LOV domains are protein photosensors conserved in bacteria, archaea, plants and fungi that detect blue light via a flavin cofactor. In the bacterial kingdom, LOV domains are present in both chemotrophic and phototrophic species, where they are found N-terminally of signaling and regulatory domains such as sensor histidine kinases, diguanylate cyclases/phosphodiesterases, DNA-binding domains, and σ factor regulators. In this review, we describe the current state of knowledge on the function of bacterial LOV proteins, the structural basis of LOV domain-mediated signal transduction, and the use of LOV domains as genetically-encoded photoswitches in synthetic biology.

Summary Interacting proteins typically coevolve, and the identification of coevolving amino acids can pinpoint residues required for interaction specificity. This approach often assumes that an interface-disrupting mutation in one protein drives selection of a compensatory mutation in its partner during evolution. However, this model requires a non-functional intermediate state prior to the compensatory change. Alternatively, a mutation in one protein could first broaden its specificity, allowing changes in its partner, followed by a specificity-restricting mutation. Using bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems, we demonstrate the plausibility of this second, promiscuity-based model. By screening large libraries of interface mutants, we show that toxins and antitoxins with high specificity are frequently connected in sequence space to more promiscuous variants that can serve as intermediates during a reprogramming of interaction specificity. We propose that the abundance of promiscuous variants promotes the expansion and diversification of toxin-antitoxin systems and other paralogous protein families during evolution.

In natural environments, bacteria often adhere to surfaces where they form complex multicellular communities. Surface adherence is determined by the biochemical composition of the cell envelope. We describe a novel regulatory mechanism by which the bacterium, Caulobacter crescentus, integrates cell cycle and nutritional signals to control development of an adhesive envelope structure known as the holdfast. Specifically, we have discovered a 68-residue protein inhibitor of holdfast development (HfiA) that directly targets a conserved glycolipid glycosyltransferase required for holdfast production (HfsJ). Multiple cell cycle regulators associate with the hfiA and hfsJ promoters and control their expression, temporally constraining holdfast development to the late stages of G1. HfiA further functions as part of a ‘nutritional override’ system that decouples holdfast development from the cell cycle in response to nutritional cues. This control mechanism can limit surface adhesion in nutritionally sub-optimal environments without affecting cell cycle progression. We conclude that post-translational regulation of cell envelope enzymes by small proteins like HfiA may provide a general means to modulate the surface properties of bacterial cells.

Bacteroides fragilis is the leading cause of anaerobic bacteremia and sepsis 1. Enterotoxigenic strains producing B. fragilis toxin (BFT, fragilysin) contribute to colitis 2 and intestinal malignancy 3, yet are also isolated in bloodstream infection 4,5. It is not known whether these strains harbor unique genetic determinants that confer virulence in extra-intestinal disease. We demonstrate that BFT contributes to sepsis and identify a B. fragilis protease, fragipain (Fpn), which is required for endogenous activation of BFT through removal of its auto-inhibitory prodomain. Structural analysis of Fpn reveals a His-Cys catalytic dyad characteristic of C11 family cysteine proteases that are conserved in multiple pathogenic Bacteroides spp and Clostridium spp. Fpn-deficient enterotoxigenic B. fragilis is attenuated in its ability to induce sepsis, however Fpn is dispensable in B. fragilis colitis wherein host proteases mediate BFT activation. Our findings define a role for B. fragilis enterotoxin and its activating protease in the pathogenesis of bloodstream infection, indicating a greater complexity of cellular targeting and action of BFT than previously appreciated. The expression of fpn by both toxigenic and non-toxigenic strains suggests this protease may contribute to anaerobic sepsis beyond its role in toxin activation, potentially serving as a target for disease modification.

Mutual gliding motility A (MglA), a small Ras-like GTPase; Mutual gliding motility B (MglB), its GTPase activating protein (GAP); and Required for Motility Response Regulator (RomR), a protein that contains a response regulator receiver domain, are major components of a GTPase-dependent biochemical oscillator that drives cell polarity reversals in the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. We report the crystal structure of a complex of M. xanthus MglA and MglB, which reveals that the C-terminal helix (Ct-helix) from one protomer of the dimeric MglB binds to a pocket distal to the active site of MglA. MglB increases the GTPase activity of MglA by reorientation of key catalytic residues of MglA (a GAP function) combined with allosteric regulation of nucleotide exchange by the Ct-helix (a guanine nucleotide exchange factor [GEF] function). The dual GAP-GEF activities of MglB accelerate the rate of GTP hydrolysis over multiple enzymatic cycles. Consistent with its GAP and GEF activities, MglB interacts with MglA bound to either GTP or GDP. The regulation is essential for cell polarity, because deletion of the Ct-helix causes bipolar localization of MglA, MglB, and RomR, thereby causing reversal defects in M. xanthus. A bioinformatics analysis reveals the presence of Ct-helix in homologues of MglB in other bacterial phyla, suggestive of the prevalence of the allosteric mechanism among other prokaryotic small Ras-like GTPases.