scholarly journals A Fructan Exohydrolase from Maize Degrades Both Inulin and Levan and Co-Exists with 1-Kestotriose in Maize

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 5149
Author(s):  
Silin Wu ◽  
Steffen Greiner ◽  
Chongjian Ma ◽  
Jiaxin Zhong ◽  
Xiaojia Huang ◽  
...  

Enzymes with fructan exohydrolase (FEH) activity are present not only in fructan-synthesizing species but also in non-fructan plants. This has led to speculation about their functions in non-fructan species. Here, a cell wall invertase-related Zm-6&1-FEH2 with no “classical” invertase motif was identified in maize. Following heterologous expression in Pichia pastoris and in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves, the enzyme activity of recombinant Zm-6&1-FEH2 displays substrate specificity with respect to inulin and levan. Subcellular localization showed Zm-6&1-FEH2 exclusively localized in the apoplast, and its expression profile was strongly dependent on plant development and in response to drought and abscisic acid. Furthermore, formation of 1-kestotriose, an oligofructan, was detected in vivo and in vitro and could be hydrolyzed by Zm-6&1-FEH2. In summary, these results support that Zm-6&1-FEH2 enzyme from maize can degrade both inulin-type and levan-type fructans, and the implications of the co-existence of Zm-6&1-FEH2 and 1-kestotriose are discussed.

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (21) ◽  
pp. 11692-11702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung-Ho Shin ◽  
Alan G. Sulpizio ◽  
Aaron Kelley ◽  
Laura Alvarez ◽  
Shannon G. Murphy ◽  
...  

Most bacteria surround themselves with a cell wall, a strong meshwork consisting primarily of the polymerized aminosugar peptidoglycan (PG). PG is essential for structural maintenance of bacterial cells, and thus for viability. PG is also constantly synthesized and turned over; the latter process is mediated by PG cleavage enzymes, for example, the endopeptidases (EPs). EPs themselves are essential for growth but also promote lethal cell wall degradation after exposure to antibiotics that inhibit PG synthases (e.g., β-lactams). Thus, EPs are attractive targets for novel antibiotics and their adjuvants. However, we have a poor understanding of how these enzymes are regulated in vivo, depriving us of novel pathways for the development of such antibiotics. Here, we have solved crystal structures of the LysM/M23 family peptidase ShyA, the primary EP of the cholera pathogenVibrio cholerae. Our data suggest that ShyA assumes two drastically different conformations: a more open form that allows for substrate binding and a closed form, which we predicted to be catalytically inactive. Mutations expected to promote the open conformation caused enhanced activity in vitro and in vivo, and these results were recapitulated in EPs from the divergent pathogensNeisseria gonorrheaeandEscherichia coli. Our results suggest that LysM/M23 EPs are regulated via release of the inhibitory Domain 1 from the M23 active site, likely through conformational rearrangement in vivo.


2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (10) ◽  
pp. 5841-5847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiaobin Xiao ◽  
Sergei Vakulenko ◽  
Mayland Chang ◽  
Shahriar Mobashery

ABSTRACTStaphylococcus aureusis a leading cause of hospital- and community-acquired infections, which exhibit broad resistance to various antibiotics. We recently disclosed the discovery of the oxadiazole class of antibiotics, which hasin vitroandin vivoactivities against methicillin-resistantS. aureus(MRSA). We report herein that MmpL, a putative member of the resistance, nodulation, and cell division (RND) family of proteins, contributes to oxadiazole resistance in theS. aureusstrain COL. Through serial passages, we generated twoS. aureusCOL variants that showed diminished susceptibilities to an oxadiazole antibiotic. The MICs for the oxadiazole against one strain (designatedS. aureusCOLI) increased reproducibly 2-fold (to 4 μg/ml), while against the other strain (S. aureusCOLR), they increased >4-fold (to >8 μg/ml, the limit of solubility). The COLRstrain was derived from the COLIstrain. Whole-genome sequencing revealed 31 mutations inS. aureusCOLR, of which 29 were shared with COLI. Consistent with our previous finding that oxadiazole antibiotics inhibit cell wall biosynthesis, we found 13 mutations that occurred either in structural genes or in promoters of the genes of the cell wall stress stimulon. Two unique mutations inS. aureusCOLRwere substitutions in two genes that encode the putative thioredoxin (SACOL1794) and MmpL (SACOL2566). A role formmpLin resistance to oxadiazoles was discerned from gene deletion and complementation experiments. To our knowledge, this is the first report that a cell wall-acting antibiotic selects for mutations in the cell wall stress stimulon and the first to implicate MmpL in resistance to antibiotics inS. aureus.


1968 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald N. Medearis ◽  
Bruce M. Camitta ◽  
Edward C. Heath

Uridine diphosphate galactose 4-epimerase and phosphomannose isomerase-deficient mutants of Escherichia coli O111:B4 were studied to test the hypothesis that in E. coli a specific relationship exists between O antigenicity, virulence, and capacity to resist phagocytosis. The first mutant, designated J-5, produces a cell wall lipopolysaccharide, the side chains of which do not contain galactose, glucose, N-acetylglucosamine, or colitose. The second mutant produces a cell wall lipopolysaccharide which lacks only colitose. The capacity of these various organisms to kill mice was strikingly different. E. coli O111 was 1000 times as virulent as J-5, and 100 times as virulent as L-2. The capacity of the organisms to kill mice was correlated with their ability to resist phagocytosis and to persist in the peritoneal cavity. The parent strain of O111 resisted phagocytosis by macrophages in vivo and polymorphonuclear leukocytes in vitro. The mutants did not, and the organism most deficient in the saccharide component of its LPS was most susceptible to phagocytosis and least virulent. These results were corroborated by growing the mutants in appropriately supplemented media which permitted the synthesis of complete LPS, reversed the susceptibility to phagocytosis, and restored virulence. Finally, serological reactivity was consistent with previous observations which had demonstrated that the O antigenicity of E. coli is determined by the saccharide composition of its cell wall lipopolysaccharide. Despite the difference in the capacity of the various log-phase organisms to kill mice when injected intraperitoneally, purified lipopolysaccharides extracted from them did not differ significantly in their capacity to kill or produce fever. Thus virulence was shown to be independent of endotoxin activity which in turn seemed to be unrelated to the saccharide composition of the cell wall LPS. Collectively, these data provide at least a partial molecular definition of virulence in E. coli by demonstrating that the presence or absence of specific sugars in its cell wall lipopolysaccharide is a determinant of its antiphagocytic capacity and its virulence.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenwei Lin ◽  
Wenxin Tang ◽  
Charles T. Anderson ◽  
Zhenbiao Yang

ABSTRACTPlant cells need to monitor the cell wall dynamic to control the wall homeostasis required for a myriad of processes in plants, but the mechanisms underpinning cell wall sensing and signaling in regulating these processes remain largely elusive. Here, we demonstrate that receptor-like kinase FERONIA senses the cell wall pectin polymer to directly activate the ROP6 GTPase signaling pathway that regulates the formation of the cell shape in the Arabidopsis leaf epidermis. The extracellular malectin domain of FER directly interacts with de-methylesterified pectin in vivo and in vitro. Both loss-of-FER mutations and defects in the pectin biosynthesis and de-methylesterification caused changes in pavement cell shape and ROP6 signaling. FER is required for the activation of ROP6 by de-methylesterified pectin, and physically and genetically interacts with the ROP6 activator, RopGEF14. Thus, our findings elucidate a cell wall sensing and signaling mechanism that connects the cell wall to cellular morphogenesis via the cell surface receptor FER.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1398
Author(s):  
Assunta Bertaccini

Phytoplasmas are plant-pathogenic bacteria that infect many important crops and environmentally relevant plant species, causing serious economic and environmental losses worldwide. These bacteria, lacking a cell wall, are sensitive to antibiotics such as tetracyclines that affect protein synthesis mechanisms. Phytoplasma cultivation in axenic media has not been achieved for many strains; thus, the screening of antimicrobials must be performed using mainly in vivo materials. Some studies have investigated using in vitro phytoplasma-infected shoots, and several antimicrobials, including tetracyclines, have been tested. The screening of phytoplasma antimicrobials is important for the sustainable control of phytoplasma-associated diseases. The use of molecules with different modes of action such as ribosome inactivating proteins, plant hormones, and resistance inducers such as plasma-activated water, is advised, to avoid the use of antibiotics in agriculture and the possible emergence of resistant microbial strains.


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