| 1. |
- Bueno, Emilio, et al.
(author)
-
Anaerobic nitrate reduction divergently governs population expansion of the enteropathogen Vibrio cholerae
- 2018
-
In: Nature Microbiology. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2058-5276. ; 3:12, s. 1346-1353
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To survive and proliferate in the absence of oxygen, many enteric pathogens can undergo anaerobic respiration within the host by using nitrate (NO3-) as an electron acceptor(1,2). In these bacteria, NO3- is typically reduced by a nitrate reductase to nitrite (NO2-), a toxic intermediate that is further reduced by a nitrite reductase(3). However, Vibrio cholerae, the intestinal pathogen that causes cholera, lacks a nitrite reductase, leading to NO2- accumulation during nitrate reduction 4(.) Thus, V. cholerae is thought to be unable to undergo NO3-(-)dependent anaerobic respiration(4). Here, we show that during hypoxic growth, NO3- reduction in V. cholerae divergently affects bacterial fitness in a manner dependent on environmental pH. Remarkably, in alkaline conditions, V. cholerae can reduce NO3- to support population growth. Conversely, in acidic conditions, accumulation of NO2- from NO3- reduction simultaneously limits population expansion and preserves cell viability by lowering fermentative acid production. Interestingly, other bacterial species such as Salmonella typhimurium, enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and Citrobacter rodentium also reproduced this pH-dependent response, suggesting that this mechanism might be conserved within enteric pathogens. Our findings explain how a bacterial pathogen can use a single redox reaction to divergently regulate population expansion depending on the fluctuating environmental pH.
|
|
| 2. |
- Bueno, Emilio, et al.
(author)
-
Genetic Dissection of the Fermentative and Respiratory Contributions Supporting Vibrio cholerae Hypoxic Growth
- 2020
-
In: Journal of Bacteriology. - : American Society for Microbiology. - 0021-9193 .- 1098-5530. ; 202:24
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Both fermentative and respiratory processes contribute to bacterial metabolic adaptations to low oxygen tension (hypoxia). In the absence of O-2 as a respiratory electron sink, many bacteria utilize alternative electron acceptors, such as nitrate (NO3-). During canonical NO3- respiration, NO3- is reduced in a stepwise manner to N-2 by a dedicated set of reductases. Vibrio cholerae, the etiological agent of cholera, requires only a single periplasmic NO3- reductase (NapA) to undergo NO3- respiration, suggesting that the pathogen possesses a noncanonical NO3- respiratory chain. In this study, we used complementary transposon-based screens to identify genetic determinants of general hypoxic growth and NO3- respiration in V. cholerae. We found that while the V. cholerae NO3- respiratory chain is primarily composed of homologues of established NO3- respiratory genes, it also includes components previously unlinked to this process, such as the Na+-NADH dehydrogenase Nqr. The ethanol-generating enzyme AdhE was shown to be the principal fermentative branch required during hypoxic growth in V. cholerae. Relative to single adhE or napA mutant strains, a V. cholerae strain lacking both genes exhibited severely impaired hypoxic growth in vitro and in vivo. Our findings reveal the genetic basis of a specific interaction between disparate energy production pathways that supports pathogen fitness under shifting conditions. Such metabolic specializations in V. cholerae and other pathogens are potential targets for antimicrobial interventions.IMPORTANCE Bacteria reprogram their metabolism in environments with low oxygen levels (hypoxia). Typically, this occurs via regulation of two major, but largely independent, metabolic pathways: fermentation and respiration. In this study, we found that the diarrheal pathogen Vibrio cholerae has a respiratory chain for NO3- that consists largely of components found in other NO3- respiratory systems but also contains several proteins not previously linked to this process. Both AdhE-dependent fermentation and NO3- respiration were required for efficient pathogen growth under both laboratory conditions and in an animal infection model. These observations provide a specific example of fermentative respiratory interactions and identify metabolic vulnerabilities that may be targetable for new antimicrobial agents in V. cholerae and related pathogens.
|
|
| 3. |
- del Peso Santos, Teresa, et al.
(author)
-
BipA exerts temperature-dependent translational control of biofilm-associated colony morphology in Vibrio cholerae
- 2021
-
In: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd.. - 2050-084X. ; 10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Adaptation to shifting temperatures is crucial for the survival of the bacterial pathogen Vibrio cholerae. Here, we show that colony rugosity, a biofilm-associated phenotype, is regulated by temperature in V. cholerae strains that naturally lack the master biofilm transcriptional regulator HapR. Using transposon-insertion mutagenesis, we found the V. cholerae ortholog of BipA, a conserved ribosome-associated GTPase, is critical for this temperature-dependent phenomenon. Proteomic analyses revealed that loss of BipA alters the synthesis of >300 proteins in V. cholerae at 22˚C, increasing the production of biofilm-related proteins including the key transcriptional activators VpsR and VpsT, as well as proteins important for diverse cellular processes. At low temperatures, BipA protein levels increase and are required for optimal ribosome assembly in V. cholerae, suggesting that control of BipA abundance is a mechanism by which bacteria can remodel their proteomes. Our study reveals a remarkable new facet of V. cholerae’s complex biofilm regulatory network.
|
|
| 4. |
- Sit, Brandon, et al.
(author)
-
Undecaprenyl phosphate translocases confer conditional microbial fitness
- 2023
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 613:7945, s. 721-728
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The microbial cell wall is essential for maintenance of cell shape and resistance to external stressors1. The primary structural component of the cell wall is peptidoglycan, a glycopolymer with peptide crosslinks located outside of the cell membrane1. Peptidoglycan biosynthesis and structure are responsive to shifting environmental conditions such as pH and salinity2–6, but the mechanisms underlying such adaptations are incompletely understood. Precursors of peptidoglycan and other cell surface glycopolymers are synthesized in the cytoplasm and then delivered across the cell membrane bound to the recyclable lipid carrier undecaprenyl phosphate7 (C55-P, also known as UndP). Here we identify the DUF368-containing and DedA transmembrane protein families as candidate C55-P translocases, filling a critical gap in knowledge of the proteins required for the biogenesis of microbial cell surface polymers. Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria lacking their cognate DUF368-containing protein exhibited alkaline-dependent cell wall and viability defects, along with increased cell surface C55-P levels. pH-dependent synthetic genetic interactions between DUF368-containing proteins and DedA family members suggest that C55-P transporter usage is dynamic and modulated by environmental inputs. C55-P transporter activity was required by the cholera pathogen for growth and cell shape maintenance in the intestine. We propose that conditional transporter reliance provides resilience in lipid carrier recycling, bolstering microbial fitness both inside and outside the host.
|
|
