Homologues of this protein were found in other Micrarchaeota genomes, which raises the question of whether the ability to form an S-layer is a common trait within this phylum. The S-layer protein seems to be glycosylated and the Micrarchaeon expresses genes for N-glycosylation under cultivation conditions, despite not being able to synthesize carbohydrates. Electron micrographs of freeze-etched samples of a previously described co-culture, containing Micrarchaeum A_DKE and a Thermoplasmatales member as its host organism, verified the hypothesis of an S-layer on the surface of “ Ca. Micrarchaeum harzensis A_DKE”. Both organisms are clearly distinguishable by cell size, shape and surface structure. Importance Our knowledge about the DPANN superphylum, which comprises several archaeal phyla with limited metabolic capacities, is mostly based on genomic data derived from cultivation-independent approaches. This study examined the surface structure of a recently cultivated member “ Candidatus Micrarchaeum harzensis A_DKE”, an archaeal symbiont dependent on an interaction with a host organism for growth. The interaction requires direct cell contact between interaction partners, a mechanism which is also described for other DPANN archaea. Investigating the surface structure of “ Ca. Micrarchaeum harzensis A_DKE” is an important step towards understanding the interaction between Micrarchaeota and their host organisms and living with limited metabolic capabilities, a trait shared by several DPANN archaea.


Author(s):  
Jack Wright ◽  
Maren Thomsen ◽  
Robert Kolodziejczyk ◽  
Joshua Ridley ◽  
Jessica Sinclair ◽  
...  

TheHaemophilussurface fibril (Hsf) is an unusually large trimeric autotransporter adhesin (TAA) expressed by the most virulent strains ofH. influenzae. Hsf is known to mediate adhesion between pathogen and host, allowing the establishment of potentially deadly diseases such as epiglottitis, meningitis and pneumonia. While recent research has suggested that this TAA might adopt a novel `hairpin-like' architecture, the characterization of Hsf has been limited toin silicomodelling and electron micrographs, with no high-resolution structural data available. Here, the crystal structure of Hsf putative domain 1 (PD1) is reported at 3.3 Å resolution. The structure corrects the previous domain annotation by revealing the presence of an unexpected N-terminal TrpRing domain. PD1 represents the first Hsf domain to be solved, and thus paves the way for further research on the `hairpin-like' hypothesis.


Author(s):  
Markus Boel ◽  
Oscar J. Abilez ◽  
Ahmed N Assar ◽  
Christopher K. Zarins ◽  
Ellen Kuhl

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 342-351
Author(s):  
Sergio A. Durán-Pérez ◽  
José G. Rendón-Maldonado ◽  
Lucio de Jesús Hernandez-Diaz ◽  
Annete I. Apodaca-Medina ◽  
Maribel Jiménez-Edeza ◽  
...  

Background: The protozoan Giardia duodenalis, which causes giardiasis, is an intestinal parasite that commonly affects humans, mainly pre-school children. Although there are asymptomatic cases, the main clinical features are chronic and acute diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, and malabsorption syndrome. Little is currently known about the virulence of the parasite, but some cases of chronic gastrointestinal alterations post-infection have been reported even when the infection was asymptomatic, suggesting that the cathepsin L proteases of the parasite may be involved in the damage at the level of the gastrointestinal mucosa. Objective: The aim of this study was the in silico identification and characterization of extracellular cathepsin L proteases in the proteome of G. duodenalis. Methods: The NP_001903 sequence of cathepsin L protease from Homo sapienswas searched against the Giardia duodenalisproteome. The subcellular localization of Giardia duodenaliscathepsin L proteases was performed in the DeepLoc-1.0 server. The construction of a phylogenetic tree of the extracellular proteins was carried out using the Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis software (MEGA X). The Robetta server was used for the construction of the three-dimensional models. The search for possible inhibitors of the extracellular cathepsin L proteases of Giardia duodenaliswas performed by entering the three-dimensional structures in the FINDSITEcomb drug discovery tool. Results: Based on the amino acid sequence of cathepsin L from Homo sapiens, 8 protein sequences were identified that have in their modular structure the Pept_C1A domain characteristic of cathepsins and two of these proteins (XP_001704423 and XP_001704424) are located extracellularly. Threedimensional models were designed for both extracellular proteins and several inhibitory ligands with a score greater than 0.9 were identified. In vitrostudies are required to corroborate if these two extracellular proteins play a role in the virulence of Giardia duodenalisand to discover ligands that may be useful as therapeutic targets that interfere in the mechanism of pathogenesis generated by the parasite. Conclusion: In silicoanalysis identified two proteins in the Giardia duodenalisprotein repertoire whose characteristics allowed them to be classified as cathepsin L proteases, which may be secreted into the extracellular medium to act as virulence factors. Three-dimensional models of both proteins allowed the identification of inhibitory ligands with a high score. The results suggest that administration of those compounds might be used to block the endopeptidase activity of the extracellular cathepsin L proteases, interfering with the mechanisms of pathogenesis of the protozoan parasite Giardia duodenalis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishal Ahuja ◽  
Aashima Sharma ◽  
Ranju Kumari Rathour ◽  
Vaishali Sharma ◽  
Nidhi Rana ◽  
...  

Background: Lignocellulosic residues generated by various anthropogenic activities can be a potential raw material for many commercial products such as biofuels, organic acids and nutraceuticals including xylitol. Xylitol is a low-calorie nutritive sweetener for diabetic patients. Microbial production of xylitol can be helpful in overcoming the drawbacks of traditional chemical production process and lowring cost of production. Objective: Designing efficient production process needs the characterization of required enzyme/s. Hence current work was focused on in-vitro and in-silico characterization of xylose reductase from Emericella nidulans. Methods: Xylose reductase from one of the hyper-producer isolates, Emericella nidulans Xlt-11 was used for in-vitro characterization. For in-silico characterization, XR sequence (Accession No: Q5BGA7) was used. Results: Xylose reductase from various microorganisms has been studied but the quest for better enzymes, their stability at higher temperature and pH still continues. Xylose reductase from Emericella nidulans Xlt-11 was found NADH dependent and utilizes xylose as its sole substrate for xylitol production. In comparison to whole cells, enzyme exhibited higher enzyme activity at lower cofactor concentration and could tolerate higher substrate concentration. Thermal deactivation profile showed that whole cell catalysts were more stable than enzyme at higher temperature. In-silico analysis of XR sequence from Emericella nidulans (Accession No: Q5BGA7) suggested that the structure was dominated by random coiling. Enzyme sequences have conserved active site with net negative charge and PI value in acidic pH range. Conclusion: Current investigation supported the enzyme’s specific application i.e. bioconversion of xylose to xylitol due to its higher selectivity. In-silico analysis may provide significant structural and physiological information for modifications and improved stability.


ChemMedChem ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulises Martínez-Ortega ◽  
Diego I. Figueroa-Figueroa ◽  
Francisco Hernández-Luis ◽  
Rodrigo Aguayo-Ortiz

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