scholarly journals Factors That Affect the Enlargement of Bacterial Protoplasts and Spheroplasts

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 7131
Author(s):  
Hiromi Nishida
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Bacterial Cell ◽  
Metal Ion ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
Cell Enlargement ◽  
Ion Composition ◽  
Gene Manipulation ◽  
Peptidoglycan Biosynthesis

Cell enlargement is essential for the microinjection of various substances into bacterial cells. The cell wall (peptidoglycan) inhibits cell enlargement. Thus, bacterial protoplasts/spheroplasts are used for enlargement because they lack cell wall. Though bacterial species that are capable of gene manipulation are limited, procedure for bacterial cell enlargement does not involve any gene manipulation technique. In order to prevent cell wall resynthesis during enlargement of protoplasts/spheroplasts, incubation media are supplemented with inhibitors of peptidoglycan biosynthesis such as penicillin. Moreover, metal ion composition in the incubation medium affects the properties of the plasma membrane. Therefore, in order to generate enlarged cells that are suitable for microinjection, metal ion composition in the medium should be considered. Experiment of bacterial protoplast or spheroplast enlargement is useful for studies on bacterial plasma membrane biosynthesis. In this paper, we have summarized the factors that influence bacterial cell enlargement.

scholarly journals SaccuFlow: High-throughput Analysis Platform to Investigate Bacterial Cell Wall Interactions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis J Apostolos ◽  
Noel J Ferraro ◽  
Brianna E Dalesandro ◽  
Marcos Pires
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Bacterial Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Turgor Pressure ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
High Throughput Analysis ◽  
Peptidoglycan Biosynthesis ◽  
Analysis Platform

Bacterial cell walls are formidable barriers that protect bacterial cells against external insults and oppose internal turgor pressure. While cell wall composition is variable across species, peptidoglycan is the principal component of all cell walls. Peptidoglycan is a mesh-like scaffold composed of crosslinked strands that can be heavily decorated with anchored proteins. The biosynthesis and remodeling of peptidoglycan must be tightly regulated by cells because disruption to this biomacromolecule is lethal. This essentiality is exploited by the human innate immune system in resisting colonization and by a number of clinically relevant antibiotics that target peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Evaluation of molecules or proteins that interact with peptidoglycan can be a complicated and, typically, qualitative effort. We have developed a novel assay platform (SaccuFlow) that preserves the native structure of bacterial peptidoglycan and is compatible with high-throughput flow cytometry analysis. We show that the assay is facile and versatile as demonstrated by its compatibility with sacculi from Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and mycobacteria. Finally, we highlight the utility of this assay to assess the activity of sortase from Staphylococcus aureus against potential anti-virulence agents.

scholarly journals Immobilization of Phosphatidylserine by Ethanol and Lysozyme on the Cell Surface for Evaluation of Apoptosis-Like Decay in Activated-Sludge Bacteria

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Chen ◽  
Yasi Zhao ◽  
Zemin Li ◽  
Jianxin Pan ◽  
Haizhen Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Bacterial Cell ◽  
Cell Membranes ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
Soil Matrix ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Bacterial Decay

ABSTRACT Accurate determination of microbial viability can be crucial in microbe-dominated biosystems. However, the identification of metabolic decay in bacterial cells can be elaborate and difficult. We sought to identify apoptosis-like bacterial processes by using annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) (AVF), a probe typically used to stain phosphatidylserine (PS) on exposed cell membranes. The bacterial cell wall provides a barrier that is responsible for low efficiency of direct PS staining of decayed bacterial cells. This can be overcome by pretreatment of the bacteria with 70% ethanol, which fixates the bacteria and preserves the PS status, combined with lysozyme treatment to hydrolyze the cell wall. That treatment improved the efficiency of AVF staining considerably, as shown for pure strains of an Ochrobactrum sp. and a Micrococcus sp. Using this method, decayed bacterial cells (induced by starvation) were more strongly stained, indicating externalization of PS to a greater extent than seen for cells harvested at logarithmic growth. A multispecies microbial sludge was artificially decayed by heat treatment or alternating anoxic-oxic treatment, which also induced increased AVF staining, again presumably via decay-related PS externalization. The method developed proved to be efficient for identification of bacterial decay and has potential for the evaluation of multispecies bacterial samples from sources like soil matrix, bioaerosol, and activated sludge. IMPORTANCE Since the externalization of phosphatidylserine (PS) is considered a crucial characteristic of apoptosis, we sought to identify apoptosis-like decay in bacterial cells by PS staining using AVF. We show that this is possible, provided the bacteria are pretreated with ethanol plus lysozyme to remove a physical staining barrier and preserve the original, decay-related externalization of PS. Our work suggests that PS externalization occurs in starved bacteria and this can be quantified with AVF staining, providing a measure of bacterial decay. Since PS is the common component of the lipid bilayer in bacterial cell membranes, this approach also has potential for evaluation of cell decay of other bacterial species.

scholarly journals Facile Synthesis and Metabolic Incorporation of m-DAP Bioisosteres Into Cell Walls of Live Bacteria

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis J. Apostolos ◽  
Julia M. Nelson ◽  
Marcos M. Pires
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Bacterial Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Solid Phase ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Diaminopimelic Acid ◽  
Bacterial Cells

AbstractBacterial cell walls contain peptidoglycan (PG), a scaffold that provides proper rigidity to resist lysis from internal osmotic pressure and a barrier to protect cells against external stressors. It consists of repeating sugar units with a linkage to a stem peptide that becomes highly crosslinked by cell wall transpeptidases (TP). Because it is an essential component of the bacterial cell, the PG biosynthetic machinery is often the target of antibiotics. For this reason, cellular probes that advance our understanding of PG biosynthesis and its maintenance can be powerful tools to reveal novel drug targets. While synthetic PG fragments containing L-Lysine in the 3rd position on the stem peptide are easier to access, those with meso-diaminopimelic acid (m-DAP) pose a severe synthetic challenge. Herein, we describe a solid phase synthetic scheme based on the widely available Fmoc-protected L-Cysteine building block to assemble meso-cystine (m-CYT), which mimics key structural features of m-DAP. To demonstrate proper mimicry of m-DAP, cell wall probes were synthesized with m-CYT in place of m-DAP and evaluated for their metabolic processing in live bacterial cells. We found that m-CYT-based cell wall probes were properly processed by TPs in various bacterial species that endogenously contain m-DAP in their PG. We anticipate that this strategy, which is based on the use of inexpensive and commercially available building blocks, can be widely adopted to provide greater accessibility of PG mimics for m-DAP containing organisms.

scholarly journals Microbial Photoinactivation by Visible Light Results in Limited Loss of Membrane Integrity

Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 341
Author(s):  
Katharina Hoenes ◽  
Richard Bauer ◽  
Barbara Spellerberg ◽  
Martin Hessling
Keyword(s):  
Visible Light ◽  
Pseudomonas Fluorescens ◽  
Bacterial Cell ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Membrane Integrity ◽  
Cell Lysis ◽  
Microbial Inactivation ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
Resistance Development ◽  
Transmission Electron

Interest in visible light irradiation as a microbial inactivation method has widely increased due to multiple possible applications. Resistance development is considered unlikely, because of the multi-target mechanism, based on the induction of reactive oxygen species by wavelength specific photosensitizers. However, the affected targets are still not completely identified. We investigated membrane integrity with the fluorescence staining kit LIVE/DEAD® BacLight™ on a Gram positive and a Gram negative bacterial species, irradiating Staphylococcus carnosus and Pseudomonas fluorescens with 405 nm and 450 nm. To exclude the generation of viable but nonculturable (VBNC) bacterial cells, we applied an ATP test, measuring the loss of vitality. Pronounced uptake of propidium iodide was only observed in Pseudomonas fluorescens at 405 nm. Transmission electron micrographs revealed no obvious differences between irradiated samples and controls, especially no indication of an increased bacterial cell lysis could be observed. Based on our results and previous literature, we suggest that visible light photoinactivation does not lead to rapid bacterial cell lysis or disruption. However, functional loss of membrane integrity due to depolarization or inactivation of membrane proteins may occur. Decomposition of the bacterial envelope following cell death might be responsible for observations of intracellular component leakage.

Analysis of the Crushing Effect about Ultrasound on E. coli and B. subtilis

2012 ◽  
Vol 260-261 ◽  
pp. 1017-1021
Author(s):  
Xin Ying Wang ◽  
Yong Tao Liu ◽  
Min Hui ◽  
Ji Fei Xu
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Bacterial Cell ◽  
Logarithmic Phase ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Different Growth Stages ◽  
Main Factor

Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis as objects of the study, ultrasonic fragmentation acted on the bacterial cells in different growth stages, results showed that, it’s similar to the crushing effect of ultrasound on E. coli and B. subtilis cells of different growth stages, the highest crushing rate in the logarithmic phase, reached to 95.8% and 94.3% respectively, the crushing rate of adjustment phase is lowest, maintained at around 60%, the crushing rate stability cell was centered, which can be achieved 90%. The structure of the bacterial cell wall didn’t the main factor to decide the ultrasonic fragmentation effect, but different growth periods of bacterial cells did the determinant.

scholarly journals Species-dependent protoplast enlargement involves different types of vacuole generation in bacteria

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sawako Takahashi ◽  
Marin Mizuma ◽  
Satoshi Kami ◽  
Hiromi Nishida
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Enterococcus Faecalis ◽  
Bacterial Cell ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Cell Enlargement ◽  
Gram Positive ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Spherical Structures ◽  
Vacuolar Membranes

Abstract Vacuole generation occurs frequently during the enlargement of bacterial protoplasts and spheroplasts. Gram-positive Enterococcus faecalis protoplasts and gram-negative Lelliottia amnigena spheroplasts had large and small vacuoles inside the cytoplasm, respectively. Although no vacuoles were found at the early stage of cell enlargement, all enlarged cells used in the microinjection procedures had vacuoles. The plasma membrane of L. amnigena was more flexible than that of E. faecalis. In addition, E. faecalis protoplasts had unique discoidal structures as well as spherical structures in the cytoplasm. Our findings showed that the number of vacuoles increased as the L. amnigena plasma membrane expanded and that the size of vacuoles increased as the E. faecalis plasma membrane expanded, suggesting that bacterial cell enlargement involved vacuole generation. Thus, biosynthesis of the plasma and vacuolar membranes was synchronous with the bacterial cell enlargement. Differences in the plasma membrane flexibility might influence the different types of vacuole generation.

scholarly journals Characterization of Colicin M and its Orthologs Targeting Bacterial Cell Wall Peptidoglycan Biosynthesis

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Barreteau ◽  
Meriem El Ghachi ◽  
Aurélie Barnéoud-Arnoulet ◽  
Emmanuelle Sacco ◽  
Thierry Touzé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Bacterial Cell ◽  
Bacterial Cell Wall ◽  
Peptidoglycan Biosynthesis ◽  
Cell Wall Peptidoglycan ◽  
Colicin M

scholarly journals FtsW exhibits distinct processive motions driven by either septal cell wall synthesis or FtsZ treadmilling in E. coli

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxing Yang ◽  
Ryan McQuillen ◽  
Zhixin Lyu ◽  
Polly Phillips-Mason ◽  
Ana De La Cruz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Cell Division ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Bacterial Cell ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Slow Moving

AbstractDuring bacterial cell division, synthesis of new septal peptidoglycan (sPG) is crucial for successful cytokinesis and cell pole morphogenesis. FtsW, a SEDS (Shape, Elongation, Division and Sporulation) family protein and an indispensable component of the cell division machinery in all walled bacterial species, was recently identified in vitro as a new monofunctional peptidoglycan glycosyltransferase (PGTase). FtsW and its cognate monofunctional transpeptidase (TPase) class B penicillin binding protein (PBP3 or FtsI in E. coli) may constitute the essential, bifunctional sPG synthase specific for new sPG synthesis. Despite its importance, the septal PGTase activity of FtsW has not been documented in vivo. How its activity is spatiotemporally regulated in vivo has also remained unknown. Here we investigated the septal PGTase activity and dynamics of FtsW in E. coli cells using a combination of single-molecule imaging and genetic manipulations. We show that FtsW exhibits robust activity to incorporate an N-acetylmuramic acid analog at septa in the absence of other known PGTases, confirming FtsW as the essential septum-specific PGTase in vivo. Notably, we identified two populations of processive moving FtsW molecules at septa. A fast-moving population is driven by the treadmilling dynamics of FtsZ and independent of sPG synthesis. A slow-moving population is driven by active sPG synthesis and independent of FtsZ’s treadmilling dynamics. We further identified that FtsN, a potential sPG synthesis activator, plays an important role in promoting the slow-moving, sPG synthesis-dependent population. Our results support a two-track model, in which inactive sPG synthase molecules follow the fast treadmilling “Z-track” to be distributed along the septum; FtsN promotes their release from the “Z-track” to become active in sPG synthesis on the slow “sPG-track”. This model explains how the spatial information is integrated into the regulation of sPG synthesis activity and suggests a new mechanistic framework for the spatiotemporal coordination of bacterial cell wall constriction.

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