Deficiency in Lipoteichoic Acid Synthesis Causes a Failure in Executing the Colony Developmental Program in Bacillus subtilis

Mamou, Gideon; Fiyaksel, Osher; Sinai, Lior; Ben-Yehuda, Sigal

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.01991

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(59 reference statements)

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“…However, the preservation of Glc‐TA in nature emphasizes the necessity of these surface molecules for bacterial physiology. TAs have been implicated in various cellular processes, such as structuring cell shape, cell division, colony formation and ion homeostasis (Weidenmaier and Peschel, ; Brown et al , ; Schneewind and Missiakas, ; Mamou et al , ), yet the role of glycosylation of TAs is much less understood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A mutant bacteriophage evolved to infect resistant bacteria gained a broader host range

Habusha

Tzipilevich

Fiyaksel

et al. 2019

Molecular Microbiology

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Bacteriophages (phages) are the most abundant entities in nature, yet little is known about their capacity to acquire new hosts and invade new niches. By exploiting the Gram-positive soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) and its lytic phage SPO1 as a model, we followed the coevolution of bacteria and phages. After infection, phage-resistant bacteria were readily isolated. These bacteria were defective in production of glycosylated wall teichoic acid (WTA) polymers that served as SPO1 receptor. Subsequently, a SPO1 mutant phage that could infect the resistant bacteria evolved. The emerging phage contained mutations in two genes, encoding the baseplate and fibers required for host attachment. Remarkably, the mutant phage gained the capacity to infect non-host Bacillus species that are not infected by the wild-type phage. We provide evidence that the evolved phage lost its dependency on the species-specific glycosylation pattern of WTA polymers. Instead, the mutant phage gained the capacity to directly adhere to the WTA backbone, conserved among different species, thereby crossing the species barrier.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A mutant bacteriophage evolved to infect resistant bacteria gained a broader host range

Habusha

Tzipilevich

Fiyaksel

et al. 2019

Molecular Microbiology

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“…In the soil bacterium B. subtilis , the absence of LTA affects divalent cation homeostasis and leads to increased sensitivity to diverse antibiotics and lysozyme, and the absence of WTA leads to drastic morphological alterations ( 9 ). It has also been shown that the deficiency in LTA synthesis leads to smaller colony sizes due to a failure in the execution of the colony developmental program in B. subtilis ( 10 ). Additionally, B. subtilis cells lacking both WTA and LTA are not viable, reflecting the importance of these cell polymers ( 9 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discovery of genes required for lipoteichoic acid glycosylation predicts two distinct mechanisms for wall teichoic acid glycosylation

Rismondo¹,

Percy²,

Gründling

2018

Journal of Biological Chemistry

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The bacterial cell wall is an important and highly complex structure that is essential for bacterial growth because it protects bacteria from cell lysis and environmental insults. A typical Gram-positive bacterial cell wall is composed of peptidoglycan and the secondary cell wall polymers, wall teichoic acid (WTA) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA). In many Gram-positive bacteria, LTA is a polyglycerol-phosphate chain that is decorated with d-alanine and sugar residues. However, the function of and proteins responsible for the glycosylation of LTA are either unknown or not well-characterized. Here, using bioinformatics, genetic, and NMR spectroscopy approaches, we found that the Bacillus subtilis csbB and yfhO genes are essential for LTA glycosylation. Interestingly, the Listeria monocytogenes gene lmo1079, which encodes a YfhO homolog, was not required for LTA glycosylation, but instead was essential for WTA glycosylation. LTA is polymerized on the outside of the cell and hence can only be glycosylated extracellularly. Based on the similarity of the genes coding for YfhO homologs that are required in B. subtilis for LTA glycosylation or in L. monocytogenes for WTA glycosylation, we hypothesize that WTA glycosylation might also occur extracellularly in Listeria species. Finally, we discovered that in L. monocytogenes, lmo0626 (gtlB) was required for LTA glycosylation, indicating that the encoded protein has a function similar to that of YfhO, although the proteins are not homologous. Together, our results enable us to propose an updated model for LTA glycosylation and also indicate that glycosylation of WTA might occur through two different mechanisms in Gram-positive bacteria.

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“…Light microscopy inspection of these mutants revealed elongated cells twice as long as the wild type cells, and exhibiting bending and curving (Selle et al, 2017;Selle et al, 2014). However, contrarily to L. plantarum, and ltaS mutants of other species (Mamou et al, 2017;Oku et al, 2009;Schirner et al, 2009), no relevant growth defect was observed in L. acidophilus NCFM upon ltaS mutation (Mohamadzadeh et al, 2011). Both L.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Lipoteichoic acid depletion in Lactobacillus impacts cell morphology and stress response but does not abolish mercury surface binding

Alcántara

Crespo

Solís

et al. 2020

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Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is a key component of the cell wall of most Gram-positive bacteria and plays many structural and functional roles. In probiotic lactobacilli, the function of LTA in mediating bacteria/host cross-talk has been evidenced and it has been postulated that, owing to its anionic nature, LTA may play a role in toxic metal sequestration by these bacteria. However, studies on this last aspect employing strains unable to synthesise LTA are lacking. We have inactivated the LTA polymerase encoding gene ltaS in two different Lactobacillus plantarum strains. Analysis of LTA contents in wild-type and ltaS mutant strains corroborated the role of this gene as a major contributor to LTA synthesis in L. plantarum. The mutant strains displayed strain-dependent anomalous cell morphologies that resulted in elongated or irregular cells with aberrant septum formation. They also exhibited higher sensitivity to several stresses (osmotic and heat) and to antimicrobials that target the cell wall. The toxicity of inorganic [(Hg(II)] and organic mercury (methyl-Hg) was also increased upon ltaS mutation in a strain-dependent manner. However, the mutant strains showed 0 to 50% decrease in their capacity of Hg binding compared to their corresponding parental strains. This result suggests a partial contribution of LTA to Hg binding onto the cell surface that was dependent on the strain and the Hg form.

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Deficiency in Lipoteichoic Acid Synthesis Causes a Failure in Executing the Colony Developmental Program in Bacillus subtilis

Cited by 14 publications

References 37 publications

A mutant bacteriophage evolved to infect resistant bacteria gained a broader host range

A mutant bacteriophage evolved to infect resistant bacteria gained a broader host range

Discovery of genes required for lipoteichoic acid glycosylation predicts two distinct mechanisms for wall teichoic acid glycosylation

Lipoteichoic acid depletion in Lactobacillus impacts cell morphology and stress response but does not abolish mercury surface binding

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