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Bacillus subtilis tagD mutant

ABSTRACT: The bacterial cell wall has been a celebrated target for antibiotics and holds real promise as a target for the discovery of new chemical matter to surmount pervasive multi-drug resistance among pathogenic bacteria. While the walls of Gram-negative bacteria are composed primarily of peptidoglycan, those of Gram-positives are more substantial and contain, in addition, large amounts of the polymer teichoic acid, covalently attached to peptidoglycan. Wall teichoic acids are a diverse group of phosphate-rich, extracellular polysaccharides that have been largely regarded as ancillary cell surface components. Recently, wall teichoic acid was shown to be essential to the proper rod-shaped cell morphology of the prototype Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis and an important virulence factor for the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Thus wall teichoic acid synthesis is an intriguing target for the development of new cell wall-active antibiotics. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that the dispensability of genes encoding teichoic acid biosynthetic enzymes in both B. subtilis and S. aureus is paradoxical and complex. Here, we report here on the discovery of a promoter (PywaC), which is sensitive to lesions in teichoic acid synthesis. Using this promoter we developed a luminescent, cell-based, reporter system to take a chemical-genetic approach to understanding the complexity of wall teichoic acid biogenesis using a large collection of antibiotics of well characterized biological activity. Our results reveal surprising interactions among undecaprenol, peptidoglycan and teichoic acid biosynthesis that help explain the complexity of teichoic acid gene dispensability. Furthermore, the new reporter assay represents an exciting avenue for the discovery of novel antibacterial molecules that impinge broadly on Gram-positive bacterial cell wall biogenesis. Keywords: comparison between depleted and repleted tagD mutant

ORGANISM(S): Bacillus subtilis

PROVIDER: GSE7373 | GEO | 2008/03/01

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA100403

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The discovery of antibiotics has led to the effective treatment of bacterial infections that were otherwise fatal and has had a transformative effect on modern medicine. Teixobactin is an unusual depsipeptide natural product that was recently discovered from a previously unculturable soil bacterium which is active against several Gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci. One of the key attractive features of teixobactin as an antibiotic lead is that resistance could not be generated in a laboratory setting against S. aureus. This is proposed to be a result of the mechanism of action that involves binding to essential bacterial cell wall synthesis building blocks lipid II and lipid III.In the present study, metabolomics was used to investigate the potential metabolic pathways and mode of action involved in mechanisms of antibacterial activity and bacterial killing of the synthetic teixobactin analog Leu10-teixobactin against an MRSA strain, S. aureus ATCC700699. The metabolomes of S. aureus ATCC700699 cells were compared at 1, 3 and 6 h following treatment with Leu10-teixobactin (0.5 µg/ml, i.e. 0.5x MIC) and the untreated controls. Leu10-teixobactin significantly perturbed bacterial membrane lipids (glycerophospholipids and fatty acids), peptidoglycan (lipid I and II) metabolism and cell wall teichoic acid (lipid III) biosynthesis as early as after 1 h of treatment reflecting an initial activity on the cell envelope. Concordant with its time-dependent antibacterial killing action, Leu10-teixobactin caused more perturbations in the levels of key intermediates in pathways of amino-sugar and nucleotide-sugar metabolism and their downstream peptidoglycan and teichoic acid biosynthesis at 3 and 6 h. Significant perturbations in arginine metabolism and interrelated tricarboxylic acid cycle, histidine metabolism, pantothenate and Coenzyme A biosynthesis were also observed at 3 and 6 h.To conclude, this is the first study to provide novel metabolomics mechanistic information which lends to support the development of teixobactin as an antibacterial drug for the treatment of multi-drug resistant Gram-positive infections.

Project description:Subinhibitory concentrations of the neuroleptic drug thioridazine (TDZ) are well-known to enhance the killing of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) by Î²-lactam antibiotics, however, the mechanism underlying the synergy between TDZ and Î²-lactams is not fully understood. In the present study we have examined the effect of a subinhibitory concentration of TDZ on antimicrobial resistance, the global transcriptome, and the cell wall composition of MRSA USA300. We show that TDZ is able to sensitize the bacteria to several classes of antimicrobials targeting the late stages of peptidoglycan synthesis. Furthermore, our microarray analysis demonstrates that TDZ modulates the expression of genes encoding membrane and surface proteins, transporters, and enzymes involved in amino acid biosynthesis. Interestingly, resemblance between the transcriptional profile of TDZ treatment and the transcriptomic response of S. aureus to known inhibitors of cell wall synthesis suggests that TDZ disturbs peptidoglycan biosynthesis at a stage that precedes transpeptidation. In support of this notion, dramatic changes in the muropeptide profile of USA300 were observed following growth in the presence of TDZ, indicating that TDZ can interfere with the formation of the pentaglycine branches. Strikingly, the addition of glycine to the growth medium relieved the effect of TDZ on the muropeptide profile. Furthermore, exogenous glycine offered a modest protective effect against TDZ-induced Î²-lactam sensitivity. We propose that TDZ exposure leads to a shortage of intracellular amino acids, including glycine, which is required for the production of normal peptidoglycan precursors with pentaglycine branches, the correct substrate of S. aureus penicillin-binding proteins. Collectively, this work demonstrates that TDZ has a major impact on the cell wall biosynthesis pathway in S. aureus and provides new insights into how MRSA may be sensitized towards Î²-lactam antibiotics. Staphylococcus aureus USA300 was grown to early exponential phase and treated with TDZ (16 Âµg/ml) alone or in combination with DCX (0.125 Âµg/ml) for 30 min. Changes in global gene expression were analyzed using the untreated culture as control. Hybridizations were performed in triplicate using RNA isolated from independent cultures.

Project description:The common research strain S. aureus NCTC 8325-4 was subjected to serial passage in increasing concentrations of ramoplanin. The resulting strain, RSPA16, had reduced susceptibility to not only ramoplanin but vancomycin and nisin as well. Electron microscopy revealed that the cell wall of RSPA16 was double the thickness of the susceptible progenitor strain, a phenotype commonly observed in vancomycin intermediate resistant S. aureus (VISA) strains. RSPA16 was also less susceptible to lysis induced by Triton X-100 than its progenitor strain. Transcriptional profiling experiments were performed with NCTC 8325-4 and RSPA16 without antibiotic exposure and exposed to ramoplanin. Increased expression of genes associated with cell wall stress was observed when either strain was treated with ramoplanin. We also observed that treatment with ramoplanin altered of the expression levels of numerous genes encoding proteins involved with amino acid biosynthesis, central metabolic pathways, nucleotide biosynthesis, iron acquisition, ABC transporters and regulation of transcription. Comparison of the transcriptional profiles of RSPA16 and NCTC 8325-4 not exposed to ramoplanin revealed alterations in the expression of levels of several genes involved with biosynthesis of teichoic acids, biosynthesis of peptidoglycan, central metabolism, DNA replication, nucleotide biosynthesis, iron acquisition, ABC transporters, and regulation of transcription. These transcriptional profiles provide insights into the possible sources of the reduced susceptibility of RSPA16 to peptide antibiotics. Mid log phase (OD620 = 0.4) batch TSB cultures of ramoplanin susceptible (NCTC 8325-4) and resistant (RSPA16) strains of S. aureus were exposed to ramoplanin for 30 minutes at 37 C. Untreated controls were performed for each strain as well. The transcriptional response was determined using Affymetrix Gene Chip Arrays. This study also examines the transcriptional alterations which confer reduced susceptibility to ramoplanin as the transcriptional profiles of NCTC 8325-4 and RSPA16 each untreated were compared.

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Bacillus subtilis tagD mutant

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