scholarly journals Cysteine Desulfurase IscS2 Plays a Role in Oxygen Resistance in Clostridium difficile

2018 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Giordano ◽  
Jessica L. Hastie ◽  
Ashley D. Smith ◽  
Elissa D. Foss ◽  
Daniela F. Gutierrez-Munoz ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Clostridium difficile is an anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium capable of colonizing the gastrointestinal tract of humans following disruption of the normal microbiota, typically from antibiotic therapy for an unrelated infection. With approximately 500,000 confirmed infections leading to 29,000 deaths per year in the United States, C. difficile infection (CDI) is an urgent public health threat. We previously determined that C. difficile survives in up to 3% oxygen. Low levels of oxygen are present in the intestinal tract, with the higher concentrations being associated with the epithelial cell surface. Additionally, antibiotic treatment, the greatest risk factor for CDI, increases the intestinal oxygen concentration. Therefore, we hypothesized that the C. difficile genome encodes mechanisms for survival during oxidative stress. Previous data have shown that cysteine desulfurases involved in iron-sulfur cluster assembly are involved in protecting bacteria from oxidative stress. In this study, deletion of a putative cysteine desulfurase (Cd630_12790/IscS2) involved in the iron-sulfur cluster (Isc) system caused a severe growth defect in the presence of 2% oxygen. Additionally, this mutant delayed colonization in a conventional mouse model of CDI and failed to colonize in a germfree model, which has higher intestinal oxygen levels. These data imply an undefined role for this cysteine desulfurase in protecting C. difficile from low levels of oxygen in the gut.

2014 ◽  
Vol 459 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Rybniker ◽  
Florence Pojer ◽  
Jan Marienhagen ◽  
Gaëlle S. Kolly ◽  
Jeffrey M. Chen ◽  
...  

IscS of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an essential component of iron–sulfur cluster assembly conferring resistance to oxidative stress. The strongly altered surface structure and the extensive protein-interaction network identified in the present study mirrors adaptations made in response to a heavily depleted mycobacterial ISC operon.


mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurore Fleurie ◽  
Abdelrahim Zoued ◽  
Laura Alvarez ◽  
Kelly M. Hines ◽  
Felipe Cava ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBolA family proteins are conserved in Gram-negative bacteria and many eukaryotes. While diverse cellular phenotypes have been linked to this protein family, the molecular pathways through which these proteins mediate their effects are not well described. Here, we investigated the roles of BolA family proteins inVibrio cholerae, the cholera pathogen. LikeEscherichia coli,V. choleraeencodes two BolA proteins, BolA and IbaG. However, in marked contrast toE. coli, wherebolAis linked to cell shape andibaGis not, inV. cholerae,bolAmutants lack morphological defects, whereasibaGproved critical for the generation and/or maintenance of the pathogen’s morphology. Notably, the bizarre-shaped, multipolar, elongated, and wide cells that predominated in exponential-phase ΔibaGV. choleraecultures were not observed in stationary-phase cultures. TheV. choleraeΔibaGmutant exhibited increased sensitivity to cell envelope stressors, including cell wall-acting antibiotics and bile, and was defective in intestinal colonization. ΔibaGV. choleraehad reduced peptidoglycan and lipid II and altered outer membrane lipids, likely contributing to the mutant’s morphological defects and sensitivity to envelope stressors. Transposon insertion sequencing analysis ofibaG’s genetic interactions suggested thatibaGis involved in several processes involved in the generation and homeostasis of the cell envelope. Furthermore, copurification studies revealed that IbaG interacts with proteins containing iron-sulfur clusters or involved in their assembly. Collectively, our findings suggest thatV. choleraeIbaG controls cell morphology and cell envelope integrity through its role in biogenesis or trafficking of iron-sulfur cluster proteins.IMPORTANCEBolA-like proteins are conserved across prokaryotes and eukaryotes. These proteins have been linked to a variety of phenotypes, but the pathways and mechanisms through which they act have not been extensively characterized. Here, we unraveled the role of the BolA-like protein IbaG in the cholera pathogenVibrio cholerae. The absence of IbaG was associated with dramatic changes in cell morphology, sensitivity to envelope stressors, and intestinal colonization defects. IbaG was found to be required for biogenesis of several components of theV. choleraecell envelope and to interact with numerous iron-sulfur cluster-containing proteins and factors involved in their assembly. Thus, our findings suggest that IbaG governsV. choleraecell shape and cell envelope homeostasis through its effects on iron-sulfur proteins and associated pathways. The diversity of processes involving iron-sulfur-containing proteins is likely a factor underlying the range of phenotypes associated with BolA family proteins.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianghui Li ◽  
Xiaojun Ren ◽  
Bingqian Fan ◽  
Zhaoyang Huang ◽  
Wu Wang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWhile zinc is an essential trace metal in biology, excess zinc is toxic to organisms. Previous studies have shown that zinc toxicity is associated with disruption of the [4Fe-4S] clusters in various dehydratases inEscherichia coli. Here, we report that the intracellular zinc overload inE. colicells inhibits iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis without affecting the preassembled iron-sulfur clusters in proteins. Among the housekeeping iron-sulfur cluster assembly proteins encoded by the gene clusteriscSUA-hscBA-fdx-iscXinE. colicells, the scaffold IscU, the iron chaperone IscA, and ferredoxin have strong zinc binding activity in cells, suggesting that intracellular zinc overload inhibits iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis by binding to the iron-sulfur cluster assembly proteins. Mutations of the conserved cysteine residues to serine in IscA, IscU, or ferredoxin completely abolish the zinc binding activity of the proteins, indicating that zinc can compete with iron or iron-sulfur cluster binding in IscA, IscU, and ferredoxin and block iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis. Furthermore, intracellular zinc overload appears to emulate the slow-growth phenotype of theE. colimutant cells with deletion of the iron-sulfur cluster assembly proteins IscU, IscA, and ferredoxin. Our results suggest that intracellular zinc overload inhibits iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis by targeting the iron-sulfur cluster assembly proteins IscU, IscA, and ferredoxin inE. colicells.IMPORTANCEZinc toxicity has been implicated in causing various human diseases. High concentrations of zinc can also inhibit bacterial cell growth. However, the underlying mechanism has not been fully understood. Here, we report that zinc overload inEscherichia colicells inhibits iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis by targeting specific iron-sulfur cluster assembly proteins. Because iron-sulfur proteins are involved in diverse physiological processes, the zinc-mediated inhibition of iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis could be largely responsible for the zinc-mediated cytotoxicity. Our finding provides new insights on how intracellular zinc overload may inhibit cellular functions in bacteria.


2014 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 1390-1401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyoti Velayudhan ◽  
Joyce E. Karlinsey ◽  
Elaine R. Frawley ◽  
Lynne A. Becker ◽  
Margaret Nartea ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTLabile [4Fe-4S]2+clusters found at the active sites of many dehydratases are susceptible to damage by univalent oxidants that convert the clusters to an inactive [3Fe-4S]1+form. Bacteria repair damaged clusters in a process that does not requirede novoprotein synthesis or the Isc and Suf cluster assembly pathways. The current study investigates the participation of the bacterial frataxin ortholog CyaY and the YggX protein, which are proposed to play roles in iron trafficking and iron-sulfur cluster repair. Previous reports found that individual mutations incyaYoryggXwere not associated with phenotypic changes inEscherichia coliandSalmonella entericaserovar Typhimurium, suggesting that CyaY and YggX might have functionally redundant roles. However, we have found that individual mutations incyaYoryggXconfer enhanced susceptibility to hydrogen peroxide inSalmonella entericaserovar Typhimurium. In addition, inactivation of thestm3944open reading frame, which is located immediately upstream ofcyaYand which encodes a putative inner membrane protein, dramatically enhances the hydrogen peroxide sensitivity of acyaYmutant. Overexpression of STM3944 reduces the elevated intracellular free iron levels observed in anS. Typhimuriumfurmutant and also reduces the total cellular iron content under conditions of iron overload, suggesting that thestm3944-encoded protein may mediate iron efflux. Mutations incyaYandyggXhave different effects on the activities of the iron-sulfur cluster-containing aconitase, serine deaminase, and NADH dehydrogenase I enzymes ofS. Typhimurium under basal conditions or following recovery from oxidative stress. In addition,cyaYandyggXmutations have additive effects on 6-phosphogluconate dehydratase-dependent growth during nitrosative stress, and acyaYmutation reducesSalmonellavirulence in mice. Collectively, these results indicate that CyaY and YggX play distinct supporting roles in iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis and the repair of labile clusters damaged by univalent oxidants.Salmonellaexperiences oxidative and nitrosative stress within host phagocytes, and CyaY-dependent maintenance of labile iron-sulfur clusters appears to be important forSalmonellavirulence.


2015 ◽  
Vol 197 (13) ◽  
pp. 2239-2247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Gao ◽  
Yujiao Wang ◽  
Yingxin Zhang ◽  
Min Lv ◽  
Peipei Dou ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTNAD-independentl-lactate dehydrogenases (l-iLDHs) play important roles inl-lactate utilization of different organisms. All of the previously reportedl-iLDHs were flavoproteins that catalyze the oxidation ofl-lactate by the flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-dependent mechanism. Based on comparative genomic analysis, a gene cluster with three genes (lldA,lldB, andlldC) encoding a novel type ofl-iLDH was identified inPseudomonas stutzeriA1501. When the gene cluster was expressed inEscherichia coli, distinctivel-iLDH activity was detected. The expressedl-iLDH was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography, and affinity chromatography. SDS-PAGE and successive matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis of the purifiedl-iLDH indicated that it is a complex of LldA, LldB, and LldC (encoded bylldA,lldB, andlldC, respectively). Purifiedl-iLDH (LldABC) is a dimer of three subunits (LldA, LldB, and LldC), and the ratio between LldA, LldB, and LldC is 1:1:1. Different from the FMN-containingl-iLDH, absorption spectra and elemental analysis suggested that LldABC might use the iron-sulfur cluster for thel-lactate oxidation. LldABC has narrow substrate specificity, and onlyl-lactate anddl-2-hydrobutyrate were rapidly oxidized. Mg2+could activatel-iLDH activity effectively (6.6-fold). Steady-state kinetics indicated a ping-pong mechanism of LldABC for thel-lactate oxidation. Based on the gene knockout results, LldABC was confirmed to be required for thel-lactate metabolism ofP. stutzeriA1501. LldABC is the first purified and characterizedl-iLDH with different subunits that uses the iron-sulfur cluster as the cofactor.IMPORTANCEProviding new insights into the diversity of microbial lactate utilization could assist in the production of valuable chemicals and understanding microbial pathogenesis. An NAD-independentl-lactate dehydrogenase (l-iLDH) encoded by the gene clusterlldABCis indispensable for thel-lactate metabolism inPseudomonas stutzeriA1501. This novel type of enzyme was purified and characterized in this study. Different from the well-characterized FMN-containingl-iLDH in other microbes, LldABC inP. stutzeriA1501 is a dimer of three subunits (LldA, LldB, and LldC) and uses the iron-sulfur cluster as a cofactor.


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