Amino acids as wetting agents: surface translocation by Porphyromonas gingivalis

Abstract

Our understanding of how oral microbiota adapt in response to changes in their surroundings remains limited. This is particularly true of the slow-growing anaerobes that persist below the gum line. Here, we report that the oral anaerobe Porphyromonas gingivalis strain 381 can surface translocate when sandwiched between two surfaces. We show that during movement, this bacterium alters its metabolism, specifically side products of arginine utilization including citrulline and ornithine accumulated in the translocating cells; while arginine, N-acetyl-arginine, and the polyamine putrescine, which is produced from arginine were consumed. In addition, our results indicate that movement requires modification of the surrounding environment via proteolysis, cell dispersion, cell-on-cell rolling, and sub-diffusive cell-driven motility. We also show that production of fimbriae and fimbriae-associated proteins; as well as the regulation of contact-dependent growth inhibition genes, which are known to be involved in self-nonself discrimination, and the type IX secretion system are central to surface translocation. These studies provide a first glimpse into P. gingivalis motility and its relationship to ecological variables.

Porphyromonas gingivalisSphingolipid Synthesis Limits the Host Inflammatory Response

“…gingivalis strain W83 was used in this study along with the matching SPT mutant (W83 ΔPG1780), which was generated and characterized previously (Moye et al 2016). RNA was extracted from cells grown anaerobically in TSBHK to an O.D.600 of 1.0, the quality was then assessed and sequencing was performed and analyzed as previously described (Moradali et al 2019;Moye et al 2019).…”

Biofilms 2018: a Diversity of Microbes and Mechanisms

“…A type IX secretion system is involved in pathogenesis and also is required for modification of the environment, enabling P. gingivalis to surface translocate between surfaces in a sandwich model. Metabolomic studies revealed genetic and metabolic adaptation of migrating populations through multiple pathways, including folate biosynthesis and electron transport systems (79).…”

Synthesis of ppGpp impacts type IX secretion and biofilm matrix formation in Porphyromonas gingivalis

“…This novel secretion system plays a role in gliding motility, 50 and secretion of virulence factors, 51 and as we recently reported, it is central to P. gingivalis surface translocation. 52 In P. gingivalis, T9SS transports select proteins across the outer membrane that are involved in virulence, e.g., gingipains RgpA, RgpB, and Kgp. 9,51 As shown in Table 1, RNA-seq analysis revealed that an extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factor (PGN_0274) was significantly upregulated in the ΔrelΔrshB mutant.…”

“…Sample quality determination and sequencing were performed by gene expression and genotyping core in the ICBR. 52 The program 'Rockhopper' 64 was used for aligning sequencing reads to the genome reference of P. gingivalis 381. We eliminated any of the sequencing reads with a q value > 0.05 and a fold change of <1.5.…”