scholarly journals An OmpA Family Protein, a Target of the GinI/GinR Quorum-Sensing System in Gluconacetobacter intermedius, Controls Acetic Acid Fermentation

2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (14) ◽  
pp. 5009-5019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aya Iida ◽  
Yasuo Ohnishi ◽  
Sueharu Horinouchi

ABSTRACT Via N-acylhomoserine lactones, the GinI/GinR quorum-sensing system in Gluconacetobacter intermedius NCI1051, a gram-negative acetic acid bacterium, represses acetic acid and gluconic acid fermentation. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis of protein profiles of strain NCI1051 and ginI and ginR mutants identified a protein that was produced in response to the GinI/GinR regulatory system. Cloning and nucleotide sequencing of the gene encoding this protein revealed that it encoded an OmpA family protein, named GmpA. gmpA was a member of the gene cluster containing three adjacent homologous genes, gmpA to gmpC, the organization of which appeared to be unique to vinegar producers, including “Gluconacetobacter polyoxogenes.” In addition, GmpA was unique among the OmpA family proteins in that its N-terminal membrane domain forming eight antiparallel transmembrane β-strands contained an extra sequence in one of the surface-exposed loops. Transcriptional analysis showed that only gmpA of the three adjacent gmp genes was activated by the GinI/GinR quorum-sensing system. However, gmpA was not controlled directly by GinR but was controlled by an 89-amino-acid protein, GinA, a target of this quorum-sensing system. A gmpA mutant grew more rapidly in the presence of 2% (vol/vol) ethanol and accumulated acetic acid and gluconic acid in greater final yields than strain NCI1051. Thus, GmpA plays a role in repressing oxidative fermentation, including acetic acid fermentation, which is unique to acetic acid bacteria and allows ATP synthesis via ethanol oxidation. Consistent with the involvement of gmpA in oxidative fermentation, its transcription was also enhanced by ethanol and acetic acid.

Microbiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 155 (9) ◽  
pp. 3021-3032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aya Iida ◽  
Yasuo Ohnishi ◽  
Sueharu Horinouchi

The GinI/GinR quorum-sensing system represses oxidative fermentation, including acetic acid and gluconic acid fermentation, as well as antifoam activity in Gluconacetobacter intermedius NCI1051. An 89 aa protein, GinA, whose production is induced by the quorum-sensing system, represses both oxidative fermentation and antifoam activity via a still unknown mechanism, although an OmpA family protein, GmpA, as a target of the GinI/GinR quorum-sensing system via GinA, has been found to repress oxidative fermentation. In this study, four novel GinA-inducible genes (gltA, pdeA, pdeB and nagA) were identified and their involvement in oxidative fermentation and antifoam activity was examined by gene disruption. Disruption of nagA (which encodes a putative N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate deacetylase) decreased the growth rate in the exponential growth phase, indicating that nagA was required for the rapid growth of the strain. This unexpected finding revealed a new aspect of the GinI/GinR quorum-sensing system: it accelerates exponential growth by induction of nagA. In contrast, gltA (a putative glycosyltransferase) and pdeA (a putative cyclic-di-GMP phosphodiesterase) were shown to repress oxidative fermentation, including acetic acid and gluconic acid fermentation. gltA was also shown to repress antifoam activity. Disruption of pdeB (a putative phosphodiesterase/diguanylate cyclase) caused no phenotypic changes. Taking our previous results into consideration, these results showed an apparently complex mechanism for repressing oxidative fermentation by the quorum-sensing system; at least three GinA-inducible genes, gltA, pdeA and gmpA, were involved in the repression of oxidative fermentation by the GinI/GinR quorum-sensing system, the most characteristic feature of the acetic acid bacteria.


2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (7) ◽  
pp. 2546-2555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aya Iida ◽  
Yasuo Ohnishi ◽  
Sueharu Horinouchi

ABSTRACT A number of gram-negative bacteria regulate gene expression in a cell density-dependent manner by quorum sensing via N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs). Gluconacetobacter intermedius NCI1051, a gram-negative acetic acid bacterium, produces three different AHLs, N-decanoyl-l-homoserine lactone, N-dodecanoyl-l-homoserine lactone, and an N-dodecanoyl-l-homoserine lactone with a single unsaturated bond in its acyl chain, as determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Two genes encoding an AHL synthase and a cognate regulator were cloned from strain NCI1051 and designated ginI and ginR, respectively. Disruption of ginI or ginR abolished AHL production, indicating that NCI1051 contains a single set of quorum-sensing genes. Transcriptional analysis showed that ginI is activated by GinR, which is consistent with the finding that there is an inverted repeat whose nucleotide sequence is similar to the sequence bound by members of the LuxR family at position −45 with respect to the transcriptional start site of ginI. A single gene, designated ginA, located just downstream of ginI is transcribed by read-through from the GinR-inducible ginI promoter. A ginA mutant, as well as the ginI and ginR mutants, grew more rapidly in medium containing 2% (vol/vol) ethanol and accumulated acetic acid at a higher rate with a greater final yield than parental strain NCI1051. In addition, these mutants produced larger amounts of gluconic acid than the parental strain. These data demonstrate that the GinI/GinR quorum-sensing system in G. intermedius controls the expression of ginA, which in turn represses oxidative fermentation, including acetic acid and gluconic acid fermentation.


Microbiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 157 (12) ◽  
pp. 3378-3387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Tahrioui ◽  
Emilia Quesada ◽  
Inmaculada Llamas

Quorum sensing is a cell density-dependent gene expression mechanism found in many Gram-negative bacteria which involves the production of signal molecules such as N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs). One significant group of micro-organisms in which quorum sensing has not been previously studied, however, are the moderate halophiles. We describe here the results of our studies of the quorum-sensing system in Halomonas anticariensis FP35T, which is composed of luxR/luxI homologues: hanR (the putative transcriptional regulator gene) and hanI (the autoinducer synthase gene). To understand how the hanR/hanI system is organized and regulated we conducted RT-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR assays. Transcriptional analysis indicated that the hanR and hanI genes are on the same transcript and that their transcription is growth phase-dependent. HanI seems to be the only autoinducer synthase responsible for the synthesis of AHLs by the bacterium, since the inactivation of hanI resulted in the complete loss of its AHLs. We also found that the hanI gene appears to be transcribed from its own promoter and that its expression does not depend upon HanR. This finding was supported by the fact that the FP35hanR mutant showed AHL-producing activity and hanI expression similar to that of the wild-type strain, the latter being measured by RT-PCR. Moreover, hanR is expressed from its own promoter and appears to be independent of the AHL signalling molecules produced by HanI.


2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-596
Author(s):  
YANBO WANG ◽  
FEIFEI WANG ◽  
XINGYUE BAO ◽  
JIE FENG ◽  
LINGLIN FU

ABSTRACT Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell density-dependent signaling system responsible for various physiological activities in bacteria. We initially investigated the relation between a QS system and biogenic amine (BA) production in Shewanella baltica, the specific spoilage organism of refrigerated large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaene crocea). In addition, the inhibition effects of anthocyanins from blueberry and purple sweet potato against QS signals and putrescine production were explored. Two kinds of diketopiperazines, cyclo-(l-Pro-l-Leu) and cyclo-(l-Pro-l-Pro), and two kinds of BAs, putrescine and cadaverine, were detected in the culture extract of S. baltica cultivated in sterile large yellow croaker juice, wherein putrescine presented significantly positive correlations with cyclo-(l-Pro-l-Leu) and cyclo-(l-Pro-l-Pro). In addition, anthocyanins at subminimum inhibitory concentration inhibited the production of diketopiperazines and putrescine in S. baltica 23, a strain with strong putrescine production. Furthermore, a transcriptional analysis showed that anthocyanins suppressed the expression of the odc gene in S. baltica, the gene responsible for the production of putrescine from decarboxylation of ornithine. These results established a correlation of the main BA putrescine with the QS system in S. baltica and revealed that anthocyanins could be developed as new QS inhibitors and seafood preservative candidates. HIGHLIGHTS


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1175-1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Xu ◽  
Zhiyong Huang ◽  
Xiaojun Zhang ◽  
Qi Li ◽  
Zhenming Lu ◽  
...  

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