Effect of amino acids on thaxtomin A biosynthesis by Streptomyces scabies

2002 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Lauzier ◽  
Claudia Goyer ◽  
Luc Ruest ◽  
Ryszard Brzezinski ◽  
Don L Crawford ◽  
...  

The regulatory effect of amino acids on the production of thaxtomin A, a phytotoxin produced by Streptomyces scabies, was investigated. Tryptophan had an important inhibitory effect on the toxin biosynthesis in all five strains of S. scabies tested. Two other aromatic amino acids (tyrosine and phenylalanine) also inhibited thaxtomin A biosynthesis, while aliphatic amino acids did not cause an important decline in thaxtomin A production. Methylation of tryptophan prevented or reduced the inhibitory effect on thaxtomin A biosynthesis. In spite of the inhibitory action of tryptophan and phenylalanine on thaxtomin A production, incorporation of these radiolabeled molecules into thaxtomin A confirmed that they are metabolic precursors for the biosynthesis of the phytotoxin.Key words: thaxtomin A, phytotoxin, Streptomyces scabies, common scab, nitroaromatic compounds, amino acids.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Jourdan ◽  
Isolde M. Francis ◽  
Benoit Deflandre ◽  
Elodie Tenconi ◽  
Jennifer Riley ◽  
...  

AbstractCommon scab disease on root and tuber plants is caused by Streptomyces scabies and related species which use the cellulose synthase inhibitor thaxtomin A as main phytotoxin. Thaxtomin production is primarily triggered by the import of cello-oligosaccharides. Once inside the cell, the fate of the cello-oligosaccharides is dichotomized into i) fueling glycolysis with glucose for the saprophytic lifestyle through the action of β-glucosidase(s) (BG), and ii) eliciting the pathogenic lifestyle by inhibiting the CebR-mediated transcriptional repression of thaxtomin biosynthetic genes. Here we investigated the role of scab57721 encoding a putative BG (BglC) in the onset of the pathogenicity of S. scabies. Enzymatic assays showed that BglC was able to release glucose from cellobiose, cellotriose and all other cello-oligosaccharides tested. Its inactivation resulted in a phenotype opposite to what was expected as we monitored reduced production of thaxtomin when the mutant was cultivated on media containing cello-oligosaccharides as unique carbon source. This unexpected phenotype could be attributed to the highly increased activity of alternative intracellular BGs, probably as a compensation of bglC inactivation, which then prevented cellobiose and cellotriose accumulation to reduce the activity of CebR. In contrast, when the bglC null mutant was cultivated on media devoid of cello-oligosaccharides it instead constitutively produced thaxtomin. This observed hypervirulent phenotype does not fit with the proposed model of the cello-oligosaccharide-mediated induction of thaxtomin production and suggests that the role of BglC in the route to the pathogenic lifestyle of S. scabies is more complex than currently presented.


1959 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-173
Author(s):  
Reino R. Linko ◽  
Olavi E. Nikkilä

Growth and respiration tests carried out on Aspergillus, Cladosporium and Penicillium molds have shown that certain amino acids such as 1-tryptophan and 1-cysteine and certain sulphydryl compounds such as glutathione and thioglycollic acid counteract the inhibitory action of hexamethylenetetramine. In the absence of hexamethylenetetramine, these compounds inhibit the growth of the molds. The dependence of the antagonistic action on the amino acid concentration differed for 1-cysteine and 1-tryptophan. The respiration of the mold was a maximum when equimolar concentrations of 1-cysteine and of the formaldehyde formed by the decomposition of hexamethylenetetramine were present in the culture media. The antagonistic effect of 1-tryptophan increased continuously with increasing concentration until the rate of oxygen consumption was the same as in the control test with no hexamethylenetetramine or antagonist present. The antagonistic effect of these four compounds on hexamethylenetetramine or on formaldehyde is evidently due to chemical interaction. The inhibitory effect of hexamethylenetetramine on the microbial cell may at least partly be due to its ability to inactivate enzymes such as the dehydrogenases.


2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (9) ◽  
pp. 705-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Beauséjour ◽  
Carole Beaulieu

Streptomyces scabies, a causal agent of common scab, produces both melanin and a secondary metabolite called thaxtomin A. To establish a possible relation between melanin and thaxtomin A production in S. scabies, we carried out N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG) mutagenesis and isolated 11 melanin-negative mutants of S. scabies EF-35. These mutants were characterized for thaxtomin A production, pathogenicity, sporulation, and stress resistance. Nine of these mutants showed a significant reduction in thaxtomin A production when compared with the wild strain. However, only a few mutants exhibited a reduced level of virulence or a loss in their ability to induce common scab symptoms on potato tubers. Other pleiotrophic effects, such as higher sensitivity to heavy metals and incapacity to sporulate under certain stress conditions, were also associated with a deficiency in melanin production.Key words: common scab, potato, secondary metabolism, stress, thaxtomin.


1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 764-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Beauséjour ◽  
Claudia Goyer ◽  
Joanne Vachon ◽  
Carole Beaulieu

Thaxtomin A production by Streptomyces scabies is induced by plant extracts in culture media. We compared the production of thaxtomin A by three Streptomyces scabies strains (EF-35, CG1, and ATCC 49173) in different culture media in a first attempt to identify the plant molecules required for the biosynthesis of thaxtomin A. Thaxtomin A production varied greatly among media and among S. scabies strains. Strain CG1 presented a higher production than the other strains in all complex media. Oat bran broth is the best thaxtomin A production medium, and suberin is the only plant polymer allowing the production of thaxtomin A in minimal medium. The three S. scabies strains had extracellular esterase activities when grown in the presence of potato suberin or oat bran. We suggest that extracellular esterases allow the release from lipid polymers of plant molecules that may act as inducers for thaxtomin A biosynthesis genes or as precursors in the biosynthetic pathway of thaxtomin A.Key words: common scab, phytotoxin, suberin, esterase.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna K. Fyans ◽  
Mead S. Altowairish ◽  
Yuting Li ◽  
Dawn R. D. Bignell

Streptomyces scabies is an important causative agent of common scab disease of potato tubers and other root crops. The primary virulence factor produced by this pathogen is a phytotoxic secondary metabolite called thaxtomin A, which is essential for disease development. In addition, the genome of S. scabies harbors a virulence-associated biosynthetic gene cluster called the coronafacic acid (CFA)-like gene cluster, which was previously predicted to produce metabolites that resemble the Pseudomonas syringae coronatine (COR) phytotoxin. COR consists of CFA linked to an ethylcyclopropyl amino acid called coronamic acid, which is derived from L-allo-isoleucine. Using a combination of genetic and chemical analyses, we show that the S. scabies CFA-like gene cluster is responsible for producing CFA-L-isoleucine as the major product as well as other minor COR-like metabolites. Production of the metabolites was shown to require the cfl gene, which is located within the CFA-like gene cluster and encodes an enzyme involved in ligating CFA to its amino acid partner. CFA-L-isoleucine purified from S. scabies cultures was shown to exhibit bioactivity similar to that of COR, though it was found to be less toxic than COR. This is the first report demonstrating the production of coronafacoyl phytotoxins by S. scabies, which is the most prevalent scab-causing pathogen in North America.


2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Goyer ◽  
Pierre-Mathieu Charest ◽  
Vicky Toussaint ◽  
Carole Beaulieu

The cytological and ultrastructural modifications induced by thaxtomin A, a phytotoxin produced by Streptomyces scabies, were analyzed on mature field-grown potato tuber tissues. In tissue sampled during the first 12 h after treatment with thaxtomin A, the plasmalemma of parenchyma cells was detached from the cell wall in several places. However, the plasmalemma did not appear ruptured. The intercellular spaces between the retracted plasmalemma and the cell wall often contained fibrillar material. After a longer period of time, cells from tissues treated with thaxtomin A showed significant disorganization, such as detachment and invagination of the plasmalemma, the presence of a fibrillar-like material in the cytoplasm, and electron-dense material associated with moribund cellular features.Key words: common scab, potato, phytotoxin, Solanum tuberosum.


2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Lazarovits ◽  
Jackie Hill ◽  
Russell R King ◽  
Larry A Calhoun

Of several hundred microorganisms randomly selected from the environment, only a fungal isolate identified as Aspergillus niger van Tiegham var. niger was found to transform the phytotoxin thaxtomin A to much less toxic metabolites. The rate and extent of transformation of thaxtomin A was tested under a variety of conditions, including different growth media, biomass concentrations, incubation periods, and shaker speeds. Under optimum conditions the fungus converted thaxtomin A into two major and five minor metabolites. The two major metabolites and three of the five minor metabolites were fully characterized by a combination of mass spectral and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. When assayed on aseptically produced mini-tubers, the major metabolites proved to be much less phytotoxic than thaxtomin A.Key words: Aspergillus niger van Tiegham var. niger, biotransformation, common scab, phytotoxins, Streptomyces scabies, thaxtomin A.


2010 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvain Lerat ◽  
Anne-Marie Simao-Beaunoir ◽  
Run Wu ◽  
Nathalie Beaudoin ◽  
Carole Beaulieu

Streptomyces scabies is a gram-positive soil bacterium recognized as the main causal agent of common scab. Pathogenicity in Streptomyces spp. depends on their capacity to synthesize phytotoxins called thaxtomins. Genes involved in biosynthesis of these secondary metabolites are known to be induced by cellobiose, a plant disaccharide. However, growth of S. scabies in a minimal medium containing cellobiose as a carbon source is very poor and only generates traces of thaxtomins. The effect of suberin, a lipid plant polymer, on thaxtomin A biosynthesis and the expression of genes involved in its biosynthetic pathway was analyzed. S. scabies was grown in a starch-containing minimal medium supplemented with cellobiose (0.5%), suberin (0.1%), or both. The presence of both cellobiose and suberin doubled bacterial growth and triggered thaxtomin A production, which correlated with the upregulation (up to 342-fold) of genes involved in thaxtomins synthesis. The addition of either suberin or cellobiose alone did not affect these parameters. Suberin appeared to stimulate the onset of secondary metabolism, which is a prerequisite to the production of molecules such as thaxtomin A, while cellobiose induced the biosynthesis of this secondary metabolite.


1984 ◽  
Vol 52 (03) ◽  
pp. 333-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vider M Steen ◽  
Holm Holmsen

SummaryThe inhibitory effect of cAMP-elevating agents on shape change and aggregation in human platelets was studied to improve the understanding of the sequential relationship between these two responses.Human platelet-rich plasma was preincubated for 2 min at 37° C with prostaglandin E1 or adenosine, agents known to elevate the intracellular level of cAMP. Their inhibitory effects on ADP-induced shape change and aggregation were determined both separately and simultaneously. The dose-inhibition patterns for shape change and aggregation were similar for both PGE1 and adenosine. There was no distinct difference between the inhibitory action of these two inhibitors.These observations suggest that elevation of the intracellular concentration of cAMP interferes with an early step in the stimulus-response coupling that is common for aggregation and shape change.


1986 ◽  
Vol 55 (01) ◽  
pp. 012-018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Gresele ◽  
Jef Arnout ◽  
Hans Deckmyn ◽  
Jos Vermylen

SummaryDipyridamole inhibits platelet aggregation in whole blood at lower concentrations than in plasma. The blood cells responsible for increased effectiveness in blood are the erythrocytes. Using the impedance aggregometer we have carried out a series of pharmacological studies in vitro to elucidate the mechanism of action of dipyridamole in whole blood. Adenosine deaminase, an enzyme breaking down adenosine, reverses the inhibitory action of dipyridamole. Two different adenosine receptor antagonists, 5’-deoxy-5’-methylthioadenosine and theophylline, also partially neutralize the activity of dipyridamole in blood. Enprofylline, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor with almost no adenosine receptor antagonistic properties, potentiates the inhibition of platelet aggregation by dipyridamole. An inhibitory effect similar to that of dipyridamole can be obtained combining a pure adenosine uptake inhibitor (RE 102 BS) with a pure phosphodiesterase inhibitor (MX-MB 82 or enprofylline). Mixing the blood during preincubation with dipyridamole increases the degree of inhibition. Lowering the haematocrit slightly reduces the effectiveness.Although we did not carry out direct measurements of adenosine levels, the results of our pharmacological studies clearly show that dipyridamole inhibits platelet aggregation in whole blood by blocking the reuptake of adenosine formed from precursors released by red blood cells following microtrauma. Its slight phosphodiesterase inhibitory action potentiates the effects of adenosine on platelets.


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