Oxidative ornithine metabolism supports non-inflammatory C. difficile colonization

The enteric pathogen Clostridioides difficile (Cd) is responsible for a toxin-mediated infection that causes more than 200,000 recorded hospitalizations and 13,000 deaths in the United States every year1. However, Cd can colonize the gut in the absence of disease symptoms. Prevalence of asymptomatic colonization by toxigenic Cd in healthy populations is high; asymptomatic carriers are at increased risk of infection compared to noncolonized individuals and may be a reservoir for transmission of Cd infection2,3. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which Cd persists in the absence of disease is necessary for understanding pathogenesis and developing refined therapeutic strategies. Here, we show with gut microbiome metatranscriptomic analysis that mice recalcitrant to Cd infection and inflammation exhibit increased community-wide expression of arginine and ornithine metabolic pathways. To query Cd metabolism specifically, we leverage RNA sequencing in gnotobiotic mice infected with two wild-type strains (630 and R20291) and isogenic toxin-deficient mutants of these strains to differentiate inflammation-dependent versus -independent transcriptional states. A single operon encoding oxidative ornithine degradation is consistently upregulated across non-toxigenic Cd strains. Combining untargeted and targeted metabolomics with bacterial and host genetics, we demonstrate that both diet- and host-derived sources of ornithine provide a competitive advantage to Cd, suggesting a mechanism for Cd persistence within a non-inflammatory, healthy gut.

Design, construction and optimization of a synthetic RNA polymerase operon in Escherichia coli.

Prokaryotic genes encoding functionally related proteins are often clustered in operons. The compact structure of operons allows for co-transcription of the genes, and for co-translation of the polycistronic messenger RNA to the corresponding proteins. This leads to reduced regulatory complexity and enhanced gene expression efficiency, and as such to an overall metabolic benefit for the protein production process in bacteria and archaea. Interestingly, the genes encoding the subunits of one of the most conserved and ubiquitous protein complexes, the RNA polymerase, are not clustered in a single operon. Rather, its genes are scattered in all known prokaryotic genomes, generally integrated in different ribosomal operons. To analyze the impact of this genetic organization on the fitness of Escherichia coli, we constructed a bacterial artificial chromosome harboring the genes encoding the RNA polymerase complex in a single operon. Subsequent deletion of the native chromosomal genes led to a reduced growth on minimal medium. However, by using adaptive laboratory evolution the growth rate was restored to wild-type level. Hence, we show that a highly conserved genetic organization of core genes in a bacterium can be reorganized by a combination of design, construction and optimization, yielding a well-functioning synthetic genetic architecture.

Approaches in the Photosynthetic Production of Sustainable Fuels by Cyanobacteria using Tools of Synthetic Biology

Cyanobacteria, photosynthetic prokaryotic microorganisms having a simple genetic composition are the prospective photoautotrophic cell factories for the production of a wide range of biofuel molecules. Simple genetic composition of cyanobacteria allows effortless genetic manipulation which leads to increased research endeavour from the synthetic biology approach. An improved development of synthetic biology tools, genetic modification methods and advancement in transformation techniques to construct a strain which can contain multiple target genes in single operon will vastly expand the functions that can be used for engineering photosynthetic cyanobacteria for the generation of biofuels. In this review, recent advancements and approaches in synthetic biology tools and biofuel production by metabolically engineered cyanobacteria have been discussed. Various fuel molecules like isoprene, limonene, α-farnesene, squalene, alkanes, butanol and fatty acids which can be a substitute of petroleum and fossil fuels in future have been elaborated.

The tetrameric assembly of 2-aminomuconic acid dehydrogenase is a functional requirement of cofactor NAD+ binding

The bacterium Pseudomonas sp. AP-3 is able to use the environmental pollutant 2-aminophenol as its sole source of carbon, nitrogen, and energy. Eight genes (amnA, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H) encoding 2-aminophenol metabolizing enzymes are clustered into a single operon. 2-aminomuconic 6-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (AmnC), a member of the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) superfamily, is responsible for oxidizing 2-aminomuconic 6-semialdehyde to 2-aminomuconate. In contrast to many other members of the ALDH superfamily, the structural basis of the catalytic activity of AmnC remains elusive. Here, we present the crystal structure of AmnC, which displays a homotetrameric quaternary assembly that is directly involved in its enzymatic activity. The tetrameric state of AmnC in solution was also presented using small-angle X-ray scattering. The tetramerization of AmnC is mediated by the assembly of a protruding hydrophobic beta-strand motif and residues V121 and S123 located in the NAD+-binding domain of each subunit. Dimeric mutants of AmnC dramatically lose NAD+ binding affinity and enzyme activity, indicating that tetrameric assembly of AmnC is required for oxidizing the unstable metabolic intermediate 2-aminomuconic 6-semialdehyde to 2-aminomuconic acid in the 2-aminophenol metabolism pathway.

Mass allelic exchange: enabling sexual genetics in Escherichia coli

Despite dramatic advances in genomics, connecting genotypes to phenotypes is still challenging. Sexual genetics combined with linkage analysis is a powerful solution to this problem but generally unavailable in bacteria. We build upon a strong negative selection system to invent Mass Allelic Exchange (MAE), which enables hybridization of arbitrary (including pathogenic) strains of E. coli. MAE reimplements the natural phenomenon of random crossovers, enabling classical linkage analysis. We demonstrate the utility of MAE with virulence-related gain-of-function screens, discovering that transfer of a single operon from a uropathogenic strain is sufficient for enabling a commensal E. coli to form large intracellular bacterial collections within bladder epithelial cells. MAE thus enables assaying natural allelic variation in E. coli (and potentially other bacteria), complementing existing loss-of-function genomic techniques.One Sentence SummaryWe create F1 hybrids of E. coli using MAE, bringing the power of linkage analysis to bear on phenotypic diversity (including virulence)

Euryhalinema mangrovii gen. nov., sp. nov. and Leptoelongatus litoralis gen. nov., sp. nov. (Leptolyngbyaceae) isolated from an Indian mangrove forest

Molecular data based revision of Leptolyngbya, the largest polyphyletic genus of the family Leptolyngbyaceae (Synechococcales) is imperative. Polyphasic approach to the taxonomic analysis of two (AP9F and AP25) cyanobacteria, tentatively designated positions in the “LPP-group” is described. Cell shapes of AP9F and AP25 were highly elongated whereas the cells of the reference strains (Leptolyngbya boryana and Nodosilinea nodulosa) were occasionally elongated to isodiametrical. Terminal cells of AP9F and AP25 appeared as flattened corners (not rounded), which was different from other Leptolyngbyaceae members. 16S rRNA gene sequences of AP9F (1366 bp) and AP25 (1408 bp) showed 95% and 92% similarities respectively with the non-redundant nucleotide sequences of their closest relatives of the Leptolyngbya genus. Test strains were located in the phylogenetic tree in a clade different from the ones containing the type species. A single operon having both tRNAile and tRNAala genes were present in the ITS regions of AP9F and AP25 compared to two operons in the ITS region of the genera Leptolyngbya and Nodosilinea: one having both tRNAile and tRNAala genes and another lacking both the genes. The secondary structures of the traditionally conservative D-stem region as well as the Box B helix and V3 regions of the ITS operons significantly varied between the test strains and also when compared with the corresponding sequences of L. boryana and N. nodulosa. Molecular phylogenetic and morphological data suggested AP9F and AP25 to be monophyletic taxa for which the names Euryhalinema mangrovii gen. nov., sp. nov. and Leptoelongatus litoralis gen. nov., sp. nov. are proposed respectively.

ThePseudomonas aeruginosaOrphan Quorum Sensing Signal Receptor QscR Regulates Global Quorum Sensing Gene Expression by Activating a Single Linked Operon

ABSTRACTPseudomonas aeruginosauses two acyl-homoserine lactone signals and two quorum sensing (QS) transcription factors, LasR and RhlR, to activate dozens of genes. LasR responds toN-3-oxo-dodecanoyl-homoserine lactone (3OC12-HSL) and RhlR toN-butanoyl-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL). There is a thirdP. aeruginosaacyl-homoserine-lactone-responsive transcription factor, QscR, which acts to dampen or delay activation of genes by LasR and RhlR by an unknown mechanism. To better understand the role of QscR inP. aeruginosaQS, we performed a chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis, which showed this transcription factor bound the promoter of only a single operon of three genes linked toqscR, PA1895 to PA1897. Other genes that appear to be regulated by QscR in transcriptome studies were not direct targets of QscR. Deletion of PA1897 recapitulates the early QS activation phenotype of a QscR-null mutant, and the phenotype of a QscR-null mutant was complemented by PA1895-1897 but not by PA1897 alone. We conclude that QscR acts to modulate quorum sensing through regulation of a single operon, apparently raising the QS threshold of the population and providing a “brake” on QS autoinduction.IMPORTANCEQuorum sensing, a cell-cell communication system, is broadly distributed among bacteria and is commonly used to regulate the production of shared products. An important consequence of quorum sensing is a delay in production of certain products until the population density is high. The bacteriumPseudomonas aeruginosahas a particularly complicated quorum sensing system involving multiple signals and receptors. One of these receptors, QscR, downregulates gene expression, unlike the other receptors inP. aeruginosa. QscR does so by inducing the expression of a single operon whose function provides an element of resistance to a population reaching a quorum. This finding has importance for design of quorum sensing inhibitory strategies and can also inform design of synthetic biological circuits that use quorum sensing receptors to regulate gene expression.

Analysis of the Tunicamycin Biosynthetic Gene Cluster ofStreptomyces chartreusisReveals New Insights into Tunicamycin Production and Immunity

ABSTRACTThe tunicamycin biosynthetic gene cluster ofStreptomyces chartreusisconsists of 14 genes (tunAtotunN) with a high degree of apparent translational coupling. Transcriptional analysis revealed that all of these genes are likely to be transcribed as a single operon from two promoters,tunp1 andtunp2. In-frame deletion analysis revealed that just six of these genes (tunABCDEH) are essential for tunicamycin production in the heterologous hostStreptomyces coelicolor, while five (tunFGKLN) with likely counterparts in primary metabolism are not necessary, but presumably ensure efficient production of the antibiotic at the onset of tunicamycin biosynthesis. Three genes are implicated in immunity, namely,tunIandtunJ, which encode a two-component ABC transporter presumably required for export of the antibiotic, andtunM, which encodes a putativeS-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent methyltransferase. Expression oftunIJortunMinS. coelicolorconferred resistance to exogenous tunicamycin. The results presented here provide new insights into tunicamycin biosynthesis and immunity.

Modification of the 1-Phosphate Group during Biosynthesis of Capnocytophaga canimorsus Lipid A

Capnocytophaga canimorsus, a commensal bacterium of dog's mouth flora causing severe infections in humans after dog bites or scratches, has a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (endotoxin) with low-inflammatory lipid A. In particular, it contains a phosphoethanolamine (P-Etn) instead of a free phosphate group at the C-1 position of the lipid A backbone, usually present in highly toxic enterobacterial Gram-negative lipid A. Here we show that theC. canimorsusgenome comprises a single operon encoding a lipid A 1-phosphatase (LpxE) and a lipid A 1P-Etn transferase (EptA). This suggests that lipid A is modified during biosynthesis after completing acylation of the backbone by removal of the 1-phosphate and subsequent addition of anP-Etn group. As endotoxicity of lipid A is known to depend largely on the degree of unsubstituted or unmodified phosphate residues, deletion oflpxEoreptAled to mutants lacking theP-Etn group, with consequently increased endotoxicity and decreased resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMP). Consistent with the proposed sequential biosynthetic mechanism, the endotoxicity and CAMP resistance of a double deletion mutant oflpxE-eptAwas similar to that of a singlelpxEmutant. Finally, the proposed enzymatic activities of LpxE and EptA based on sequence similarity could be successfully validated by mass spectrometry (MS)-based analysis of lipid A isolated from the corresponding deletion mutant strains.

A putative twin-arginine translocation system in the phytopathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa

The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway of the xylem-limited phytopathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa strain 9a5c, responsible for citrus variegated chlorosis, was explored. The presence of tatA, tatB, and tatC in the X. fastidiosa genome together with a list of proteins harboring 2 consecutive arginines in their signal peptides suggested the presence of a Tat pathway. The functional Tat dependence of X. fastidiosa OpgD was examined. Native or mutated signal peptides were fused to the β-lactamase. Expression of fusion with intact signal peptides mediated high resistance to ampicillin in Escherichia coli tat+ but not in the E. coli tat null mutant. The replacement of the 2 arginines by 2 lysines prevented the export of β-lactamase in E. coli tat+, demonstrating that X. fastidiosa OpgD carries a signal peptide capable of engaging the E. coli Tat machinery. RT–PCR analysis revealed that the tat genes are transcribed as a single operon. tatA, tatB, and tatC genes were cloned. Complementation assays in E. coli devoid of all Tat or TatC components were unsuccessful, whereas X. fastidiosa Tat components led to a functional Tat translocase in E. coli TatB-deficient strain. Additional experiments implicated that X. fastidiosa TatB component could form a functional heterologous complex with the E. coli TatC component.