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 LAB cell 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 LAB cell 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 LAB physiology, 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.
Planktonic Listeria monocytogenes cells in food-processing environments tend most frequently to adhere to solid surfaces. Under these conditions, they are likely to encounter resident biofilms rather ...than a raw solid surface. Although metabolic interactions between L. monocytogenes and resident microflora have been widely studied, little is known about the biofilm properties that influence the initial fixation of L. monocytogenes to the biofilm interface. To study these properties, we created a set of model resident Lactococcus lactis biofilms with various architectures, types of matrices, and individual cell surface properties. This was achieved using cell wall mutants that affect bacterial chain formation, exopolysaccharide (EPS) synthesis and surface hydrophobicity. The dynamics of the formation of these biofilm structures were analyzed in flow cell chambers using in situ time course confocal laser scanning microscopy imaging. All the L. lactis biofilms tested reduced the initial immobilization of L. monocytogenes compared to the glass substratum of the flow cell. Significant differences were seen in L. monocytogenes settlement as a function of the genetic background of resident lactococcal biofilm cells. In particular, biofilms of the L. lactis chain-forming mutant resulted in a marked increase in L. monocytogenes settlement, while biofilms of the EPS-secreting mutant efficiently prevented pathogen fixation. These results offer new insights into the role of resident biofilms in governing the settlement of pathogens on food chain surfaces and could be of relevance in the field of food safety controls.
currently represents one of the most important nosocomial infection agent due to its multidrug-resistance and a propensity for the epidemic spread. The
strains belonging to the international clonal ...lineages I (IC I) and II (IC II) are associated with the hospital outbreaks and a high virulence. However, the intra and inter lineage-specific features of strains belonging to these most worldwide spread
clones are not thoroughly explored. In this study we have investigated a set of cell surface-related features of
IC I (
= 20) and IC II (
= 16) lineage strains, representing 30 distinct pulsed-field gel electrophoresis types in the collection of clinical isolates obtained in Lithuanian tertiary care hospitals. We show that
IC II strains are non-motile, do not form pellicle and display distinct capsular polysaccharide profile compared with the IC I strains. Moreover, in contrast to the overall highly hydrophobic IC I strains, IC II strains showed a greater variation in cell surface hydrophobicity. Within the IC II lineage, hydrophilic strains demonstrated reduced ability to form biofilm and adhere to the abiotic surfaces, also possessed twofold thicker cell wall and exhibited higher resistance to desiccation. Furthermore, these strains showed increased adherence to the lung epithelial cells and were more virulent in nematode and mouse infection model compared with the hydrophobic IC II strains. According to the polymerase chain reaction-based locus-typing, the reduction in hydrophobicity of IC II strains was not capsule or lipooligosaccharide locus type-dependent. Hence, this study shows that the most widespread
clonal lineages I and II markedly differ in the series of cell surface-related phenotypes including the considerable phenotypic diversification of IC II strains at the intra-lineage level. These findings suggest that the genotypically related
strains might evolve the features which could provide an advantage at the specific conditions outside or within the host.
Beneficial microbes that target molecules and pathways, such as oxidative stress, which can negatively affect both host and microbiota, may hold promise as an inflammatory bowel disease therapy. ...Prior work showed that a five-strain fermented milk product (FMP) improved colitis in T-bet(-/-) Rag2(-/-) mice. By varying the number of strains used in the FMP, we found that Lactococcus lactis I-1631 was sufficient to ameliorate colitis. Using comparative genomic analyses, we identified genes unique to L. lactis I-1631 involved in oxygen respiration. Respiration of oxygen results in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Also, ROS are produced at high levels during intestinal inflammation and cause tissue damage. L. lactis I-1631 possesses genes encoding enzymes that detoxify ROS, such as superoxide dismutase (SodA). Thus, we hypothesized that lactococcal SodA played a role in attenuating colitis. Inactivation of the sodA gene abolished L. lactis I-1631's beneficial effect in the T-bet(-/-) Rag2(-/-) model. Similar effects were obtained in two additional colonic inflammation models, Il10(-/-) mice and dextran sulfate sodium-treated mice. Efforts to understand how a lipophobic superoxide anion (O2 (-)) can be detoxified by cytoplasmic lactoccocal SodA led to the finding that host antimicrobial-mediated lysis is a prerequisite for SodA release and SodA's extracytoplasmic O2 (-) scavenging. L. lactis I-1631 may represent a promising vehicle to deliver antioxidant, colitis-attenuating SodA to the inflamed intestinal mucosa, and host antimicrobials may play a critical role in mediating SodA's bioaccessibility.
Diffusion of entities inside biofilm triggers most mechanisms involved in biofilm-specific phenotypes. Using genetically engineered hydrophilic and hydrophobic cells of Lactococcus lactis yielding ...similar biofilm architectures, we demonstrated by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy that bacterial surface properties affect diffusion of nanoparticles through the biofilm matrix.
Summary
Bacterial adhesion is a critical step for colonization of the host. The pioneer colonizer and commensal bacterium of the human gastrointestinal tract, Streptococcus salivarius, has strong ...adhesive properties but the molecular determinants of this adhesion remain uncharacterized. Serine‐rich repeat (SRR) glycoproteins are a family of adhesins that fulfil an important role in adhesion. In general, Gram‐positive bacterial genomes have a unique SRR glycoprotein‐encoding gene. We demonstrate that S. salivarius expresses three large and glycosylated surface‐exposed proteins – SrpA, SrpB and SrpC – that show characteristics of SRR glycoproteins and are secreted through the accessory SecA2/Y2 system. Two glycosyltransferases – GtfE/F – encoded outside of the secA2/Y2 locus, unusually, perform the first step of the sequential glycosylation process, which is crucial for SRR activity. We show that SrpB and SrpC play complementary adhesive roles involved in several steps of the colonization process: auto‐aggregation, biofilm formation and adhesion to a variety of host epithelial cells and components. We also show that at least one of the S. salivarius SRR glycoproteins is important for colonization in mice. SrpA, SrpB and SrpC are the main factors underlying the multifaceted adhesion of S. salivarius and, therefore, play a major role in host colonization.
In Gram-positive bacteria, the functional role of surface polysaccharides (PS) that are not of capsular nature remains poorly understood. Here, we report the presence of a novel cell wall PS pellicle ...on the surface of Lactococcus lactis. Spontaneous PS-negative mutants were selected using semi-liquid growth conditions, and all mutations were mapped in a single chromosomal locus coding for PS biosynthesis. PS molecules were shown to be composed of hexasaccharide phosphate repeating units that are distinct from other bacterial PS. Using complementary atomic force and transmission electron microscopy techniques, we showed that the PS layer forms an outer pellicle surrounding the cell. Notably, we found that this cell wall layer confers a protective barrier against host phagocytosis by murine macrophages. Altogether, our results suggest that the PS pellicle could represent a new cell envelope structural component of Gram-positive bacteria.
Surfaces in industrial settings provide a home for resident biofilms that are likely to interact with the attachment, growth and survival of pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes. Experimental ...results have indicated that L. monocytogenes cells were inhibited by the presence of a model resident flora (Lactococcus lactis) in dual-species continuous flow-biofilms, and are spatially restricted to the lower biofilm layers. Using a new, simplified individual-based model (IBM) that simulates bacterial cell growth in a three-dimensional space, the spatial arrangements of the two species were reconstructed and their cell counts successfully predicted. This model showed that the difference in generation times between L. monocytogenes and L. lactis cells during the initial stages of dual-species biofilm formation was probably responsible for the species spatialization observed and the subsequent inhibition of growth of the pathogen.
The spatial organization of peptidoglycan, the major constituent of bacterial cell-walls, is an important, yet still unsolved issue in microbiology. In this paper, we show that the combined use of ...atomic force microscopy and cell wall mutants is a powerful platform for probing the nanoscale architecture of cell wall peptidoglycan in living Gram-positive bacteria. Using topographic imaging, we found that Lactococcus lactis wild-type cells display a smooth, featureless surface morphology, whereas mutant strains lacking cell wall exopolysaccharides feature 25-nm-wide periodic bands running parallel to the short axis of the cell. In addition, we used single-molecule recognition imaging to show that parallel bands are made of peptidoglycan. Our data, obtained for the first time on living ovococci, argue for an architectural feature of the cell wall in the plane perpendicular to the long axis of the cell. The non-invasive live cell experiments presented here open new avenues for understanding the architecture and assembly of peptidoglycan in Gram-positive bacteria.
The safe use and design of nanoparticles (NPs) ask for a comprehensive interpretation of their potentially adverse effects on (micro)organisms. In this respect, the prior assessment of the ...interactions experienced by NPs in the vicinity of - and in contact with - complex biological surfaces is mandatory. It requires the development of suitable techniques for deciphering the processes that govern nano-bio interactions when a single organism is exposed to an extremely low dose of NPs. Here, we used atomic force spectroscopy (AFM)-based force measurements to investigate at the nanoscale the interactions between carboxylate-terminated polyamidoamine (PAMAM) nanodendrimers (radius ca. 4.5 nm) and two bacteria with very distinct surface properties, Escherichia coli and Lactococcus lactis. The zwitterionic nanodendrimers exhibit a negative peripheral surface charge and/or a positive intraparticulate core depending on the solution pH and salt concentration. Following an original strategy according to which a single dendrimer NP is grafted at the very apex of the AFM tip, the density and localization of NP binding sites are probed at the surface of E. coli and L. lactis mutants expressing different cell surface structures (presence/absence of the O-antigen of the lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or of a polysaccharide pellicle). In line with electrokinetic analysis, AFM force measurements evidence that adhesion of NPs onto pellicle-decorated L. lactis is governed by their underlying electrostatic interactions as controlled by the pH-dependent charge of the peripheral and internal NP components, and the negatively-charged cell surface. In contrast, the presence of the O-antigen on E. coli systematically suppresses the adhesion of nanodendrimers onto cells, may the apparent NP surface charge be determined by the peripheral carboxylate groups or by the internal amine functions. Altogether, this work highlights the differentiated roles played by surface polysaccharides in mediating NP attachment to Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. It further demonstrates that the assessment of NP bioadhesion features requires a critical analysis of the electrostatic contributions stemming from the various structures composing the stratified cell envelope, and those originating from the bulk and surface NP components. The joint use of electrokinetics and AFM provides a valuable option for rapidly addressing the binding propensity of NPs to microorganisms, as urgently needed in NP risk assessments.
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