Dual-use virulence factors of the opportunistic pathogen <i>Chromobacterium haemolyticum</i> mediate hemolysis and colonization.

ABSTRACT: Chromobacterium haemolyticum is an environmental bacterium that can cause severe and fatal opportunistic infections in humans and animals. Although C. haemolyticum is characterized by its strong β-hemolytic activity, the molecular basis of this phenotype has remained elusive over the more than 15 years since the species was first described. Herein, we report a family of cyclic lipodepsipeptides, the jagaricins, that are responsible for the potent hemolytic activity of C. haemolyticum. Comparative genomics of C. haemolyticum strains revealed a completely conserved gene locus (hml) encoding a nonribosomal peptide synthetase. Metabolic profiling of C. haemolyticum DSM 19808 identified a suite of cyclic lipodepsipeptides as the products, with the three

SUBMITTER: Dumjahn L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12077216 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature