Escherichia coli Induces DNA Double-Strand Breaks in Eukaryotic Cells

ABSTRACT Persisters are dormant variants that form a subpopulation of cells tolerant to antibiotics. Persisters are largely responsible for the recalcitrance of chronic infections to therapy. In Escherichia coli , one widely accepted model of persister formation holds that stochastic accumulation of ppGpp causes activation of the Lon protease that degrades antitoxins; active toxins then inhibit translation, resulting in dormant, drug-tolerant persisters. We found that various stresses induce toxin-antitoxin (TA) expression but that induction of TAs does not necessarily increase persisters. The 16S rRNA promoter rrnB P1 was proposed to be a persister reporter and an indicator of toxin activation regulated by ppGpp. Using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), we confirmed the enrichment for persisters in the fraction of rrnB P1 -gfp dim cells; however, this is independent of toxin-antitoxins. rrnB P1 is coregulated by ppGpp and ATP. We show that rrnB P1 can report persisters in a relA / spoT deletion background, suggesting that rrnB P1 is a persister marker responding to ATP. Consistent with this finding, decreasing the level of ATP by arsenate treatment causes drug tolerance. Lowering ATP slows translation and prevents the formation of DNA double-strand breaks upon ﬂuoroquinolone treatment. We conclude that variation in ATP levels leads to persister formation by decreasing the activity of antibiotic targets. IMPORTANCE Persisters are a subpopulation of antibiotic-tolerant cells responsible for the recalcitrance of chronic infections. Our current understanding of persister formation is primarily based on studies of E. coli . The activation of toxin-antitoxin systems by ppGpp has become a widely accepted model for persister formation. In this study, we found that stress-induced activation of mRNA interferase-type toxins does not necessarily cause persister formation. We also found that the persister marker rrnB P1 reports persister cells because it detects a drop in cellular ATP levels. Consistent with this, lowering the ATP level decreases antibiotic target activity and, thus, leads to persister formation. We conclude that stochastic variation in ATP is the main mechanism of persister formation. A decrease in ATP provides a satisfactory explanation for the drug tolerance of persisters, since bactericidal antibiotics act by corrupting energy-dependent targets.

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Oligosaccharides increase the genotoxic effect of colibactin produced by pks+ Escherichia coli strains

BMC Cancer ◽

10.1186/s12885-021-07876-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Manon Oliero ◽

Annie Calvé ◽

Gabriela Fragoso ◽

Thibault Cuisiniere ◽

Roy Hajjar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Escherichia Coli ◽

Ferrous Sulfate ◽

Chromosomal Abnormalities ◽

Double Strand Breaks ◽

Luciferase Reporter ◽

Dna Double Strand Breaks ◽

Strand Breaks ◽

E Coli ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Colibactin is a genotoxin that induces DNA double-strand breaks that may lead to carcinogenesis and is produced by Escherichia coli strains harboring the pks island. Human and animal studies have shown that colibactin-producing gut bacteria promote carcinogenesis and enhance the progression of colorectal cancer through cellular senescence and chromosomal abnormalities. In this study, we investigated the impact of prebiotics on the genotoxicity of colibactin-producing E. coli strains Nissle 1917 and NC101. Methods Bacteria were grown in medium supplemented with 20, 30 and 40 mg/mL of prebiotics inulin or galacto-oligosaccharide, and with or without 5 μM, 25 μM and 125 μM of ferrous sulfate. Colibactin expression was assessed by luciferase reporter assay for the clbA gene, essential for colibactin production, in E. coli Nissle 1917 and by RT-PCR in E. coli NC101. The human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line, Caco-2, was used to assess colibactin-induced megalocytosis by methylene blue binding assay and genotoxicity by γ-H2AX immunofluorescence analysis. Results Inulin and galacto-oligosaccharide enhanced the expression of clbA in pks+ E. coli. However, the addition of 125 μM of ferrous sulfate inhibited the expression of clbA triggered by oligosaccharides. In the presence of either oligosaccharide, E. coli NC101 increased dysplasia and DNA double-strand breaks in Caco-2 cells compared to untreated cells. Conclusion Our results suggest that, in vitro, prebiotic oligosaccharides exacerbate DNA damage induced by colibactin-producing bacteria. Further studies are necessary to establish whether oligosaccharide supplementation may lead to increased colorectal tumorigenesis in animal models colonized with pks+ E. coli.

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Evolution of Chi motifs in Proteobacteria

10.1101/2020.08.13.249359 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Angélique Buton ◽

Louis-Marie Bobay

Keyword(s):

Escherichia Coli ◽

Sequence Similarity ◽

Bacterial Species ◽

Double Strand Breaks ◽

Dna Double Strand Breaks ◽

Large Dataset ◽

High Sequence Similarity ◽

Strand Breaks ◽

E Coli ◽

Dna Motif

AbstractHomologous recombination is a key pathway found in nearly all bacterial taxa. The recombination complex allows bacteria to repair DNA double strand breaks but also promotes adaption through the exchange of DNA between cells. In Proteobacteria, this process is mediated by the RecBCD complex, which relies on the recognition of a DNA motif named Chi to initiate recombination. The Chi motif has been characterized in Escherichia coli and analogous sequences have been found in several other species from diverse families, suggesting that this mode of action is widespread across bacteria. However, the sequences of Chi-like motifs are known for only five bacterial species: E. coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Bacillus subtilis, Lactococcus lactis and Staphylococcus aureus. In this study we detected putative Chi motifs in a large dataset of Proteobacteria and we identified four additional motifs sharing high sequence similarity and similar properties to the Chi motif of E. coli in 85 species of Proteobacteria. Most Chi motifs were detected in Enterobacteriaceae and this motif appears well conserved in this family. However, we did not detect Chi motifs for the majority of Proteobacteria, suggesting that different motifs are used in these species. Altogether these results substantially expand our knowledge on the evolution of Chi motifs and on the recombination process in bacteria.

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