Project description:Paenibacillus polymyxa is an agriculturally important plant growth promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR). Many Paenibacillus species are known to be engaged in complex bacteria-bacteria and bacteria-host interactions, which in other bacteria were shown to necessitate quorum sensing communication, but to date no quorum sensing systems have been described in Paenibacillus. Here we show that the type strain P. polymyxa ATCC 842 encodes at least 16 peptide-based communication systems. Each of these systems comprises a pro-peptide that is secreted to the growth medium and further processed to generate a mature short peptide. Each peptide has a cognate intracellular receptor of the RRNPP family, and we show that external addition of P. polymyxa communication peptides to the medium leads to reprogramming of the transcriptional response. We found that these quorum sensing systems are conserved across hundreds of species belonging to the Paenibacillaceae family, with some species encoding more than 25 different peptide-receptor pairs, representing a record number of quorum sensing systems encoded in a single genome.
Project description:Paenibacillus polymyxa is a root-associated plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium. It was reported that many strains of P. polymyxa naturally exhibited the phenotypic variation. In the phase variation, the characteristics of the wild-type ‘B’ and the variant ‘F’ are very different in sporulation formation, motility, antibiotic ability and so on. For better understanding of the actual physiological changes, we performed RNA-seq analyses of P. polymyxa E681 to compare genome wide patterns of gene expression. As a result, we obtained 1,062 differentially expressed genes related to flagellar assembly and transport systems.
Project description:Bacterial quorum sensing (QS) systems are characterized by the regulated biogenesis and sensing of specialized signaling molecules. Here, we describe a peptide, Qsp1, secreted by the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Mutants lacking Qsp1 are attenuated for infection, pulmonary accumulation, and growth within macrophages. Qsp1 promotes density-dependent cell wall integrity and resistance to extreme environments. Qsp1 is also required for a secreted aspartyl protease activity required for virulence. Further biochemical and large-scale genetic investigations reveal that cleavage of Qsp1 from the C-terminal of a pro-peptide requires a cell-associated serine protease and Qsp1 sensing requires a predicted oligopeptide importer. Strikingly, these features closely mirror the hallmarks of a peptide-based QS system found in gram-positive bacteria, despite no ancestral relationship between individual components. Our studies thus reveal a convergently evolved, peptide-based QS system required for the virulence of a fungal pathogen.
Project description:Aerobic methanotrophic bacteria use methane as their sole source of carbon and energy and serve as a major sink for the potent greenhouse gas methane in freshwater ecosystems. Despite this important environmental role, little is known about the molecular details of how these organisms interact in the environment. Many bacterial species use quorum sensing systems to regulate gene expression in a density-dependent manner. We have identified a quorum sensing system in the genome of Methylobacter tundripaludum, a dominant methane-oxidizer in methane enrichments of sediment from Lake Washington (Seattle, WA, USA). We determined that M. tundripaludum primarily produces N-3-hydroxydecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (3-OH-C10-HSL) and that production is governed by a positive feedback loop. We then further characterized this system by determining which genes are regulated by quorum sensing in this methane-oxidizer using RNA-seq, and discovered this system regulates the expression of a novel nonribosomal peptide synthetase biosynthetic gene cluster. These results identify and characterize a mode of cellular communication in an aerobic methane-oxidizing bacterium.
Project description:Aerobic methanotrophic bacteria use methane as their sole source of carbon and energy and serve as a major sink for the potent greenhouse gas methane in freshwater ecosystems. Despite this important environmental role, little is known about the molecular details of how these organisms interact in the environment. Many bacterial species use quorum sensing systems to regulate gene expression in a density-dependent manner. We have identified a quorum sensing system in the genome of Methylobacter tundripaludum, a dominant methane-oxidizer in methane enrichments of sediment from Lake Washington (Seattle, WA, USA). We determined that M. tundripaludum primarily produces N-3-hydroxydecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (3-OH-CÂ10-HSL) and that production is governed by a positive feedback loop. We then further characterized this system by determining which genes are regulated by quorum sensing in this methane-oxidizer using RNA-seq, and discovered this system regulates the expression of a novel nonribosomal peptide synthetase biosynthetic gene cluster. These results identify and characterize a mode of cellular communication in an aerobic methane-oxidizing bacterium. Samples are 2 sets of biological replicates of a Methylobacter tundripaludum strain 21/22 mutant where the acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) synthase gene mbaI (T451DRAFT_0796) has been deleted. The mutant strain was grown to log (48 hours) or stationary (68 hours) phase in the absence or presence of the AHL 3-OH-C10-HSL.
Project description:The primary mechanism by which pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide-based vaccines are believed to mediate protection is by induction of serotype-specific opsonic antibodies that facilitate bacterial killing by phagocytes (opsonophagocytosis). However, antibodies that are protective against experimental pneumococcal pneumonia in mice but do not promote opsonophagocytic killing in vitro have also been identified 1-3. Such non-opsonic antibodies are associated with bacterial clearance in vivo, but the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. In this letter, we demonstrate that a protective, non-opsonic serotype 3 pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide-specific monoclonal antibody (MAb) enhances quorum sensing, which results in competence induction and fratricide of serotype 3 pneumococcus. Gene expression profile analysis revealed that the MAb together with the pneumococcal autoinducer, competence stimulating peptide 2 (CSP2), augments differential expression of competence (com) related bacteriocin-like peptide (blp) genes that are known to be involved in pneumococcal fratricide. Taken together, these findings reveal a previously unsuspected mechanism of antibody action, namely, enhancement of quorum sensing and bacterial fratricide. Given that this activity does not require phagocytes, antibodies that function accordingly may hold promise as adjuncts to current vaccines or as desired products of next generation pneumococcal vaccines. 6 samples
Project description:Quorum sensing is a cell to cell communication process that involves chemical signaling. Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, has two functional AHL quorum sensing systems Ysp and Ype. For several reasons, it was not clear what effect AHL pathways have on virulence gene expression and survival in the two different hosts, flea and human. To investigate to what effect AHL quorum sensing has on gene expression, we conducted microarray studies comparing Yersinia pestis CO92 (∆pgm) to a double AHL mutant strain (∆pgm ΔypeIR ΔyspIR) at 37°C.
Project description:Quorum sensing is a cell to cell communication process that involves chemical signaling. Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, has two functional AHL quorum sensing systems Ysp and Ype. For several reasons, it was not clear what effect AHL pathways have on virulence gene expression and survival in the two different hosts, flea and human. To investigate to what effect AHL quorum sensing has on gene expression, we conducted microarray studies comparing Yersinia pestis CO92 (∆pgm) to a double AHL mutant strain (∆pgm ΔypeIR) at 30°C.
Project description:Quorum sensing is a cell to cell communication process that involves chemical signaling. Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, has two functional AHL quorum sensing systems Ysp and Ype. For several reasons, it was not clear what effect AHL pathways have on virulence gene expression and survival in the two different hosts, flea and human. To investigate to what effect Ysp AHL quorum sensing has on gene expression, we conducted microarray studies comparing Yersinia pestis CO92 (∆pgm) to a single AHL mutant strain (∆pgm ΔyspI) at 30°C.
Project description:Quorum sensing is a cell to cell communication process that involves chemical signaling. Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, has two functional AHL quorum sensing systems Ysp and Ype. For several reasons, it was not clear what effect AHL pathways have on virulence gene expression and survival in the two different hosts, flea and human. To investigate to what effect Ysp AHL quorum sensing has on gene expression, we conducted microarray studies comparing Yersinia pestis CO92 (∆pgm) to a single AHL mutant strain (∆pgm ΔyspI) at 37°C.