A Novel Dual-creMotif Enables Two-Way Autoregulation of CcpA inClostridium acetobutylicum

ABSTRACTThe master regulator CcpA (catabolite control protein A) manages a large and complex regulatory network that is essential for cellular physiology and metabolism in Gram-positive bacteria. Although CcpA can affect the expression of target genes by binding to acis-acting catabolite-responsive element (cre), whether and how the expression of CcpA is regulated remain poorly explored. Here, we report a novel dual-cremotif that is employed by the CcpA inClostridium acetobutylicum, a typical solventogenicClostridiumspecies, for autoregulation. Twocresites are involved in CcpA autoregulation, and they reside in the promoter and coding regions of CcpA. In this dual-cremotif,creP, in the promoter region, positively regulatesccpAtranscription, whereascreORF, in the coding region, negatively regulates this transcription, thus enabling two-way autoregulation of CcpA. Although CcpA boundcrePmore strongly thancreORFin vitro, thein vivoassay showed thatcreORF-based repression dominates CcpA autoregulation during the entire fermentation. Finally, a synonymous mutation ofcreORFwas made within the coding region, achieving an increased intracellular CcpA expression and improved cellular performance. This study provides new insights into the regulatory role of CcpA inC. acetobutylicumand, moreover, contributes a new engineering strategy for this industrial strain.IMPORTANCECcpA is known to be a key transcription factor in Gram-positive bacteria. However, it is still unclear whether and how the intracellular CcpA level is regulated, which may be essential for maintaining normal cell physiology and metabolism. We discovered here that CcpA employs a dual-cremotif to autoregulate, enabling dynamic control of its own expression level during the entire fermentation process. This finding answers the questions above and fills a void in our understanding of the regulatory network of CcpA. Interference in CcpA autoregulation leads to improved cellular performance, providing a new useful strategy in genetic engineering ofC. acetobutylicum. Since CcpA is widespread in Gram-positive bacteria, including pathogens, this dual-cre-based CcpA autoregulation would be valuable for increasing our understanding of CcpA-based global regulation in bacteria.

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Mutations of the Listeria monocytogenes PeptidoglycanN-Deacetylase andO-Acetylase Result in Enhanced Lysozyme Sensitivity, Bacteriolysis, and Hyperinduction of Innate Immune Pathways

Infection and Immunity ◽

10.1128/iai.00077-11 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 79 (9) ◽

pp. 3596-3606 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

Chris S. Rae ◽

Aimee Geissler ◽

Paul C. Adamson ◽

Daniel A. Portnoy

Keyword(s):

Listeria Monocytogenes ◽

Transcriptional Responses ◽

Gram Positive ◽

Content Type ◽

Growth Defects ◽

Gram Positive Bacteria ◽

Host Cell Death

ABSTRACTListeria monocytogenesis a Gram-positive intracellular pathogen that is naturally resistant to lysozyme. Recently, it was shown that peptidoglycan modification by N-deacetylation or O-acetylation confers resistance to lysozyme in various Gram-positive bacteria, includingL. monocytogenes.L. monocytogenespeptidoglycan is deacetylated by the action ofN-acetylglucosamine deacetylase (Pgd) and acetylated byO-acetylmuramic acid transferase (Oat). We characterized Pgd−, Oat−, and double mutants to determine the specific role ofL. monocytogenespeptidoglycan acetylation in conferring lysozyme sensitivity during infection of macrophages and mice. Pgd−and Pgd−Oat−double mutants were attenuated approximately 2 and 3.5 logs, respectively,in vivo. In bone-marrow derived macrophages, the mutants demonstrated intracellular growth defects and increased induction of cytokine transcriptional responses that emanated from a phagosome and the cytosol. Lysozyme-sensitive mutants underwent bacteriolysis in the macrophage cytosol, resulting in AIM2-dependent pyroptosis. Each of thein vitrophenotypes was rescued upon infection of LysM−macrophages. The addition of extracellular lysozyme to LysM−macrophages restored cytokine induction, host cell death, andL. monocytogenesgrowth inhibition. This surprising observation suggests that extracellular lysozyme can access the macrophage cytosol and act on intracellular lysozyme-sensitive bacteria.

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Inactivation of the srtA Gene inStreptococcus gordonii Inhibits Cell Wall Anchoring of Surface Proteins and Decreases In Vitro and In Vivo Adhesion

Infection and Immunity ◽

10.1128/iai.69.1.75-80.2001 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 69 (1) ◽

pp. 75-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 83

Author(s):

Tové C. Bolken ◽

Christine A. Franke ◽

Kevin F. Jones ◽

Gloria O. Zeller ◽

C. Hal Jones ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Wall ◽

Protein A ◽

Surface Protein ◽

Surface Proteins ◽

Gram Positive ◽

Gram Positive Bacteria ◽

Human Fibronectin ◽

Gram Positive Cocci

ABSTRACT The srtA gene product, SrtA, has been shown to be required for cell wall anchoring of protein A as well as virulence in the pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. There are five major mechanisms for displaying proteins at the surface of gram-positive bacteria (P. Cossart and R. Jonquieres, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:5013–5015, 2000). However, since many of the known surface proteins of gram-positive bacteria are believed to be exported and anchored via the sortase pathway, it was of interest to determine ifsrtA plays a similar role in other gram-positive bacteria. To that end, the srtA gene in the human oral commensal organism Streptococcus gordonii was insertionally inactivated. The srtA mutant S. gordoniiexhibited a marked reduction in quantity of a specific anchored surface protein. Furthermore, the srtA mutant had reduced binding to immobilized human fibronectin and had a decreased ability to colonize the oral mucosa of mice. Taken together, these results suggest that the activity of SrtA plays an important role in the biology of nonpathogenic as well as pathogenic gram-positive cocci.

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In Vitro and In Vivo Antibacterial Activities of DW-224a, a New Fluoronaphthyridone

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy ◽

10.1128/aac.01407-05 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 50 (6) ◽

pp. 2261-2264 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Hee-Soo Park ◽

Hyun-Joo Kim ◽

Min-Jung Seol ◽

Dong-Rack Choi ◽

Eung-Chil Choi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antibacterial Activities ◽

The Other ◽

Vitro Activity ◽

Gram Negative Bacteria ◽

In Vitro Activity ◽

Gram Positive ◽

Gram Negative ◽

Gram Positive Bacteria

ABSTRACT DW-224a showed the most potent in vitro activity among the quinolone compounds tested against clinical isolates of gram-positive bacteria. Against gram-negative bacteria, DW-224a was slightly less active than the other fluoroquinolones. The in vivo activities of DW-224a against gram-positive bacteria were more potent than those of other quinolones.

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In Vitro and In Vivo Activities of DA-7867, a New Oxazolidinone, against Aerobic Gram-Positive Bacteria

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy ◽

10.1128/aac.49.6.2498-2500.2005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 49 (6) ◽

pp. 2498-2500 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Eun Jeong Yoon ◽

Yeong Woo Jo ◽

Sung Hak Choi ◽

Tae Ho Lee ◽

Jae Keol Rhee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Staphylococcus Aureus ◽

Streptococcus Pneumoniae ◽

Gram Positive ◽

Methicillin Resistant ◽

Gram Positive Bacteria ◽

Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci ◽

Infection Models ◽

Vancomycin Resistant

ABSTRACT In vitro and in vivo activities of DA-7867 were assessed against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. All isolates were inhibited by DA-7867 at ≤0.78 μg/ml, a four-times-lower concentration than that of inhibition by linezolid. For murine infection models, DA-7867 also exhibited greater efficacy than linezolid against all isolates tested.

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Restoration of Bioactive Lantibiotic Suicin from a RemnantlanLocus of Pathogenic Streptococcus suis Serotype 2

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.03213-13 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 80 (3) ◽

pp. 1062-1071 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Jian Wang ◽

Yong Gao ◽

Kunling Teng ◽

Jie Zhang ◽

Shutao Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Promoter ◽

Streptococcus Suis ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Disulfide Bridge ◽

Gram Positive ◽

Content Type ◽

Gram Positive Bacteria ◽

System A ◽

Bactericidal Activities

ABSTRACTLantibiotics are ribosomally synthesized, posttranslationally modified antimicrobial peptides. Their biosynthesis genes are usually organized in gene clusters, which are mainly found in Gram-positive bacteria, including pathogenic streptococci. Three highly virulentStreptococcus suisserotype 2 strains (98HAH33, 05ZYH33, and SC84) have been shown to contain an 89K pathogenicity island. Here, on these islands, we unveiled and reannotated a putative lantibiotic locus designatedsuiwhich contains a virulence-associated two-component regulator,suiK-suiR. In silicoanalysis revealed that the putative lantibiotic modification genesuiMwas interrupted by a 7.9-kb integron and that other biosynthesis-related genes contained various frameshift mutations. By reconstituting the intactsuiMinEscherichia colitogether with a semi-in vitrobiosynthesis system, a putative lantibiotic named suicin was produced with bactericidal activities against a variety of Gram-positive strains, including pathogenic streptococci and vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Ring topology dissection indicated that the 34-amino-acid lantibiotic contained two methyllanthionine residues and one disulfide bridge, which render suicin in an N-terminal linear and C-terminal globular shape. To confirm the function ofsuiK-suiR, SuiR was overexpressed and purified.In vitroanalysis showed that SuiR could specifically bind to thesuiAgene promoter. Its coexpression withsuiKcould activatesuiAgene promoter inLactococcus lactisNZ9000. Conclusively, we obtained a novel lantibiotic suicin by restoring its production from the remnantsuilocus and demonstrated that virulence-associated SuiK-SuiR regulates its production.

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PTS 50: Past, Present and Future, or Diauxie Revisited

Journal of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology ◽

10.1159/000369809 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 25 (2-3) ◽

pp. 79-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Joseph W. Lengeler

Keyword(s):

Catabolite Repression ◽

Biological Significance ◽

Cellular Growth ◽

Gram Positive ◽

Gram Negative ◽

Inducer Exclusion ◽

Gram Positive Bacteria ◽

Cellular Control

Past: The title ‘PTS 50 or The PTS after 50 years' relies on the first description in 1964 of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent carbohydrate:phosphotransferase system (PTS) by Kundig, Gosh and Roseman [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1964;52:1067-1074]. The system comprised proteins named Enzyme I, HPr and Enzymes II, as part of a novel PTS for carbohydrates in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, whose ‘biological significance remained unclear'. In contrast, studies which would eventually lead to the discovery of the central role of the PTS in bacterial metabolism had been published since before 1942. They are primarily linked to names like Epps and Gale, J. Monod, Cohn and Horibata, and B. Magasanik, and to phenomena like ‘glucose effects', ‘diauxie', ‘catabolite repression' and carbohydrate transport. Present: The pioneering work from Roseman's group initiated a flood of publications. The extraordinary progress from 1964 to this day in the qualitative and in vitro description of the genes and enzymes of the PTS, and of its multiple roles in global cellular control through ‘inducer exclusion', gene induction and ‘catabolite repression', in cellular growth, in cell differentiation and in chemotaxis, as well as the differences of its functions between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, was one theme of the meeting and will not be treated in detail here. Future: At the 1988 Paris meeting entitled ‘The PTS after 25 years', Saul Roseman predicted that ‘we must describe these interactions [of the PTS components] in a quantitative way [under] in vivo conditions'. I will present some results obtained by our group during recent years on the old phenomenon of diauxie by means of very fast and quantitative tests, measured in vivo, and obtained from cultures of isogenic mutant strains growing under chemostat conditions. The results begin to hint at the problems relating to future PTS research, but also to the ‘true science' of Roseman.

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Uncovering and Engineering a Mini-Regulatory Network of the TetR-Family Regulator SACE_0303 for Yield Improvement of Erythromycin in Saccharopolyspora erythraea

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology ◽

10.3389/fbioe.2021.692901 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Ying Liu ◽

Sabir Khan ◽

Panpan Wu ◽

Bowen Li ◽

Lanlan Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Regulatory Network ◽

Target Genes ◽

Antibacterial Activities ◽

Saccharopolyspora Erythraea ◽

High Yield ◽

Yield Strain ◽

Yield Improvement ◽

Erythromycin Production

Erythromycins produced by Saccharopolyspora erythraea have broad-spectrum antibacterial activities. Recently, several TetR-family transcriptional regulators (TFRs) were identified to control erythromycin production by multiplex control modes; however, their regulatory network remains poorly understood. In this study, we report a novel TFR, SACE_0303, positively correlated with erythromycin production in Sac. erythraea. It directly represses its adjacent gene SACE_0304 encoding a MarR-family regulator and indirectly stimulates the erythromycin biosynthetic gene eryAI and resistance gene ermE. SACE_0304 negatively regulates erythromycin biosynthesis by directly inhibiting SACE_0303 as well as eryAI and indirectly repressing ermE. Then, the SACE_0303 binding site within the SACE_0303-SACE_0304 intergenic region was defined. Through genome scanning combined with in vivo and in vitro experiments, three additional SACE_0303 target genes (SACE_2467 encoding cation-transporting ATPase, SACE_3156 encoding a large transcriptional regulator, SACE_5222 encoding α-ketoglutarate permease) were identified and proved to negatively affect erythromycin production. Finally, by coupling CRISPRi-based repression of those three targets with SACE_0304 deletion and SACE_0303 overexpression, we performed stepwise engineering of the SACE_0303-mediated mini-regulatory network in a high-yield strain, resulting in enhanced erythromycin production by 67%. In conclusion, the present study uncovered the regulatory network of a novel TFR for control of erythromycin production and provides a multiplex tactic to facilitate the engineering of industrial actinomycetes for yield improvement of antibiotics.

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Zinc oxide microrods and nanorods: different antibacterial activity and their mode of action against Gram-positive bacteria

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/c4ra08462d ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 4 (99) ◽

pp. 56031-56040 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Ilaria Rago ◽

Chandrakanth Reddy Chandraiahgari ◽

Maria P. Bracciale ◽

Giovanni De Bellis ◽

Elena Zanni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Zinc Oxide ◽

Antibacterial Activity ◽

Mode Of Action ◽

Gram Positive ◽

Gram Positive Bacteria

ZnO micro and nanorods, produced through simple and inexpensive techniques, resulted to be strong antimicrobials against Gram-positive bacteria, in vitro as well as in vivo, by altering cell outer structures like membrane and exopolysaccharides.

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In Vitro Activity of Eravacycline against Gram-Positive Bacteria Isolated in Clinical Laboratories Worldwide from 2013 to 2017

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy ◽

10.1128/aac.01715-19 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 64 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ian Morrissey ◽

Stephen Hawser ◽

Sibylle H. Lob ◽

James A. Karlowsky ◽

Matteo Bassetti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antimicrobial Agents ◽

Clinical Isolates ◽

Gram Positive ◽

Content Type ◽

Gram Positive Bacteria ◽

Microdilution Method ◽

Clinical Laboratories ◽

Broth Microdilution Method ◽

Doubling Dilution

ABSTRACT Eravacycline is a novel, fully synthetic fluorocycline antibiotic being developed for the treatment of serious infections, including those caused by resistant Gram-positive pathogens. Here, we evaluated the in vitro activities of eravacycline and comparator antimicrobial agents against a recent global collection of frequently encountered clinical isolates of Gram-positive bacteria. The CLSI broth microdilution method was used to determine in vitro MIC data for isolates of Enterococcus spp. (n = 2,807), Staphylococcus spp. (n = 4,331), and Streptococcus spp. (n = 3,373) isolated primarily from respiratory, intra-abdominal, urinary, and skin specimens by clinical laboratories in 37 countries on three continents from 2013 to 2017. Susceptibilities were interpreted using both CLSI and EUCAST breakpoints. There were no substantive differences (a >1-doubling-dilution increase or decrease) in eravacycline MIC90 values for different species/organism groups over time or by region. Eravacycline showed MIC50 and MIC90 results of 0.06 and 0.12 μg/ml, respectively, when tested against Staphylococcus aureus, regardless of methicillin susceptibility. The MIC90 values of eravacycline for Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus haemolyticus were equal (0.5 μg/ml). The eravacycline MIC90s for Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium were 0.06 μg/ml and were within 1 doubling dilution regardless of the vancomycin susceptibility profile. Eravacycline exhibited MIC90 results of ≤0.06 μg/ml when tested against Streptococcus pneumoniae and beta-hemolytic and viridans group streptococcal isolates. In this surveillance study, eravacycline demonstrated potent in vitro activity against frequently isolated clinical isolates of Gram-positive bacteria (Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus spp.), including isolates collected over a 5-year period (2013 to 2017), underscoring its potential benefit in the treatment of infections caused by common Gram-positive pathogens.

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