scholarly journals Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum Lack Genes for Lipid A Biosynthesis and Incorporate Cholesterol for Their Survival

2003 ◽  
Vol 71 (9) ◽  
pp. 5324-5331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingqun Lin ◽  
Yasuko Rikihisa
Keyword(s):  
Anaplasma Phagocytophilum ◽  
Lipid A ◽  
Cholesterol Biosynthesis ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Ultrastructural Changes ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Ehrlichia Chaffeensis ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
Obligate Intracellular Bacteria

ABSTRACT Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum are agents of human monocytic and granulocytic ehrlichioses, respectively. They are extremely sensitive to mechanical stress and are pleomorphic gram-negative bacteria. Membrane incorporation of cholesterol from the eukaryotic host is known to be essential for other fragile and pleomorphic bacteria and mycoplasmas that lack a cell wall. Thus, we tested whether cholesterol is required for E. chaffeensis and A. phagocytophilum. Using a freeze fracture technique and biochemical analysis, these bacteria were found to contain significant levels of membrane cholesterol. These bacteria lack genes for cholesterol biosynthesis or modification. However, host cell-free bacteria had the ability to take up directly exogenous cholesterol or NBD-cholesterol, a fluorescent cholesterol derivative. Treatment of the bacteria with cholesterol extraction reagent methyl-β-cyclodextrin caused their ultrastructural changes. Furthermore, pretreatment of the bacteria with methyl-β-cyclodextrin or NBD-cholesterol deprived these bacteria of the ability to infect leukocytes, thus killing these obligate intracellular bacteria. Analysis of E. chaffeensis and A. phagocytophilum genome sequences revealed that these bacteria lack all genes for the biosynthesis of lipid A and most genes for the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan, which confer structural strength to gram-negative bacteria. Taken together, these results suggest that human ehrlichiosis agents became cholesterol dependent due to the loss of these genes. As the first report of gram-negative bacteria incorporating cholesterol for survival, these findings offer insight into the unique nature of their parasitism and imply that cholesterol is important in the control of human ehrlichioses.

scholarly journals Direct detection of lipid A on intact Gram-negative bacteria by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

2016 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 68-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Larrouy-Maumus ◽  
Abigail Clements ◽  
Alain Filloux ◽  
Ronan R. McCarthy ◽  
Serge Mostowy
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Lipid A ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Maldi Tof Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Maldi Tof

scholarly journals In situ identification of Gram-negative bacteria in human lungs using a topical fluorescent peptide targeting lipid A

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (464) ◽  
pp. eaal0033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahsan R. Akram ◽  
Sunay V. Chankeshwara ◽  
Emma Scholefield ◽  
Tashfeen Aslam ◽  
Neil McDonald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lipid A ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Human Lungs ◽  
Fluorescent Peptide ◽  
Bacterial Lipid

Respiratory infections in mechanically ventilated patients caused by Gram-negative bacteria are a major cause of morbidity. Rapid and unequivocal determination of the presence, localization, and abundance of bacteria is critical for positive resolution of the infections and could be used for patient stratification and for monitoring treatment efficacy. Here, we developed an in situ approach to visualize Gram-negative bacterial species and cellular infiltrates in distal human lungs in real time. We used optical endomicroscopy to visualize a water-soluble optical imaging probe based on the antimicrobial peptide polymyxin conjugated to an environmentally sensitive fluorophore. The probe was chemically stable and nontoxic and, after in-human intrapulmonary microdosing, enabled the specific detection of Gram-negative bacteria in distal human airways and alveoli within minutes. The results suggest that pulmonary molecular imaging using a topically administered fluorescent probe targeting bacterial lipid A is safe and practical, enabling rapid in situ identification of Gram-negative bacteria in humans.

scholarly journals Characterization of a porin channel in the endosymbiont of the trypanosomatid protozoan Crithidia deanei

Microbiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 157 (10) ◽  
pp. 2818-2830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iamara da Silva Andrade ◽  
João Lídio Vianez-Júnior ◽  
Carolina Lage Goulart ◽  
Fabrice Homblé ◽  
Jean-Marie Ruysschaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
3D Structure ◽  
Symbiotic Bacterium ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Genome Database ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Secondary Structure Analysis ◽  
Electrophysiological Measurements ◽  
Mutualistic Relationship ◽  
Obligate Intracellular Bacteria

Crithidia deanei is a trypanosomatid protozoan that harbours a symbiotic bacterium. The partners maintain a mutualistic relationship, thus constituting an excellent model for studying metabolic exchanges between the host and the symbiont, the origin of organelles and cellular evolution. According to molecular analysis, symbionts of different trypanosomatid species share high identity and descend from a common ancestor, a β-proteobacterium of the genus Bordetella. The endosymbiont is surrounded by two membranes, like Gram-negative bacteria, but its envelope presents special features, since phosphatidylcholine is a major membrane component and the peptidoglycan layer is highly reduced, as described in other obligate intracellular bacteria. Like the process that generated mitochondria and plastids, the endosymbiosis in trypanosomatids depends on pathways that facilitate the intensive metabolic exchanges between the bacterium and the host protozoan. A search of the annotated symbiont genome database identified one sequence with identity to porin-encoding genes of the genus Bordetella. Considering that the symbiont outer membrane has a great accessibility to cytoplasm host factors, it was important to characterize this single porin-like protein using biochemical, molecular, computational and ultrastructural approaches. Antiserum against the recombinant porin-like molecule revealed that it is mainly located in the symbiont envelope. Secondary structure analysis and comparative modelling predicted the protein 3D structure as an 18-domain β-barrel, which is consistent with porin channels. Electrophysiological measurements showed that the porin displays a slight preference for cations over anions. Taken together, the data presented herein suggest that the C. deanei endosymbiont porin is phylogenetically and structurally similar to those described in Gram-negative bacteria, representing a diffusion channel that might contribute to the exchange of nutrients and metabolic precursors between the symbiont and its host cell.

Diacylglycerol kinase A is essential for polymyxin resistance provided by EptA, MCR-1 and other lipid A phosphoethanolamine transferases.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandria B. Purcell ◽  
Bradley J. Voss ◽  
M. Stephen Trent
Keyword(s):  
Lipid A ◽  
Cell Envelope ◽  
Diacylglycerol Kinase ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Severe Reduction ◽  
Bacterial Fitness ◽  
Phosphoethanolamine Transferases ◽  
Kinase A

Gram-negative bacteria utilize glycerophospholipids (GPLs) as phospho-form donors to modify various surface structures. These modifications play important roles in bacterial fitness in diverse environments influencing cell motility, recognition by the host during infection, and antimicrobial resistance. A well-known example is the modification of the lipid A component of lipopolysaccharide by the phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) transferase EptA that utilizes phosphatidyethanoalmine (PE) as the phospho-form donor. Addition of pEtN to lipid A promotes resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs), including the polymyxin antibiotics like colistin. A consequence of pEtN modification is the production of diacylglycerol (DAG) that must be recycled back into GPL synthesis via the diacylglycerol kinase A (DgkA). DgkA phosphorylates DAG forming phosphatidic acid, the precursor for GPL synthesis. Here we report that deletion of dgkA in polymyxin-resistant E. coli results in a severe reduction of pEtN modification and loss of antibiotic resistance. We demonstrate that inhibition of EptA is regulated post-transcriptionally and is not due to EptA degradation during DAG accumulation. We also show that the inhibition of lipid A modification by DAG is a conserved feature of different Gram-negative pEtN transferases. Altogether, our data suggests that inhibition of EptA activity during DAG accumulation likely prevents disruption of GPL synthesis helping to maintain cell envelope homeostasis.

scholarly journals Outer Membrane Lipid Secretion and the Innate Immune Response to Gram-Negative Bacteria

2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole P. Giordano ◽  
Melina B. Cian ◽  
Zachary D. Dalebroux
Keyword(s):  
Outer Membrane ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Lipid A ◽  
Membrane Lipid ◽  
Membrane Curvature ◽  
Host Immunity ◽  
Host Recognition ◽  
Permeability Barrier ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Gram Negative

ABSTRACT The outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria is an asymmetric lipid bilayer that consists of inner leaflet phospholipids and outer leaflet lipopolysaccharides (LPS). The asymmetric character and unique biochemistry of LPS molecules contribute to the OM’s ability to function as a molecular permeability barrier that protects the bacterium against hazards in the environment. Assembly and regulation of the OM have been extensively studied for understanding mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and bacterial defense against host immunity; however, there is little knowledge on how Gram-negative bacteria release their OMs into their environment to manipulate their hosts. Discoveries in bacterial lipid trafficking, OM lipid homeostasis, and host recognition of microbial patterns have shed new light on how microbes secrete OM vesicles (OMVs) to influence inflammation, cell death, and disease pathogenesis. Pathogens release OMVs that contain phospholipids, like cardiolipins, and components of LPS molecules, like lipid A endotoxins. These multiacylated lipid amphiphiles are molecular patterns that are differentially detected by host receptors like the Toll-like receptor 4/myeloid differentiation factor 2 complex (TLR4/MD-2), mouse caspase-11, and human caspases 4 and 5. We discuss how lipid ligands on OMVs engage these pattern recognition receptors on the membranes and in the cytosol of mammalian cells. We then detail how bacteria regulate OM lipid asymmetry, negative membrane curvature, and the phospholipid-to-LPS ratio to control OMV formation. The goal is to highlight intersections between OM lipid regulation and host immunity and to provide working models for how bacterial lipids influence vesicle formation.

scholarly journals Temperature-dependent incorporation of 4-amino-l-arabinose in lipid A of distinct Gram-negative bacteria

1989 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.K.Bhagya Lakshmi ◽  
U.R. Bhat ◽  
K. Wartenberg ◽  
S. Schlecht ◽  
H. Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Lipid A ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Gram Negative

scholarly journals Yersinia pestis Is Viable with Endotoxin Composed of Only Lipid A

2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (18) ◽  
pp. 6599-6600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Tan ◽  
Creg Darby
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Yersinia Pestis ◽  
Outer Membrane ◽  
Salmonella Enterica ◽  
Lipid A ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Membrane Component ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Serovar Typhimurium

ABSTRACT Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the major outer membrane component of gram-negative bacteria. The minimal LPS structure for viability of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is lipid A glycosylated with 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (Kdo) residues. Here we show that another member of the Enterobacteriaceae, Yersinia pestis, can survive without Kdo in its LPS.

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