No abstract

The genome of Vibrio harveyi BAA-1116 contains a nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene cluster (aebA-F) resembling that for enterobactin, yet enterobactin is not produced. A gene predicted to encode a long-chain fatty acid CoA ligase (FACL), similar to enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of acyl peptides, resides 15 kb away from the putative enterobactin-like biosynthetic gene cluster (aebG). The proximity of this FACL gene to the enterobactin-like synthetase suggested that V. harveyi may produce amphiphilic enterobactin-like siderophores. Extraction of the bacterial cell pellet of V. harveyi led to the isolation and structure determination of a suite of eight amphi-enterobactin siderophores composed of the cyclic lactone of tris-2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl-L-serine and acyl-L-serine. The FACL knockout mutant, ΔaebG V. harveyi, and the NRPS knockout mutant, ΔaebF V. harveyi, do not produce amphi-enterobactins. The amphi-enterobactin biosynthetic machinery was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and reconstituted in vitro, demonstrating the condensation domain of AebF has unique activity, catalyzing two distinct condensation reactions.

Herbaspirillum seropedicae Z67 is a diazotrophic endophyte able to colonize the interior of many economically relevant crops such as rice, wheat, corn and sorghum. Structures of siderophores produced by bacterial endophytes have not yet been elucidated. The aim of this work was to identify and characterize the siderophores produced by this bacterium. In a screening for mutants unable to produce siderophores we found a mutant that had a transposon insertion in a non-ribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS) gene coding for a putative siderophore biosynthetic enzyme. The chemical structure of the siderophore was predicted using computational genomic tools. The predicted structure was confirmed by chemical analysis. We found that siderophores produced by H. seropedicae Z67 are a suite of amphiphilic lipopeptides, named serobactin A, B and C, which vary by the length of the fatty acid chain. We also demonstrated the biological activity of serobactins as nutritional iron sources for H. seropedicae. These are the first structurally described siderophores produced by endophytic bacteria.

Sinorhizobium meliloti has multiple systems for iron acquisition, including the use of haem as an iron source. Haem internalization involves the ShmR haem outer membrane receptor and the hmuTUV locus, which participates in haem transport across the cytoplasmic membrane. Previous studies have demonstrated that expression of the shmR gene is negatively regulated by iron through RirA. Here, we identify hmuP in a genetic screen for mutants that displayed aberrant control of shmR. The normal induction of shmR in response to iron limitation was lost in the hmuP mutant, showing that this gene positively affects shmR expression. Moreover, the HmuP protein is not part of the haemin transporter system. Analysis of gene expression and siderophore production indicates that disruption of hmuP does not affect other genes related to the iron-restriction response. Our results strongly indicate that the main function of HmuP is the transcriptional regulation of shmR. Sequence alignment of HmuP homologues and comparison with the NMR structure of Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009 HmuP protein revealed that certain amino acids localized within predicted β-sheets are well conserved. Our data indicate that at least one of the β-sheets is important for HmuP activity.

Many bacterial species are represented by a pan-genome, whose genetic repertoire far outstrips that of any single bacterial genome. Here we investigate how a bacterial pan-genome might influence gene essentiality and whether essential genes that are initially critical for the survival of an organism can evolve to become non-essential. By using Transposon insertion sequencing (Tn-seq), whole-genome sequencing and RNA-seq on a set of 36 clinical Streptococcus pneumoniae strains representative of >68% of the species’ pan-genome, we identify a species-wide ‘essentialome’ that can be subdivided into universal, core strain-specific and accessory essential genes. By employing ‘forced-evolution experiments’, we show that specific genetic changes allow bacteria to bypass essentiality. Moreover, by untangling several genetic mechanisms, we show that gene essentiality can be highly influenced by and/or be dependent on: (1) the composition of the accessory genome, (2) the accumulation of toxic intermediates, (3) functional redundancy, (4) efficient recycling of critical metabolites and (5) pathway rewiring. While this functional characterization underscores the evolvability potential of many essential genes, we also show that genes with differential essentiality remain important antimicrobial drug target candidates, as their inactivation almost always has a severe fitness cost in vivo.

No abstract

Azospirillum sp promotes the growth of many important crop plants. We demonstrated lectin binding activity in outer-membrane protein extracts of A. brasilense Sp7 by hemagglutination assays. The lectin specifically recognised the exopolysaccharide (EPS) produced by aggregated cells. Affinity chromatography using EPS-Sepharose was used to identify a 67 kDa outer-membrane lectin (OML) that recognised a binding region in the extracellular polysaccharide. Results show the specific recognition and binding between EPS and OML. The potential relationship between cell-to-cell aggregation and the OML-EPS interaction is discussed.

Ensifer meliloti is a nitrogen-fixing symbiont of the alfalfa legume able to use heme as an iron source. The transport mechanism involved in heme acquisition in E. meliloti has been identified and characterized, but the fate of heme once inside the cell is not known. In silico analysis of E. meliloti 1021 genome revealed no canonical heme oxygenases although two genes encoding putative heme degrading enzymes, smc01518 and hmuS, were identified. SMc01518 is similar to HmuQ of Bradyrhizobium japonicum, which is weakly homologous to the Staphylococcus aureus IsdG heme-degrading monooxygenase, whereas HmuS is homolog to Pseudomonas aeruginosa PhuS, a protein reported as a heme chaperone and as a heme degrading enzyme. Recombinant HmuQ and HmuS were able to bind hemin with a 1:1 stoichiometry and displayed a Kd value of 5 and 4 µM, respectively. HmuS degrades heme in vitro to the biliverdin isomers IX-β and IX-δ in an equimolar ratio. The HmuQ recombinant protein degrades heme to biliverdin IX-δ only. Additionally, in this work we demonstrate that humS and hmuQ gene expression is regulated by iron and heme in a RirA dependent manner and that both proteins are involved in heme metabolism in E. meliloti in vivo.