Characterization of cellulose production in Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 and its biological consequences

Abstract

Bacterial species of the Enterobacteriaceae family produce cellulose and curli fimbriae as extracellular matrix components, and their synthesis is positively regulated by the transcriptional activator CsgD. In this group of bacteria, cellulose biosynthesis is commonly regulated by CsgD via the GGDEF domain protein AdrA, a diguanylate cyclase that produces cyclic-diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP), an allosteric activator of cellulose synthase. In the probiotic Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 and its recent clonal isolates, CsgD activates the production of curli fimbriae at 28 degrees C, but neither CsgD nor AdrA is required for the c-di-GMP-dependent biosynthesis of cellulose at 28 degrees C and 37 degrees C. In these strains, the GGDEF domain protein YedQ, a diguanylate cyclase that activates cellulose biosynthesis in certain E. coli strains, is not required for cellulose biosynthesis and it has in fact evolved into a novel protein. Cellulose production in Nissle 1917 is required for adhesion of bacteria to the gastrointestinal epithelial cell line HT-29, to the mouse epithelium in vivo, and for enhanced cytokine production. The role of cellulose in this strain is in contrast to the role of cellulose in the commensal strain E. coli TOB1. Consequently, the role of cellulose in bacterial-host interaction is dependent on the E. coli strain background.

An Assay for Detection of Uropathogenic Escherichia coliBiofilm using Calcofluor

“…It has been reported that calcofluor white binds to cellulose (for example: E. coli exopolysaccharide) (Brandl et al, 2011;Serra et al, 2013). Therefore fluorescence colonies on calcofluor agar denoted the bacterial cellulose production as some authors have described (Monteiro et al, 2009;Zogaj et al, 2001). In this work, biofilm of E. coli in the gas-liquid interface and botton from test tubes was observed as it described in other bacteria (Spiers et al, 2003) (Fig.…”

Genetic Analysis of the Role of yfiR in the Ability of Escherichia coli CFT073 To Control Cellular Cyclic Dimeric GMP Levels and To Persist in the Urinary Tract

“…Colonies that produce only curli fimbriae will lack the rugose characteristic but will still be deep red and slightly rough. Expression of cellulose only results in a rugose colony that is pink instead of deep red, and loss of expression of both products results in a colony that is white and smooth (29,50). Wild-type CFT073 and the yfiRNB locus mutants were grown for 6 days in LB at 37°C without shaking before serial dilution and plating on LB Congo red plates.…”

Cyclic di-GMP: the First 25 Years of a Universal Bacterial Second Messenger

“…The capacity for cellulose biosynthesis is present in many bacteria from diverse branches of the phylogenetic tree, such as Thermotogae, Proteobacteria, and Cyanobacteria (246). Cellulose is a common component of environmental bacterial biofilms (247-250) and a component of interkingdom biofilms, i.e., bacteria attached to plants, fungi, and human intestinal cells (251)(252)(253)(254). One may recall that cellulose biosynthesis in the fruit-rotting bacterium G. xylinus was the first process shown to be regulated by c-di-GMP (1).…”

“…Indeed, c-di-GMP binds to the PilZ domain of the G. xylinus cellulose synthase (52), and in vitro cellulose biosyntheses using membrane fractions of G. xylinus and E. coli require only the substrate, UDP-glucose, c-di-GMP, and no other cytoplasmic components (1,253). Since the cellulose biosynthesis operon is expressed constitutively in G. xylinus, E. coli, and S. enterica (250,255,256), this posttranslational regulation is possibly the major mechanism of cellulose biosynthesis activation in these organisms.…”