Cloning and DNA sequencing of the dextranase inhibitor gene (dei) from Streptococcus sobrinus.

Some dextranase-deficient (Dex-) mutants of Streptococcus sobrinus UAB66 (serotype g) synthesize a substance which inhibits dextranase activity (S.-Y. Wanda, A. Camilli, H. M. Murchison, and R. Curtiss III, J. Bacteriol. 176:7206-7212, 1994). This substance produced by the Dex- mutant UAB108 was designated dextranase inhibitor (Dei) and identified as a protein. The Dei gene (dei) from UAB108 has been cloned into pACYC184 to yield pYA2651, which was then used to generate several subclones (pYA2653 to pYA2657). The DNA sequence of dei was determined by using Tn5seq1 transposon mutagenesis of pYA2653. The open reading frame of dei is 990 bp long. It encodes a signal peptide of 38 amino acids and a mature Dei protein of 292 amino acids with a molecular weight of 31,372. The deduced amino acid sequence of Dei shows various degrees of similarity with glucosyltransferases and glucan-binding protein and contains A and C repeating units probably involved in glucan binding. Southern hybridization results showed that the dei probe from UAB108 hybridized to the same-size fragment in S. sobrinus (serotype d and g) DNA, to a different-size fragment in S. downei (serotype h) and S. cricetus (serotype a), and not at all to DNAs from other mutans group of streptococci.     

Purification, characterization, and specificity of dextranase inhibitor (Dei) expressed from Streptococcus sobrinus UAB108 gene cloned in Escherichia coli.

The dextranase inhibitor gene (dei) from Streptococcus sobrinus UAB108 was previously cloned, expressed, and sequenced. Its gene product (Dei) has now been purified as a single band with apparent molecular mass of 43 kDa, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The specific activity of Dei increased 121-fold upon purification. Most Dei activity (91.2%) was located in the periplasmic fraction from recombinant Escherichia coli cells. Dei competitively inhibits dextranase (Dex). This competitive inhibition mechanism has been further shown by detection and recovery of the intermediate enzyme-inhibitor (Dex-Dei) complex by gel filtration technology using fast protein liquid chromatography. Calibration of their molecular masses indicated that native Dei exists as a tetramer, Dex exists as dimer, and the Dex-Dei complex consists of two Dex molecules with two Dei molecules. Deletion analysis indicates that the intact Dei molecule is essential for Dei activity but not for glucan binding and immune cross-reaction. Dei is a special kind of glucan-binding protein with ability to inhibit Dex with high specificity. It can inhibit endogenous Dex, which can make more branches in glucan with the cooperation of the glucosyltransferase GTF-I. This inhibition cause the accumulation of water-soluble glucan. The latter reaction product can inhibit plaque formation and adherence of the mutans group of streptococcal cells. Dei derived from S. sobrinus UAB108 can inhibit only Dex from S. sobrinus (serotypes d and g), S. downei (previously S. sobrinus, serotype h), and S. macacae (serotype h). This finding suggests that Dei is another important protein existing in some serotypes of the mutans group of streptococci which participates in sucrose metabolism through its interaction with Dex.     

Identification and characterization of a dextranase gene of Streptococcus criceti

The dextranase gene, dex, was identified in Streptococcus criceti strain E49 by degenerate PCR and sequenced completely by the gene-walking method. A sequence of 3,960 nucleotides was determined. The dex gene encodes a 1,200-amino acid protein, which has a calculated molecular mass of 128,129.91 and pI of 4.15 and is predicted to be a cell-surface protein. The deduced amino acid sequence of dex showed homology to S. downei dextranase (63.9% identity). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the similarity of the deduced amino acid sequence of dextranases in S. criceti, S. sobrinus, and S. downei. A recombinant form of the protein with six histidine residues tagged in the C-terminus was partially purified and showed dextranase activity on blue-dextran sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (BD-SDSPAGE) followed by renaturation. We also detected dextranase activity in S. criceti cell extracts and culture supernatant by renatured BD-SDS-PAGE, whereas no dextranase activity of the cells was observed on blue-dextran brain heart infusion (BD-BHI) agar plates. Furthermore, PCR-based mutations of dextranase indicated that a deletion mutant of the C-terminal region could hydrolyze blue dextrans and that the D453E mutation, W793L mutation, and double mutations (W793L and deletion of the C-terminal region) resulted in a loss of dextranase activity. These findings suggest that Asp-453 and Trp-793 residues of S. criceti dextranase are critical to the enzyme's activity.     

Role of type IV pilins in persistence of Vibrio vulnificus in Crassostrea virginica oysters

Vibrio vulnificus is part of the natural estuarine microflora and accumulates in shellfish through filter feeding. It is responsible for the majority of seafood-associated fatalities in the United States mainly through consumption of raw oysters. Previously we have shown that a V. vulnificus mutant unable to express PilD, the type IV prepilin peptidase, does not express pili on the surface of the bacterium and is defective in adherence to human epithelial cells (R. N. Paranjpye, J. C. Lara, J. C. Pepe, C. M. Pepe, and M. S. Strom, Infect. Immun. 66:5659-5668, 1998). A mutant unable to express one of the type IV pilins, PilA, is also defective in adherence to epithelial cells as well as biofilm formation on abiotic surfaces (R. N. Paranjpye and M. S. Strom, Infect. Immun. 73:1411-1422, 2005). In this study we report that the loss of PilD or PilA significantly reduces the ability of V. vulnificus to persist in Crassostrea virginica over a 66-h interval, strongly suggesting that pili expressed by this bacterium play a role in colonization or persistence in oysters.     

Role of Type IV Pilins in Persistence of Vibrio vulnificus in Crassostrea virginica Oysters

Vibrio vulnificus is part of the natural estuarine microflora and accumulates in shellfish through filter feeding. It is responsible for the majority of seafood-associated fatalities in the United States mainly through consumption of raw oysters. Previously we have shown that a V. vulnificus mutant unable to express PilD, the type IV prepilin peptidase, does not express pili on the surface of the bacterium and is defective in adherence to human epithelial cells (R. N. Paranjpye, J. C. Lara, J. C. Pepe, C. M. Pepe, and M. S. Strom, Infect. Immun. 66:5659-5668, 1998). A mutant unable to express one of the type IV pilins, PilA, is also defective in adherence to epithelial cells as well as biofilm formation on abiotic surfaces (R. N. Paranjpye and M. S. Strom, Infect. Immun. 73:1411-1422, 2005). In this study we report that the loss of PilD or PilA significantly reduces the ability of V. vulnificus to persist in Crassostrea virginica over a 66-h interval, strongly suggesting that pili expressed by this bacterium play a role in colonization or persistence in oysters.     

Molecular characterization of dextranase from Streptococcus rattus

The complete nucleotide sequence of the dextranase gene of Streptococcus rattus ATCC19645 was determined. An open reading frame of the dextranase gene was 2,760 bp long and encoded a dextranase protein consisting of 920 amino acids with a molecular weight of 100,163 Da and an isoelectric point of 4.67. The S. rattus dextranase purified from recombinant Escherichia coli cells showed dextran-hydrolyzing activity with optimal pH (5.0) and temperature (40 C) similar to those of dextranases from Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus. The deduced amino acid sequence of the S. rattus dextranase revealed that the dextranase molecule consists of two variable regions and a conserved region. The variable regions contained an N-terminal signal peptide and a C-terminal cell wall sorting signal; the conserved region contained two functional domains, catalytic and dextran-binding sites. This structural feature of the S. rattus dextranase is quite similar to that of other cariogenic species such as S. mutans, S. sobrinus, and Streptococcus downei.     

High-affinity calmodulin binding is required for the rapid entry of Bordetella pertussis adenylyl cyclase into neuroblastoma cells.

Bordetella pertussis produces a calmodulin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase that invades animal cells and raises intracellular cAMP levels [Confer, D. L., & Eaton, J. W. (1982) Science 217, 948-950; Shattuck, R. L., & Storm, D. R. (1985) Biochemistry 24, 6323-6328]. The mechanism for invasion of animal cells by this enzyme has not been defined, but there is considerable evidence that it does not enter by receptor-mediated endocytosis [Gordon, V. M., Leppla, S. H., & Hewlett, E. L. (1988) Infect. Immun. 56, 1066-1069; Donovan, M. G., & Storm, D. R. (1990) J. Cell. Physiol. 145, 444-449]. In this study, the importance of high-affinity calmodulin (CaM) binding for entry of the enzyme into neuroblastoma cells was evaluated using a mutant enzyme that has significantly lower affinity for calmodulin than the wild-type enzyme. Oligonucleotide-directed site-specific mutagenesis was used to create a point mutant at a critical tryptophan residue (Trp-242) within the proposed CaM binding domain of the B. pertussis adenylyl cyclase. Substitution of Trp-242 with Glu lowered the apparent affinity of the enzyme for calmodulin by 250-fold; however, the maximal enzyme activity in the presence of saturating calmodulin was equivalent to the wild-type enzyme. The Glu-242 mutant adenylyl cyclase was returned to B. pertussis by homologous recombination, and the enzyme produced by this strain was examined for invasion of neuroblastoma cells. Although the mutant enzyme stimulated the production of intracellular cAMP in neuroblastoma cells, the rate of cAMP accumulation was at least 10-fold lower than that caused by the wild-type enzyme.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Some properties of an endodextranase inhibitor from continuous cultures of Streptococcus sobrinus.

Cell-free filtrates of Streptococcus sobrinus, cultured at low growth rate in the chemostat, contain a dextranase inhibitor that can completely inhibit the activity of S. sobrinus endodextranase. The range of conditions under which inhibition occurs, and the situations in which enzyme activity can reappear, have been examined in continuous cultures of strain 6715-13WT and the dextranase-deficient mutant 6715-13-201. A purified preparation of the inhibitor was specific for S. sobrinus dextranase, having no action on dextranases from other oral streptococci. The percentage inhibition of S. sobrinus dextranase varied with the enzyme concentration, and the complete inhibition of low amounts of enzyme indicated a very tight bond between the inhibitor and the enzyme.     

Nucleotide sequence and molecular characterization of a dextranase gene from Streptococcus downei

DNA fragments encoding the Streptococcus downei dextranase were amplified by PCR and inverse PCR based on a comparison of the dextranase gene (dex) sequences from S. sobrinus, S. mutans, and S. salivarius, and the complete nucleotide sequence of the S. downei dex was determined. An open reading frame (ORF) of dex was 3,891 bp long. It encoded a dextranase protein (Dex) consisting of 1,297 amino acids with a molecular mass of 139,743 Da and an isoelectric point of 4.49. The deduced amino acid sequence of S. downei Dex had homology to those of S. sobrinus, S. mutans and S. salivanus Dex in the conserved region (made of about 540 amino acid residues). DNA hybridization analysis showed that a dex DNA probe of S. downei hybridized to the chromosomal DNA of S. sobrinus as well as that of S. downei, but did not to other species of mutans streptococci. The C terminus of the S. downei Dex had a membrane-anchor region which has been reported as a common structure of C termini of both the S. mutans and S. sobrinus Dex. The recombinant plasmid which harbored the dex ORF of S. downei produced a recombinant Dex enzyme in Escherichia coli cells. The analysis of the recombinant enzyme on SDS-PAGE containing blue dextran showed multiple active forms as well as dextranases of S. mutans, S. sobrinus and S. salivarius.     

Renaturation of dextranase activity from culture supernatant fluids of Streptococcus sobrinus after sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

A rapid and reproducible method for the assay of individual fractions of the multicomponent dextranase activity of Streptococcus sobrinus after reduction/denaturation and electrophoresis in acrylamide gels is described. Multiple forms of dextranase, possible virulence factors in the formation of dental caries by oral Streptococci (S. mutans, S. sobrinus, S. sanguis, S. cricetus, and S. rattus), have been separated in sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gels into which an indicator substrate, blue dextran, has been incorporated, and identified after renaturation to remove the reducing/denaturing agents of the Laemmli buffer system.     

Species-specific PCR method for identification of Streptococcus downei

AIMS: To establish a rapid method to differentiate Streptococcus downei and S. sobrinus by multiplex PCR. METHODS AND RESULTS: A PCR primer pair specific to S. downei was designed on the basis of the nucleotide sequence of the dextranase gene of S. downei NCTC 11391T. The primer pair specifically detected S. downei, but none of the other mutans streptococci (16 strains of six species). The PCR procedure was capable of detecting 1 pg of genomic DNA purified from S. downei NCTC 11391 and as few as 14 CFU of S. downei cells. The mixture of primer pairs specific to each S. downei (this study) and S. sobrinus (Igarashi et al. 2000) detected only the strains of these two species among all the mutans streptococcal strains, and concomitantly differentiated the two species by species-specific amplicons of different lengths. CONCLUSIONS: The present PCR method is highly specific to S. downei and is useful for detection and identification of S. downei. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Multiplex PCR using dextranase gene primers is a useful method for simultaneous detection and differentiation of S. downei and S. sobrinus.     

Distribution of mannosamine and mannosaminuronic acid among cell walls of Bacillus species

Some Escherichia coli K-12 lamB mutants, those producing reduced amounts of LamB protein (one-tenth the wild type amount), grow normally on dextrins but transport maltose when present at a concentration of 1 microM at about one-tenth the normal rate. lamB Dex- mutants were found as derivatives of these strains. These Dex- mutants are considerably impaired in the transport of maltose at low concentrations (below 10 microM), and they have a structurally altered LamB protein which is impaired in its interaction with phages lambda and K10 but still interacts with a lambda host range mutant lambda hh*. The Dex- mutants are double lamB mutants carrying one mutation, already present in the parental strains, that reduces LamB synthesis and a second that alters LamB structure. The secondary mutations, present in different independent Dex- mutants, are clustered in the same region of the lamB gene. Dex+ revertants were isolated and analyzed: when the altered LamB protein is made in wild-type amount, due to a reversion of the first mutation, the phenotype reverts to Dex+. However, these Dex+ revertants are still very significantly impaired in maltose transport at low concentrations (below 10 microM).     

Inhibitory effect of oolong tea polyphenols on glycosyltransferases of mutans Streptococci.

Oolong tea extract (OTE) was found to inhibit the water-insoluble glucan-synthesizing enzyme, glucosyltransferase I (GTase-I), of Streptococcus sobrinus 6715. The GTase-inhibitory substance in the OTE was purified successive adsorption chromatography on Diaion HP-21 and HP-20 columns; this was followed by further purification by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. A major fraction that inhibited GTase activity (fraction OTF10) was obtained, and the chemical analysis of OTF10 indicated that it was a novel polymeric polyphenol compound that had a molecular weight of approximately 2,000 and differed from other tea polyphenols. Catechins and all other low-molecular-weight polyphenols except theaflavin derived from balck tea did not show significant GTase-inhibitory activities. It was found that OTE amd PTF10 markedly inhibit GTase-I and yeast alpha-glucosidase, but not salivary alpha-amylase. Various GTases purified from S. sobrinus and Streptococcus mutans were examined for inhibition by OTE and OTF10. It was determined that S. sobrinus GTase-I and S. mutans cell-free GTase synthesizing water-soluble glucan were most susceptible to the inhibitory action of OTF10, while S. sobrinus GTase-Sa and S. mutans cell-associated GTase were moderately inhibited; no inhibition of S. sobrinus GTase-Sb was observed. Inhibition of a specific GTase or specific GTases of mutants streptococci resulted in decreased adherence of the growing cells of these organisms. The inhibitory effect of OTF10 on cellular adherence was significantly stronger than that of OTE.     

Multiple glucan-binding proteins of Streptococcus sobrinus.

Several proteins from culture supernatants of Streptococcus sobrinus were able to bind avidly to Sephadex G-75. The proteins could be partially eluted from the Sephadex by low-molecular-weight alpha-1,6 glucan or fully eluted by 4 M guanidine hydrochloride. Elution profiles were complex, yielding proteins of 16, 45, 58 to 60, 90, 135, and 145 kDa, showing that the wild-type strain possessed multiple glucan-binding proteins. Two mutants of Streptococcus sobrinus incapable of aggregation by high-molecular-weight alpha-1,6 glucan were isolated. One mutant was spontaneous, from a cell suspension to which glucan had been added, whereas the other was induced by ethyl methanesulfonate. Both mutants were devoid of a 60-kDa protein, as shown by gel electrophoresis of culture supernatants and whole cells. Amino acid analysis showed that the 58- to 60-kDa protein and the 90-kDa protein were distinct, although both were N-terminally blocked. Both mutants retained their ability to adhere to glass in the presence of sucrose and to ferment mannitol and sorbitol. Both mutants retained their glucosytransferase activities, as shown by activity gels. Western blots (immunoblots), employing antibody against a glucan-binding protein of Streptococcus mutans, failed to reveal cross-reactivity with S. sobrinus proteins. The results show that even though S. sobrinus produces several proteins capable of binding alpha-1,6 glucans, the 60-kDa protein is probably the lectin needed for glucan-dependent cellular aggregation.     

Transposon disruption of the complex I NADH oxidoreductase gene (snoD) in Staphylococcus aureus is associated with reduced susceptibility to the microbicidal activity of thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein 1

The cationic molecule thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein 1 (tPMP-1) exerts potent activity against Staphylococcus aureus. We previously reported that a Tn551 S. aureus transposon mutant, ISP479R, and two bacteriophage back-transductants, TxA and TxB, exhibit reduced in vitro susceptibility to tPMP-1 (tPMP-1(r)) compared to the parental strain, ISP479C (V. Dhawan, M. R. Yeaman, A. L. Cheung, E. Kim, P. M. Sullam, and A. S. Bayer, Infect. Immun. 65:3293-3299, 1997). In the current study, the genetic basis for tPMP-1(r) in these mutants was identified. GenBank homology searches using sequence corresponding to chromosomal DNA flanking Tn551 mutant strains showed that the fourth gene in the staphylococcal mnh operon (mnhABCDEFG) was insertionally inactivated. This operon was previously reported to encode a Na(+)/H(+) antiporter involved in pH tolerance and halotolerance. However, the capacity of ISP479R to grow at pH extremes and in high NaCl concentrations (1 to 3 M), coupled with its loss of transmembrane potential (DeltaPsi) during postexponential growth, suggested that the mnh gene products are not functioning as a secondary (i.e., passive) Na(+)/H(+) antiporter. Moreover, we identified protein homologies between mnhD and the nuo genes of Escherichia coli that encode components of a complex I NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase. Consistent with these data, exposures of tPMP-1-susceptible (tPMP-1(s)) parental strains (both clinical and laboratory derived) with either CCCP (a proton ionophore which collapses the proton motive force) or pieracidin A (a specific complex I enzyme inhibitor) significantly reduced tPMP-induced killing to levels seen in the tPMP-1(r) mutants. To reflect the energization of the gene products encoded by the mnh operon, we have renamed the locus sno (S. aureus nuo orthologue). These novel findings indicate that disruption of a complex I enzyme locus can confer reduced in vitro susceptibility to tPMP-1 in S. aureus.     

The structural basis for pyocin resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae lipooligosaccharides

Pyocin resistance in a strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae has been found to be associated with structural differences in the oligosaccharide moieties of the gonococcal outer membrane lipooligosaccharides (LOS). N. gonorrhoeae strain 1291 had been treated with several pyocins, usually lethal bacteriocins produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and a series of surviving mutants were selected. The LOS of these pyocin-resistant mutants had altered electrophoretic mobilities in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels (Dudas, K. C., and Apicella, M. A. (1988) Infect. Immun. 56, 499-504). Structural analyses of the oligosaccharide portions of the wild-type (1291 wt) and five pyocin-resistant strains (1291a-e) by liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry, tandem mass spectrometry, and methylation analysis revealed that four of the mutant strains make oligosaccharides that differ from the wild-type LOS by successive saccharide deletions (1291a,c-e) and, in the oligosaccharide of 1291b, by the addition of a terminal Gal to the 1291c structure. The composition, sequence, and linkages of the terminal tetrasaccharide of the wild-type LOS are the same as the lacto-N-neotetraose terminus of the human paragloboside (Gal beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----3Gal beta 1----4Glc-ceramide), and both glycolipids bound the same monoclonal antibodies O6B4/3F11 that recognize this terminal epitope. None of the pyocin-resistant mutants bound this antibody. The 1291b LOS bound a monoclonal antibody that is specific for Gal alpha 1----4Gal beta 1----4Glc-ceramide (Pk glycosphingolipid) and shared a common composition, sequence, and linkages with this latter glycosphingolipid. Organisms that bound the anti-Pk monoclone occurred at the rate of approximately 1/750 among the wild-type parent strain. This structural information supports the conclusion that treatment with pyocin selects for mutants with truncated LOS structures and suggests that the oligosaccharides contained in the LOS of the wild-type strain and 1291b mimic those of human glycosphingolipids.     

Alcohol Dehydrogenase Mutants of Chinese Hamster Somatic Cells Resistant to Allyl Alcohol

Alcohol dehydrogenase (alcohol: NAD oxidoreductase, E.C. 1.1.1.1.) mutants of Chinese hamster somatic cells were isolated as resistant to allyl alcohol (ALL^R). The ALL^R phenotypes of the mutant clones were reproducible with high fidelity and stable over long intervals of growth in the absence of the selecting drug. Several mutants, Adh-1, Adh-2, Adh-9 and Adh-13, resistant to allyl alcohol were characterized. They have between 15 and 40% of the alcohol dehydrogenase activity of the wild-type cell lines. Cell-cell hybridization experiments using Adh-1 and wild-type Chinese hamster cells indicate that resistance to allyl alcohol is recessive to the wild-type allele. This phenotype is therefore a useful marker to analyze gene segregation of somatic cell mutations and to study the expression of the genes involved in the metabolism of ethanol in mammalian cells.     

Cloning and nucleotide sequence of the gene coding for the major 25-kilodalton outer membrane protein of Brucella abortus.

The cloning and sequencing of the Brucella abortus major 25-kDa outer membrane protein (OMP) is reported. The 25-kDa (group 3) OMP has been proposed, on the basis of amino acid composition, to be the counterpart of OmpA (D. R. Verstraete, M. T. Creasy, N. T. Caveney, C. L. Baldwin, M. W. Blab, and A. J. Winter, Infect. Immun. 35:979-989, 1982). However, the amino acid sequence predicted from the cloned B. abortus gene did not reveal significant homology with either OmpA sequences from different members of the family Enterobacteriaceae or other known protein sequences.