In the lactic acid bacterium Lactococcus lactis, a cell wall polysaccharide (CWPS) is the bacterial receptor of the majority of infecting bacteriophages. The diversity of CWPS structures between ...strains explains, at least partially, the narrow host range of lactococcal phages. In the present work, we studied the polysaccharide components of the cell wall of the prototype L. lactis subsp. lactis strain IL1403. We identified a rhamnose-rich complex polysaccharide, carrying a glycerophosphate substitution, as the major component. Its structure was analyzed by 2D NMR spectroscopy, methylation analysis and MALDI-TOF MS and shown to be distinctly different from currently known lactococcal CWPS structures. It contains a linear backbone of repeated α-l-Rha disaccharide subunits, which is irregularly substituted with a trisaccharide occasionally bearing a glycerophosphate group. A poly (glycerol phosphate) teichoic acid, another important carbohydrate component of the IL1403 cell wall, was also isolated and structurally characterized.
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•Structure of a polysaccharide from the dairy lactococcal strain IL1403 was elucidated.•This structure is more related to an A-type lactococcal polysaccharide than C-type.•The polysaccharide is enriched with rhamnose and contains glycerophosphate.•Unique polysaccharide composition validates genetic diversity of the encoding operon.
Lactococcus spp. are applied routinely in dairy fermentations and their consistent growth and associated acidification activity is critical to ensure the quality and safety of fermented dairy foods. ...Bacteriophages pose a significant threat to such fermentations and thus it is imperative to study how these bacteria may evade their viral predators in the relevant confined settings. Many lactococcal phages are known to specifically recognise and bind to cell wall polysaccharides (CWPSs) and particularly the phospho-polysaccharide (PSP) side chain component that is exposed on the host cell surface. In the present study, we generated derivatives of a lactococcal strain with reduced phage sensitivity to establish the mode of phage evasion. The resulting mutants were characterized using a combination of comparative genome analysis, microbiological and chemical analyses. Using these approaches, it was established that the phage-resistant derivatives incorporated mutations in genes within the cluster associated with CWPS biosynthesis resulting in growth and morphological defects that could revert when the selective pressure of phages was removed. Furthermore, the cell wall extracts of selected mutants revealed that the phage-resistant strains produced intact PSP but in significantly reduced amounts. The reduced availability of the PSP and the ability of lactococcal strains to revert rapidly to wild type growth and activity in the absence of phage pressure provides Lactococcus with the means to survive and evade phage attack.
•Reduction in phosphopolysaccharides on the lactococcal cell surface reduces phage infectivity•Reduced phosphopolysaccharide synthesis results in phenotypic aberrations and a temporary reprieve from phage predation•In dairy fermentations, this may be a strategy to ensure survival of strains and completion of the fermentation process
Peptidoglycan hydrolases (PGHs) are responsible for bacterial cell lysis. Most PGHs have a modular structure comprising a catalytic domain and a cell wall-binding domain (CWBD). PGHs of bacteriophage ...origin, called endolysins, are involved in bacterial lysis at the end of the infection cycle. We have characterized two endolysins, Lc-Lys and Lc-Lys-2, identified in prophages present in the genome of Lactobacillus casei BL23. These two enzymes have different catalytic domains but similar putative C-terminal CWBDs. By analyzing purified peptidoglycan (PG) degradation products, we showed that Lc-Lys is an N-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine amidase, whereas Lc-Lys-2 is a γ-d-glutamyl-l-lysyl endopeptidase. Remarkably, both lysins were able to lyse only Gram-positive bacterial strains that possess PG with d-Ala4→d-Asx-l-Lys3 in their cross-bridge, such as Lactococcus casei, Lactococcus lactis, and Enterococcus faecium. By testing a panel of L. lactis cell wall mutants, we observed that Lc-Lys and Lc-Lys-2 were not able to lyse mutants with a modified PG cross-bridge, constituting d-Ala4→l-Ala-(l-Ala/l-Ser)-l-Lys3; moreover, they do not lyse the L. lactis mutant containing only the nonamidated d-Asp cross-bridge, i.e.d-Ala4→d-Asp-l-Lys3. In contrast, Lc-Lys could lyse the ampicillin-resistant E. faecium mutant with 3→3 l-Lys3-d-Asn-l-Lys3 bridges replacing the wild-type 4→3 d-Ala4-d-Asn-l-Lys3 bridges. We showed that the C-terminal CWBD of Lc-Lys binds PG containing mainly d-Asn but not PG with only the nonamidated d-Asp-containing cross-bridge, indicating that the CWBD confers to Lc-Lys its narrow specificity. In conclusion, the CWBD characterized in this study is a novel type of PG-binding domain targeting specifically the d-Asn interpeptide bridge of PG.
Background: Peptidoglycan hydrolases, including bacterial autolysins and bacteriophage endolysins, contain generally a cell wall-binding domain (CWBD), responsible for their high affinity and specificity toward target cell walls.
Results: Two Lactobacillus casei endolysins lyse only bacterial cells with a d-Asn cross-bridge in their peptidoglycan.
Conclusion: The CWBD of these two endolysins recognizes specifically peptidoglycan with a d-Asn cross-bridge.
Significance: This CWBD is a novel type of peptidoglycan-binding domain.
Ribosomal RNA molecules are widely used for phylogenetic and in situ identification of bacteria. Nevertheless, their use to distinguish microorganisms within a species is often restricted by the high ...degree of sequence conservation and limited probe accessibility to the target in fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). To overcome these limitations, we examined the use of tmRNA for in situ identification. In E. coli, this stable 363 nucleotides long RNA is encoded by the ssrA gene, which is involved in the degradation of truncated proteins.
Conserved sequences at the 5'- and 3'-ends of tmRNA genes were used to design universal primers that could amplify the internal part of ssrA from Gram-positive bacteria having low G+C content, i.e. genera Bacillus, Enterococcus, Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Listeria, Streptococcus and Staphylococcus. Sequence analysis of tmRNAs showed that this molecule can be used for phylogenetic assignment of bacteria. Compared to 16S rRNA, the tmRNA nucleotide sequences of some bacteria, for example Listeria, display considerable divergence between species. Using E. coli as an example, we have shown that bacteria can be specifically visualized by FISH with tmRNA targeted probes.
Features of tmRNA, including its presence in phylogenetically distant bacteria, conserved regions at gene extremities and a potential to serve as target for FISH, make this molecule a possible candidate for identification of bacteria.
Polysaccharides are ubiquitous components of the Gram-positive bacterial cell wall. In
, a polysaccharide pellicle (PSP) forms a layer at the cell surface. The PSP structure varies among lactococcal ...strains; in
MG1363, the PSP is composed of repeating hexasaccharide phosphate units. Here, we report the presence of an additional neutral polysaccharide in
MG1363 that is a rhamnan composed of α-l-Rha trisaccharide repeating units. This rhamnan is still present in mutants devoid of the PSP, indicating that its synthesis can occur independently of PSP synthesis. High-resolution magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (HR-MAS NMR) analysis of whole bacterial cells identified a PSP at the surface of wild-type cells. In contrast, rhamnan was detected only at the surface of PSP-negative mutant cells, indicating that rhamnan is located underneath the surface-exposed PSP and is trapped inside peptidoglycan. The genetic determinants of rhamnan biosynthesis appear to be within the same genetic locus that encodes the PSP biosynthetic machinery, except the gene
encoding the initiating glycosyltransferase. We present a model of rhamnan biosynthesis based on an ABC transporter-dependent pathway. Conditional mutants producing reduced amounts of rhamnan exhibit strong morphological defects and impaired division, indicating that rhamnan is essential for normal growth and division. Finally, a mutation leading to reduced expression of
, encoding a protein of the LytR-CpsA-Psr (LCP) family, was shown to severely affect cell wall structure. In
mutant cells, in contrast to wild-type cells, rhamnan was detected by HR-MAS NMR, suggesting that LcpA participates in the attachment of rhamnan to peptidoglycan.
In the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria, the peptidoglycan sacculus is considered the major structural component, maintaining cell shape and integrity. It is decorated with other glycopolymers, including polysaccharides, the roles of which are not fully elucidated. In the ovococcus
, a polysaccharide with a different structure between strains forms a layer at the bacterial surface and acts as the receptor for various bacteriophages that typically exhibit a narrow host range. The present report describes the identification of a novel polysaccharide in the
cell wall, a rhamnan that is trapped inside the peptidoglycan and covalently bound to it. We propose a model of rhamnan synthesis based on an ABC transporter-dependent pathway. Rhamnan appears as a conserved component of the lactococcal cell wall playing an essential role in growth and division, thus highlighting the importance of polysaccharides in the cell wall integrity of Gram-positive ovococci.
The cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria is a complex assemblage of glycopolymers and proteins. It consists of a thick peptidoglycan sacculus that surrounds the cytoplasmic membrane and that is ...decorated with teichoic acids, polysaccharides, and proteins. It plays a major role in bacterial physiology since it maintains cell shape and integrity during growth and division; in addition, it acts as the interface between the bacterium and its environment. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are traditionally and widely used to ferment food, and they are also the subject of more and more research because of their potential health-related benefits. It is now recognized that understanding the composition, structure, and properties of Lcell walls is a crucial part of developing technological and health applications using these bacteria. In this review, we examine the different components of the Gram-positive cell wall: peptidoglycan, teichoic acids, polysaccharides, and proteins. We present recent findings regarding the structure and function of these complex compounds, results that have emerged thanks to the tandem development of structural analysis and whole genome sequencing. Although general structures and biosynthesis pathways are conserved among Gram-positive bacteria, studies have revealed that Lcell walls demonstrate unique properties; these studies have yielded some notable, fundamental, and novel findings. Given the potential of this research to contribute to future applied strategies, in our discussion of the role played by cell wall components in Lphysiology, we pay special attention to the mechanisms controlling bacterial autolysis, bacterial sensitivity to bacteriophages and the mechanisms underlying interactions between probiotic bacteria and their hosts
Abstract
In bacterial communities one bacterium can influence the growth of other members of the population. These interactions may be based on nutritional factors or may occur via bacterial ...signaling molecules that are released in the medium. We present an example, showing that in addition to the above means of interactions, muramidases, enzymes that specifically cleave peptidoglycan chains, can also mediate interactions between bacteria. Using fluorescent in situ hybridization we demonstrate that Lactococcus lactis muramidase AcmA can hydrolyze the cell wall of Streptococcus thermophilus, without affecting viability. This intercellular activity of the lactococcal muramidase results in chain disruption of streptococci in vivo. Our data lead us to propose that chains can give growth advantages to streptococci in aerobic conditions.
To ensure optimal cell growth and separation and to adapt to environmental parameters, bacteria have to maintain a balance between cell wall (CW) rigidity and flexibility. This can be achieved by a ...concerted action of peptidoglycan (PG) hydrolases and PG-synthesizing/modifying enzymes. In a search for new regulatory mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of this equilibrium in Lactococcus lactis, we isolated mutants that are resistant to the PG hydrolase lysozyme. We found that 14% of the causative mutations were mapped in the guaA gene, the product of which is involved in purine metabolism. Genetic and transcriptional analyses combined with PG structure determination of the guaA mutant enabled us to reveal the pivotal role of the pyrB gene in the regulation of CW rigidity. Our results indicate that conversion of l-aspartate (l-Asp) to N-carbamoyl-l-aspartate by PyrB may reduce the amount of l-Asp available for PG synthesis and thus cause the appearance of Asp/Asn-less stem peptides in PG. Such stem peptides do not form PG cross-bridges, resulting in a decrease in PG cross-linking and, consequently, reduced PG thickness and rigidity. We hypothesize that the concurrent utilization of l-Asp for pyrimidine and PG synthesis may be part of the regulatory scheme, ensuring CW flexibility during exponential growth and rigidity in stationary phase. The fact that l-Asp availability is dependent on nucleotide metabolism, which is tightly regulated in accordance with the growth rate, provides L. lactis cells the means to ensure optimal CW plasticity without the need to control the expression of PG synthesis genes.
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