Extracellular vesicle formation in Lactococcus lactis is stimulated by prophage-encoded holin-lysin system.

ABSTRACT: Gram-positive bacterial extracellular membrane vesicles (EVs) have been drawing more attention in recent years. However, mechanistic insights are still lacking on how EVs are released through the cell walls in Gram-positive bacteria. In this study, we characterized underlying mechanisms of EV production and provide evidence for a role of prophage activation in EV release using the Gram-positive bacterium Lactococcus lactis as a model. By applying a standard EV isolation procedure, we observed the presence of EVs in the culture supernatant of a lysogenic L. lactis strain FM-YL11, for which the prophage-inducing condition led to an over 10-fold increase in EV production in comparison with the non-inducing condition. In contrast, the prophage-encoded holin-lysin knockout mutant YL11ΔHLH and t

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8966010 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature