The cell wall envelope of Gram-positive pathogens functions as a scaffold for the attachment of virulence factors and as a sieve that prevents diffusion of molecules. Here the isd genes (iron-regulated surface determinant) of Staphylococcus aureus were found to encode factors responsible for hemoglobin binding and passage of heme-iron to the cytoplasm, where it acts as an essential nutrient. Heme-iron passage required two sortases that tether Isd proteins to unique locations within the cell wall. Thus, Isd appears to act as an import apparatus that uses cell wall-anchored proteins to relay heme-iron across the bacterial envelope.

No abstract

The bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila exploits host cell vesicle transport by transiently manipulating the activity of the small guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) Rab1. The effector protein SidM recruits Rab1 to the Legionella-containing vacuole (LCV), where it activates Rab1 and then AMPylates it by covalently adding adenosine monophosphate (AMP). L. pneumophila GTPase-activating protein LepB inactivates Rab1 before its removal from LCVs. Because LepB cannot bind AMPylated Rab1, the molecular events leading to Rab1 inactivation are unknown. We found that the effector protein SidD from L. pneumophila catalyzed AMP release from Rab1, generating de-AMPylated Rab1 accessible for inactivation by LepB. L. pneumophila mutants lacking SidD were defective for Rab1 removal from LCVs, identifying SidD as the missing link connecting the processes of early Rab1 accumulation and subsequent Rab1 removal during infection.

Cell-surface pili are important virulence factors that enable bacterial pathogens to adhere to specific host tissues and modulate host immune response. Relatively little is known about the structure of Gram-positive bacterial pili, which are built by the sortase-catalyzed covalent crosslinking of individual pilin proteins. Here we report the 1.6-Å resolution crystal structure of the shaft pilin component SpaA from Corynebacterium diphtheriae , revealing both common and unique features. The SpaA pilin comprises 3 tandem Ig-like domains, with characteristic folds related to those typically found in non-pilus adhesins. Whereas both the middle and the C-terminal domains contain an intramolecular Lys–Asn isopeptide bond, previously detected in the shaft pilins of Streptococcus pyogenes and Bacillus cereus , the middle Ig-like domain also harbors a calcium ion, and the C-terminal domain contains a disulfide bond. By mass spectrometry, we show that the SpaA monomers are cross-linked in the assembled pili by a Lys–Thr isopeptide bond, as predicted by previous genetic studies. Together, our results reveal that despite profound dissimilarities in primary sequences, the shaft pilins of Gram-positive pathogens have strikingly similar tertiary structures, suggesting a modular backbone construction, including stabilizing intermolecular and intramolecular isopeptide bonds.

A crucial step in the elimination of invading microbes by macrophages is phagosomal maturation through heterotypic endosomal fusion. This process is controlled by the guanine nucleotide binding protein Rab5, which assembles protein microdomains that include the tethering protein early endosomal antigen (EEA) 1 and the phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase hVps34, which generates PI(3)P, a phospholipid required for membrane association of EEA1 and other fusion factors. During infection of macrophages, the pathogen Legionella pneumophila bypasses the microbicidal endosomal compartment by an unknown mechanism. Here, we show that the effector protein VipD from L. pneumophila exhibits phospholipase A 1 activity that is activated only upon binding to endosomal Rab5 or Rab22. Within mammalian cells, VipD localizes to endosomes and catalyzes the removal of PI(3)P from endosomal membranes. EEA1 and other transport and fusion factors are consequently depleted from endosomes, rendering them fusion-incompetent. During host cell infection, VipD reduces exposure of L. pneumophila to the endosomal compartment and protects their surrounding vacuoles from acquiring Rab5. Thus, by catalyzing PI(3)P depletion in a Rab5-dependent manner, VipD alters the protein composition of endosomes thereby blocking fusion with Legionella-containing vacuoles.

Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, utilizes hemin and hemoglobin for growth in culture, suggesting that these host molecules serve as sources for the nutrient iron during bacterial infection. Bioinformatic analyses of the B. anthracis genome revealed genes with similarity to the iron-regulated surface determinant (isd) system responsible for heme uptake in Staphylococcus aureus. We show that the protein product of one of these genes, isdG, binds hemin in a manner resembling the heme binding of known heme oxygenases. Formation of IsdG:hemin complexes in the presence of a suitable electron donor, e.g., ascorbate or cytochrome P450 reductase, promotes catalytic degradation of hemin to biliverdin with concomitant release of iron. IsdG is required for B. anthracis utilization of hemin as a sole iron source, and it is also necessary for bacterial protection against heme-mediated toxicity. These data suggest that IsdG functions as a hemedegrading monooxygenase in B. anthracis.

SummaryMany surface proteins in Gram-positive bacteria are covalently linked to the cell wall through a transpeptidation reaction catalysed by the enzyme sortase. Corynebacterium diphtheriae encodes six sortases, five of which are devoted to the assembly of three distinct types of pilus fibres -SrtA for the SpaA-type pilus, SrtB/SrtC for the SpaD-type pilus, and SrtD/SrtE for the SpaH-type pilus. We demonstrate here the function of SrtF, the so-called housekeeping sortase, in the cell wall anchoring of pili. We show that a multiple deletion mutant strain expressing only SrtA secretes a large portion of SpaA polymers into the culture medium, with concomitant decrease in the cell wall-linked pili. The same phenotype is observed with the mutant that is missing SrtF alone. By contrast, a strain that expresses only SrtF displays surfacelinked pilins but no polymers. Therefore, SrtF can catalyse the cell wall anchoring of pilin monomers as well as pili, but it does not polymerize pilins. We show that SrtA and SrtF together generate wild-type levels of the SpaA-type pilus on the bacterial surface. Furthermore, by regulating the expression of SpaA in the cell, we demonstrate that the SrtF function becomes critical when the SpaA level is sufficiently high. Together, these findings provide key evidence for a two-stage model of pilus assembly: pilins are first polymerized by a pilus-specific sortase, and the resulting fibre is then attached to the cell wall by either the cognate sortase or the housekeeping sortase.

Different surface organelles contribute to specific interactions of a pathogen with host tissues or infectious partners. Multiple pilus gene clusters potentially encoding different surface structures have been identified in several gram-positive bacterial genomes sequenced to date, including actinomycetales, clostridia, corynebacteria, and streptococci. Corynebacterium diphtheriae has been shown to assemble a pilus structure, with sortase SrtA essential for the assembly of a major subunit SpaA and two minor proteins, SpaB and SpaC. We report here the characterization of a second pilus consisting of SpaD, SpaE, and SpaF, of which SpaD and SpaE form the pilus shaft and SpaF may be located at the pilus tip. The structure of the SpaDEF pilus contains no SpaABC pilins as detected by immunoelectron microscopy. Neither deletion of spaA nor sortase srtA abolishes SpaDEF pilus formation. The assembly of the SpaDEF pilus requires specific sortases located within the SpaDEF pilus gene cluster. Although either sortase SrtB or SrtC is sufficient to polymerize SpaDF, the incorporation of SpaE into the SpaD pili requires sortase SrtB. In addition, an alanine in place of the lysine of the SpaD pilin motif abrogates pilus polymerization. Thus, SpaD, SpaE, and SpaF constitute a different pilus structure that is independently assembled and morphologically distinct from the SpaABC pili and possibly other pili of C. diphtheriae.Protruding out of the bacterial surface are proteinaceous filaments, named pili or fimbriae, which mediate bacterial attachment and colonization of host tissues (24,31,32,42). Pili are also known to interact with other bacteria in a microbiofilm (45), are involved in the translocation of DNA across biological membranes (4, 16), and can serve as phage receptors (6). The structure and function of pili in gram-negative bacteria have been studied in great detail (30,34). In contrast, the mechanisms of pilus assembly in gram-positive bacteria are less well understood, although pili or fimbriae have been identified in several gram-positive organisms, including Actinomyces spp. (8), Arthrobacter photogonimos (11), Corynebacterium diphtheriae (43), Ruminococcus albus (28), Streptococcus parasanguis (42), and, more recently, Streptococcus agalactiae (15). It has been proposed that gram-positive bacterial pili are covalently linked to peptidoglycan and require sortase (18,25,37,45), a transpeptidase which is found in all gram-positive organisms (21,26,35). Studies by Cisar et al. and Yeung et al. in Actinomyces revealed two fimbrial types, designated 1 and 2 (5, 46, 47). FimP and FimA precursor proteins, which harbor the C-terminal cell wall sorting signal, assemble type 1 and 2 fimbriae, respectively, in a manner that requires the expression of sortase-like genes (44,48,49). The assembly of S. parasanguis FW213 fimbriae involves the major structural subunit Fap1, which contains a C-terminal sorting signal (29, 41, 42), suggesting the role of sortase in fimbrial biogenesis.In C. diphtheriae (12, 20), we found that cory...