The peptidoglycan cell wall is essential for the survival and morphogenesis of bacteria.1 For decades it was thought that only class A penicillin-binding proteins (aPBPs) and related enzymes effected peptidoglycan synthesis. Recently, it was shown that RodA, a member of the unrelated SEDS protein family, also acts as a peptidoglycan polymerase.2–4 Not all bacteria require RodA for growth; however, its homologue, FtsW, is a core member of the divisome complex that appears to be universally essential for septal cell wall assembly.5,6 FtsW was previously proposed to translocate the peptidoglycan precursor Lipid II across the cytoplasmic membrane.7,8 We report here that purified FtsW polymerizes Lipid II into peptidoglycan, but show that its polymerase activity requires complex formation with its partner class B PBP (bPBP). We further demonstrate that the polymerase activity of FtsW is required for its function in vivo. Thus, our findings establish FtsW as a peptidoglycan polymerase that works with its cognate bPBP to produce septal peptidoglycan during cell division.

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses three interwoven quorum-sensing (QS) circuits—Las, Rhl, and Pqs—to regulate the global expression of myriad virulence-associated genes. Interception of these signaling networks with small molecules represents an emerging strategy for the development of anti-infective agents against this bacterium. In the current study, we applied a chemical approach to investigate how the Las-Rhl-Pqs QS hierarchy coordinates key virulence phenotypes in wild-type P. aeruginosa. We screened a focused library of synthetic, non-native N-acyl l-homoserine lactones and identified compounds that can drastically alter production of two important virulence factors: pyocyanin and rhamnolipid. We demonstrate that these molecules act by targeting RhlR in P. aeruginosa, a QS receptor that has seen far less scrutiny to date relative to other circuitry. Unexpectedly, modulation of RhlR activity by a single compound induces inverse regulation of pyocyanin and rhamnolipid, a result that was not predicted using genetic approaches to interrogate QS in P. aeruginosa. Further, we show that certain RhlR agonists strongly repress Pqs signaling, revealing disruption of Rhl-Pqs cross-regulation as a novel mechanism for QS inhibition. These compounds significantly expand the known repertoire of chemical probes available to study RhlR in P. aeruginosa. Moreover, our results suggest that designing chemical agents to disrupt Rhl-Pqs crosstalk could be an effective antivirulence strategy to fight this common pathogen.

Quorum sensing (QS) is a chemical signaling mechanism that allows bacterial populations to coordinate gene expression in response to social and environmental cues. Many bacterial pathogens use QS to initiate infection at high cell densities. Over the past two decades, chemical antagonists of QS in pathogenic bacteria have attracted substantial interest for use both as tools to further elucidate QS mechanisms and, with further development, potential anti-infective agents. Considerable recent research has been devoted to the design of small molecules capable of modulating the LasR QS receptor in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These molecules hold significant promise in a range of contexts; however, as most compounds have been developed independently, comparative activity data for these compounds are scarce. Moreover, the mechanisms by which the bulk of these compounds act are largely unknown. This paucity of data has stalled the choice of an optimal chemical scaffold for further advancement. Herein, we submit the best-characterized LasR modulators to standardized cell-based reporter and QS phenotypic assays in P. aeruginosa, and we report the first comprehensive set of comparative LasR activity data for these compounds. Our experiments uncovered multiple interesting mechanistic phenomena (including a potential alternative QS-modulatory ligand binding site/partner) that provide new, and unexpected, insights into the modes by which many of these LasR ligands act. The lead compounds, data trends, and mechanistic insights reported here will significantly aid the design of new small molecule QS inhibitors and activators in P. aeruginosa, and in other bacteria, with enhanced potencies and defined modes of action.

In most well-studied rod-shaped bacteria, peptidoglycan is primarily crosslinked by penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). However, in mycobacteria, crosslinks formed by L,D-transpeptidases (LDTs) are highly abundant. To elucidate the role of these unusual crosslinks, we characterized Mycobacterium smegmatis cells lacking all LDTs. We find that crosslinks generate by LDTs are required for rod shape maintenance specifically at sites of aging cell wall, a byproduct of polar elongation. Asymmetric polar growth leads to a non-uniform distribution of these two types of crosslinks in a single cell. Consequently, in the absence of LDT-mediated crosslinks, PBP-catalyzed crosslinks become more important. Because of this, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is more rapidly killed using a combination of drugs capable of PBP- and LDT- inhibition. Thus, knowledge about the spatial and genetic relationship between drug targets can be exploited to more effectively treat this pathogen.

Many types of slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (or ‘SLIPS’) can resist adhesion and colonization by microorganisms. These ‘slippery’ materials thus offer new approaches to prevent fouling on a range of commercial and industrial surfaces, including biomedical devices. However, while SLIPS can prevent fouling on surfaces to which they are applied, they can currently do little to prevent the proliferation of non-adherent (planktonic) organisms, stop them from colonizing other surfaces, or prevent them from engaging in other behaviors that could lead to infection and associated burdens. Here, we report an approach to the design of multi-functional SLIPS that addresses these issues and expands the potential utility of slippery surfaces in antimicrobial contexts. Our approach is based on the incorporation and controlled release of small-molecule antimicrobial agents from the porous matrices used to host infused slippery oil phases. We demonstrate that SLIPS fabricated using nanoporous polymer multilayers can prevent short- and longer-term colonization and biofilm formation by four common fungal and bacterial pathogens (Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus), and that the polymer and oil phases comprising these materials can be exploited to load and sustain the release of triclosan, a model hydrophobic and broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent, into surrounding media. This approach both improves the inherent anti-fouling properties of these materials and endows them with the ability to efficiently kill planktonic pathogens. Finally, we show that this approach can be used to fabricate dual-action SLIPS on complex surfaces, including the luminal surfaces of flexible catheter tubes. This strategy has the potential to be general; we anticipate that the materials, strategies, and concepts reported here will enable new approaches to the design of slippery surfaces with improved anti-fouling properties and open the door to new applications of slippery liquid-infused materials that host or promote the release of a variety of other active agents.

Many bacterial pathogens use quorum sensing (QS) to control virulence. As a result, the development of methods to intercept QS has attracted significant interest as a potential anti-infective therapy. Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a pan-drug resistant pathogen and displays a remarkable ability to persist in hospital settings despite desiccation and antimicrobial treatment. Recent studies have shown that A. baumannii QS mutants have limited motility and fail to form mature biofilms – these phenotypes are linked to its ability to persist on biotic and abiotic surfaces and increase its pathogenicity. A. baumannii uses N-(3-hydroxydodecanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone (OH-dDHL) and its putative cognate receptor, AbaR, for QS. We sought to identify non-native ligands capable of blocking or promoting AbaR activity in A. baumannii for use as chemical probes to modulate QS phenotypes in this pathogen. We screened a focused library of synthetic, non-native N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) to identify such compounds, and several highly potent antagonists and agonists were uncovered, with IC50 and EC50 values in the low micromolar range, respectively. The strongest AbaR antagonists largely contained aromatic acyl groups, whereas the AbaR agonists closely resembled OH-dDHL. Notably, the 10 most potent AbaR antagonists also strongly inhibited A. baumannii motility, and five antagonists reduced biofilm formation in A. baumannii by up to 40%. The discovery of these compounds is significant, as they represent, to our knowledge, the first non-native modulators of QS in A. baumannii to be reported and could find utility as new tools to study the role and timing of QS phenotypes in A. baumannii infections.

Bacteria can utilize chemical signals to coordinate the expression of group-beneficial behaviors in a method of cell-cell communication called quorum sensing (QS). The discovery that QS controls the production of virulence factors and biofilm formation in many common pathogens has driven an explosion of research aimed at both deepening our fundamental understanding of these regulatory networks and developing chemical agents that can attenuate QS signaling. The inherently chemical nature of QS makes studying these pathways with small molecule tools a complementary approach to traditional microbiology techniques. Indeed, chemical tools are beginning to yield new insights into QS regulation and provide novel strategies to inhibit QS. Here, we review the most recent advances in the development of chemical probes of QS systems in Gram-negative bacteria, with an emphasis on the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa We first describe reports of novel small molecule modulators of QS receptors and QS signal synthases. Next, in several case studies, we showcase how chemical tools have been deployed to reveal new knowledge of QS biology and outline lessons for how researchers might best target QS to combat bacterial virulence. To close, we detail the outstanding challenges in the field and suggest strategies to overcome these issues.

SUMMARY Nutritional cues differentially influence the activities of the three quorum sensing (QS) circuits —Las, Rhl, and Pqs—in the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A full understanding of how these systems work together to tune virulence factor production to the environment is lacking. Here, we used chemical probes to evaluate the contribution of each QS circuit to virulence in wild-type P. aeruginosa under defined environmental conditions. Our results indicate that Rhl and Pqs drive virulence factor production in phosphate and iron limiting environments, while Las has a minor influence. Consequently, simultaneous inhibition of Rhl and Pqs can attenuate virulence in environments where Las inhibition fails. The activity trends generated in this study can be extrapolated to predict QS inhibitor activity in infection-relevant environments, such as cystic fibrosis sputum. These results indicate that environmental signals can drastically alter the efficacy of small molecule QS inhibitors in P. aeruginosa and possibly other pathogens.