Lactococcus lactis produces short-chain quinones that cross-feed Group B Streptococcus to activate respiration growth

Quinones are essential components of the respiration chain that shuttle electrons between oxidoreductases. We characterized the quinones synthesized by Lactococcus lactis , a fermenting bacterium that activates aerobic respiration when a haem source is provided. Two distinct subgroups were characterized: Menaquinones (MK) MK-8 to MK-10, considered as hallmarks of L. lactis , are produced throughout growth. MK-3 and demethylMK-3 [(D)MK-3] are newly identified and are present only late in growth. Production of (D)MK-3 was conditional on the carbon sugar and on the presence of carbon catabolite regulator gene ccpA . Electron flux driven by both (D)MK fractions was shared between the quinol oxidase and extracellular acceptors O₂, iron and, with remarkable efficiency, copper. Purified (D)MK-3, but not MK-8–10, complemented a menB defect in L. lactis . We previously showed that a respiratory metabolism is activated in Group B Streptococcus (GBS) by exogenous haem and MK, and that this activity is implicated in virulence. Here we show that growing lactococci donate (D)MK to GBS to activate respiration and stimulate growth of this opportunist pathogen. We propose that conditions favouring (D)MK production in dense microbial ecosystems, as present in the intestinal tract, could favour implantation of (D)MK-scavengers like GBS within the complex.     

Respiration Capacity of the Fermenting Bacterium Lactococcus lactis and Its Positive Effects on Growth and Survival

Oxygen is a major determinant of both survival and mortality of aerobic organisms. For the facultative anaerobe Lactococcus lactis, oxygen has negative effects on both growth and survival. We show here that oxygen can be beneficial to L. lactis if heme is present during aerated growth. The growth period is extended and long-term survival is markedly improved compared to results obtained under the usual fermentation conditions. We considered that improved growth and survival could be due to the capacity of L. lactis to undergo respiration. To test this idea, we confirmed that the metabolic behavior of lactococci in the presence of oxygen and hemin is consistent with respiration and is most pronounced late in growth. We then used a genetic approach to show the following. (i) The cydA gene, encoding cytochrome d oxidase, is required for respiration and plays a direct role in oxygen utilization. cydA expression is induced late in growth under respiration conditions. (ii) The hemZ gene, encoding ferrochelatase, which converts protoporphyrin IX to heme, is needed for respiration if the precursor, rather than the final heme product, is present in the medium. Surprisingly, survival improved by respiration is observed in a superoxide dismutase-deficient strain, a result which emphasizes the physiological differences between fermenting and respiring lactococci. These studies confirm respiratory metabolism in L. lactis and suggest that this organism may be better adapted to respiration than to traditional fermentative metabolism.     

The Group B Streptococcus NADH oxidase Nox-2 is involved in fatty acid biosynthesis during aerobic growth and contributes to virulence

Numerous Streptococcaceae produce an H2O-forming NADH oxidase, Nox-2, which has been generally implicated in aerobic survival. We examined the roles of Nox-2 in Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a leading agent of neonatal infections. While nox2 inactivation caused an aerobic growth arrest, no improvement was seen by addition of antioxidants to cultures, suggesting that this defect was not due to accumulation of toxic oxygen species. Using several approaches, we show that the observed inability of the nox2 mutant to grow aerobically is mainly due to an underlying defect in fatty acid (FA) biosynthesis: (i) the nox2 aerobic growth defect is fully and rapidly complemented by adding oleic acid to culture medium, and (ii) direct assimilation of this unsaturated FA in both wild type (WT) and nox2 GBS membranes is demonstrated and correlated with mutant growth rescue. We propose that NAD+ depletion in the nox2 mutant results in reduced acetyl-CoA production, which perturbs FA biosynthesis and hence blocks growth in aerobiosis. The nox2 aerobic growth defect was also complemented when GBS respiration metabolism was activated by exogenous haem and menaquinone. The membrane NADH oxidase activity generated by the functional respiratory chain thus compensates the cytoplasmic NADH oxidase deficiency. The nox2 mutant was attenuated for virulence, as assessed in lung, intraperitoneal and intravenous murine infection models. As the nox2 defect seems only to affect aerobic growth of GBS, its reduced virulence supports the suggestion that aerobic conditions and NADH oxidase activities are relevant to the GBS infection process.     

Respiration metabolism reduces oxidative and acid stress to improve long-term survival of Lactococcus lactis

The impact of oxygen on a cell is strongly dependent on its metabolic state: survival in oxygen of free-living Lactococcus lactis, best known as a fermenting, acidifying bacterium, is generally poor. In contrast, if haem is present, L. lactis uses oxygen to switch from fermentation to respiration metabolism late in growth, resulting in spectacularly improved long-term survival. Oxygen is thus beneficial rather than detrimental for survival if haem is provided. We examined the effects of respiration on oxygen toxicity by comparing integrity of stationary phase cells after aerated growth without and with added haem. Aeration (no haem) growth caused considerable cellular protein and chromosomal DNA damage, increased spontaneous mutation frequencies and poor survival of recA mutants. These phenotypes were greatly diminished when haem was present, indicating that respiration constitutes an efficient barrier against oxidative stress. Using the green fluorescent protein as an indicator of intracellular oxidation state, we showed that aeration growth provokes significantly greater oxidation than respiration growth. Iron was identified as a main contributor to mortality and DNA degradation in aeration growth. Our results point to two features of respiration growth in lactococci that are responsible for maintaining low oxidative damage: One is a more reduced intracellular state, which is because of efficient oxygen elimination by respiration. The other is a higher pH resulting from the shift from acid-forming fermentation to respiration metabolism. These results have relevance to other bacteria whose respiration capacity depends on addition of exogenous haem.     

A partial metabolic pathway enables group b streptococcus to overcome quinone deficiency in a host bacterial community

Aerobic respiration metabolism in Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is activated by exogenous heme and menaquinone. This capacity enhances resistance of GBS to acid and oxidative stress and improves its survival. In this work, we discovered that GBS is able to respire in the presence of heme and 1,4‐dihydroxy‐2‐naphthoic acid (DHNA). DHNA is a biosynthetic precursor of demethylmenaquinone (DMK) in many bacterial species. A GBS gene (gbs1789) encodes a homolog of the MenA 1,4‐dihydroxy‐2‐naphthoate prenyltransferase enzyme, involved in the synthesis of demethylmenaquinone. In this study, we showed that gbs1789 is involved in the biosynthesis of long‐chain demethylmenaquinones (DMK‐10). The Δ gbs1789 mutant cannot respire in the presence of heme and DHNA, indicating that endogenously synthesized DMKs are cofactors of the GBS respiratory chain. We also found that isoprenoid side chains from GBS DMKs are produced by the protein encoded by the gbs1783 gene, since this gene can complement an Escherichia coli ispB mutant defective for isoprenoids chain synthesis. In the gut or vaginal microbiote, where interspecies metabolite exchanges occur, this partial DMK biosynthetic pathway can be important for GBS respiration and survival in different niches.     

CcpA regulation of aerobic and respiration growth in Lactococcus lactis

The catabolic control protein CcpA is the highly conserved regulator of carbon metabolism in Gram-positive bacteria. We recently showed that Lactococcus lactis, a fermenting bacterium in the family of Streptococcaceae, is capable of respiration late in growth when haem is added to aerated cultures. As the start of respiration coincides with glucose depletion from the medium, we hypothesized that CcpA is involved in this metabolic switch and investigated its role in lactococcal growth under aeration and respiration conditions. Compared with modest changes observed in fermentation growth, inactivation of ccpA shifts metabolism to mixed acid fermentation under aeration conditions. This shift is due to a modification of the redox balance via derepression of NADH oxidase, which eliminates oxygen and decreases the NADH pool. CcpA also plays a decisive role in respiration metabolism. Haem addition to lag phase ccpA cells results in growth arrest and cell mortality. Toxicity is due to oxidative stress provoked by precocious haem uptake. We identify the repressor of the haem transport system and show that it is a target of CcpA activation. We propose that CcpA-mediated repression of haem uptake is a means of preventing oxidative damage at the start of exponential growth. CcpA thus appears to govern a regulatory network that coordinates oxygen, iron and carbon metabolism.     

Succinate: quinone oxidoreductases: new insights from X-ray crystal structures

Membrane-bound succinate dehydrogenases (succinate:quinone reductases, SQR) and fumarate reductases (quinol:fumarate reductases, QFR) couple the oxidation of succinate to fumarate to the reduction of quinone to quinol and also catalyse the reverse reaction. SQR (respiratory complex II) is involved in aerobic metabolism as part of the citric acid cycle and of the aerobic respiratory chain. QFR is involved in anaerobic respiration with fumarate as the terminal electron acceptor, and is part of an electron transport chain catalysing the oxidation of various donor substrates by fumarate. QFR and SQR complexes are collectively referred to as succinate:quinone oxidoreductases (EC 1.3.5.1), have very similar compositions and are predicted to share similar structures. The complexes consist of two hydrophilic and one or two hydrophobic, membrane-integrated subunits. The larger hydrophilic subunit A carries covalently bound flavin adenine dinucleotide and subunit B contains three iron-sulphur centres. QFR of Wolinella succinogenes and SQR of Bacillus subtilis contain only one hydrophobic subunit (C) with two haem b groups. In contrast, SQR and QFR of Escherichia coli contain two hydrophobic subunits (C and D) which bind either one (SQR) or no haem b group (QFR). The structure of W. succinogenes QFR has been determined at 2.2 A resolution by X-ray crystallography (C.R.D. Lancaster, A. Kr?ger, M. Auer, H. Michel, Nature 402 (1999) 377-385). Based on this structure of the three protein subunits and the arrangement of the six prosthetic groups, a pathway of electron transfer from the quinol-oxidising dihaem cytochrome b to the site of fumarate reduction and a mechanism of fumarate reduction was proposed. The W. succinogenes QFR structure is different from that of the haem-less QFR of E. coli, described at 3.3 A resolution (T.M. Iverson, C. Luna-Chavez, G. Cecchini, D.C. Rees, Science 284 (1999) 1961-1966), mainly with respect to the structure of the membrane-embedded subunits and the relative orientations of soluble and membrane-embedded subunits. Also, similarities and differences between QFR transmembrane helix IV and transmembrane helix F of bacteriorhodopsin and their implications are discussed.     

In vitro effects of acetaminophen metabolites and analogs on the respiration of mouse liver mitochondria

Acetaminophen, an analgesic and antipyretic, is toxic in overdose to liver and kidney. The effects on mitochondrial respiration of acetaminophen, its less toxic analog, 3-hydroxyacetanilide, and metabolites which arise from these compounds have been investigated. The parent compounds inhibited NADH-linked respiration reversibly, whereas the metabolites inhibit all mitochondrial respiration, apparently in the Complex III region of the respiratory chain. The quinone derivatives, 4-acetamido-o-benzoquinone and 2-acetamido-p-benzoquinone, are the best inhibitors, with the onset of inhibition dependent on active respiration, suggesting interaction of these compounds with oxidized components of the electron transport chain.     

The second respiratory chain of Candida parapsilosis: a comprehensive study

The yeast C. parapsilosis CBS7157 is strictly dependent on oxidative metabolism for growth since it lacks a fermentative pathway. It is nevertheless able to grow on high glucose concentrations and also on a glycerol medium supplemented with antimycin A or drugs acting at the level of mitochondrial protein synthesis. Besides its normal respiratory chain C. parapsilosis develops a second electron transfer chain antimycin A-insensitive which allows the oxidation of cytoplasmic NAD(P)H resulting from glycolytic and hexose monophosphate pathways functioning through a route different from the NADH-coenzyme Q oxidoreductase described in S. cerevisiae or from the alternative pathways described in numerous plants and microorganisms. The second respiratory chain of C. parapsilosis involves 2 dehydrogenases specific for NADH and NADPH respectively, which are amytal and mersalyl sensitive and located on the outer face of the inner membrane. Since this antimycin A-insensitive pathway is fully inhibited by myxothiazol, it was hypothesized that electrons are transferred to a quinone pool that is different from the classical coenzyme Q-cytochrome b cycle. Two inhibitory sites were evidenced with myxothiazol, one related to the classical pathway, the other to the second pathway and thus, the second quinone pool could bind to a Q-binding protein at a specific site. Elimination of this second pool leads to a fully antimycin A-sensitive NADH oxidation, whereas its reincorporation in mitochondria allows recovery of an antimycin A-insensitive, myxothiazol sensitive NADH oxidation. The third step in this second respiratory chain involves a specific pool of cytochrome c which can deliver electrons either to a third phosphorylation site or to an alternative oxidase, cytochrome 590. This cytochrome is inhibited by high cyanide concentrations and salicylhydroxamates.     

Multistationary and Oscillatory Modes of Free Radicals Generation by the Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain Revealed by a Bifurcation Analysis

The mitochondrial electron transport chain transforms energy satisfying cellular demand and generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) that act as metabolic signals or destructive factors. Therefore, knowledge of the possible modes and bifurcations of electron transport that affect ROS signaling provides insight into the interrelationship of mitochondrial respiration with cellular metabolism. Here, a bifurcation analysis of a sequence of the electron transport chain models of increasing complexity was used to analyze the contribution of individual components to the modes of respiratory chain behavior. Our algorithm constructed models as large systems of ordinary differential equations describing the time evolution of the distribution of redox states of the respiratory complexes. The most complete model of the respiratory chain and linked metabolic reactions predicted that condensed mitochondria produce more ROS at low succinate concentration and less ROS at high succinate levels than swelled mitochondria. This prediction was validated by measuring ROS production under various swelling conditions. A numerical bifurcation analysis revealed qualitatively different types of multistationary behavior and sustained oscillations in the parameter space near a region that was previously found to describe the behavior of isolated mitochondria. The oscillations in transmembrane potential and ROS generation, observed in living cells were reproduced in the model that includes interaction of respiratory complexes with the reactions of TCA cycle. Whereas multistationarity is an internal characteristic of the respiratory chain, the functional link of respiration with central metabolism creates oscillations, which can be understood as a means of auto-regulation of cell metabolism.     

Aerobic metabolism in the genus Lactobacillus: impact on stress response and potential applications in the food industry

This review outlines the recent advances in the knowledge on aerobic and respiratory growth of lactic acid bacteria, focusing on the features of respiration‐competent lactobacilli. The species of the genus Lactobacillus have been traditionally classified as oxygen‐tolerant anaerobes, but it has been demonstrated that several strains are able to use oxygen as a substrate in reactions mediated by flavin oxidases and, in some cases, to synthesize a minimal respiratory chain. The occurrence of genes related to aerobic and respiratory metabolism and to oxidative stress response apparently correlates with the taxonomic position of lactobacilli. Members of the ecologically versatile Lactobacillus casei, L. plantarum and L. sakei groups are apparently best equipped to deal with aerobic/respiratory growth. The shift from anaerobic growth to aerobic (oxygen) and/or respiratory promoting (oxygen, exogenous haem and menaquinone) conditions offers physiological advantages and affects the pattern of metabolite production in several species. Even if this does not result in dramatic increases in biomass production and growth rate, cells grown in these conditions have improved tolerance to heat and oxidative stresses. An overview of benefits and of the potential applications of Lactobacillus cultures grown under aerobic or respiratory conditions is also discussed.     

Transcriptional regulation of fermentative and respiratory metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae industrial bakers' strains

Bakers' yeast-producing companies grow cells under respiratory conditions, at a very high growth rate. Some desirable properties of bakers' yeast may be altered if fermentation rather than respiration occurs during biomass production. That is why differences in gene expression patterns that take place when industrial bakers' yeasts are grown under fermentative, rather than respiratory conditions, were examined. Macroarray analysis of V1 strain indicated changes in gene expression similar to those already described in laboratory Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains: repression of most genes related to respiration and oxidative metabolism and derepression of genes related to ribosome biogenesis and stress resistance in fermentation. Under respiratory conditions, genes related to the glyoxylate and Krebs cycles, respiration, gluconeogenesis, and energy production are activated. DOG21 strain, a partly catabolite-derepressed mutant derived from V1, displayed gene expression patterns quite similar to those of V1, although lower levels of gene expression and changes in fewer number of genes as compared to V1 were both detected in all cases. However, under fermentative conditions, DOG21 mutant significantly increased the expression of SNF1 -controlled genes and other genes involved in stress resistance, whereas the expression of the HXK2 gene, involved in catabolite repression, was considerably reduced, according to the pleiotropic stress-resistant phenotype of this mutant. These results also seemed to suggest that stress-resistant genes control desirable bakers' yeast qualities.     

Both foliar and residual applications of herbicides that inhibit amino acid biosynthesis induce alternative respiration and aerobic fermentation in pea roots

The objective of this work was to ascertain whether there is a general pattern of carbon allocation and utilisation in plants following herbicide supply, independent of the site of application: sprayed on leaves or supplied to nutrient solution. The herbicides studied were the amino acid biosynthesis‐inhibiting herbicides (ABIH): glyphosate, an inhibitor of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, and imazamox, an inhibitor of branched‐chain amino acid biosynthesis. All treated plants showed impaired carbon metabolism; carbohydrate accumulation was detected in both leaves and roots of the treated plants. The accumulation in roots was due to lack of use of available sugars as growth was arrested, which elicited soluble carbohydrate accumulation in the leaves due to a decrease in sink strength. Under aerobic conditions, ethanol fermentative metabolism was enhanced in roots of the treated plants. This fermentative response was not related to a change in total respiration rates or cytochrome respiratory capacity, but an increase in alternative oxidase capacity was detected. Pyruvate accumulation was detected after most of the herbicide treatments. These results demonstrate that both ABIH induce the less‐efficient, ATP‐producing pathways, namely fermentation and alternative respiration, by increasing the key metabolite, pyruvate. The plant response was similar not only for the two ABIH but also after foliar or residual application.     

Lipoproteins are critical TLR2 activating toxins in group B streptococcal sepsis

Group B streptococcus (GBS) is the most important cause of neonatal sepsis, which is mediated in part by TLR2. However, GBS components that potently induce cytokines via TLR2 are largely unknown. We found that GBS strains of the same serotype differ in released factors that activate TLR2. Several lines of genetic and biochemical evidence indicated that lipoteichoic acid (LTA), the most widely studied TLR2 agonist in Gram-positive bacteria, was not essential for TLR2 activation. We thus examined the role of GBS lipoproteins in this process by inactivating two genes essential for bacterial lipoprotein (BLP) maturation: the prolipoprotein diacylglyceryl transferase gene (lgt) and the lipoprotein signal peptidase gene (lsp). We found that Lgt modification of the N-terminal sequence called lipobox was not critical for Lsp cleavage of BLPs. In the absence of lgt and lsp, lipoprotein signal peptides were processed by the type I signal peptidase. Importantly, both the Deltalgt and the Deltalsp mutant were impaired in TLR2 activation. In contrast to released factors, fixed Deltalgt and Deltalsp GBS cells exhibited normal inflammatory activity indicating that extracellular toxins and cell wall components activate phagocytes through independent pathways. In addition, the Deltalgt mutant exhibited increased lethality in a model of neonatal GBS sepsis. Notably, LTA comprised little, if any, inflammatory potency when extracted from Deltalgt GBS. In conclusion, mature BLPs, and not LTA, are the major TLR2 activating factors from GBS and significantly contribute to GBS sepsis.     

Downregulation of diaphragm electron transport chain and glycolytic enzyme gene expression in sepsis.

Cellular energy metabolism is altered in sepsis as a consequence of dysfunction of mitochondrial electron transport and glycolytic pathways. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether sepsis is associated with compensatory increases in gene expression of electron transport chain and glycolytic pathway proteins or, alternatively, whether gene expression decreases in sepsis, contributing to abnormalities in energy metabolism. Studies were performed using diaphragms from control and endotoxin-treated (8 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) rats; at 48 h after endotoxin administration, animals were killed. Microarrays and RNAse protection assays were used to assess the expression of several electron transport chain components (cytochrome-c oxidase subunits Cox 5A, Cox 5B, and Cox 6A, ATP synthase, and ATP synthase subunit 5B) and of the rate-limiting enzyme for glycolysis, phosphofructokinase (PFK). Western blotting was used to assess protein levels for these electron transport chain subunits and PFK. Activity assays were used to assess electron transport chain and phosphofructokinase function. We found that sepsis evoked 1) a downregulation of genes encoding all examined electron transport chain components (e.g., cytochrome-c oxidase 5A decreased 45 + 7%, P < 0.01) and PFK (P < 0.001), 2) reductions in protein levels for these electron transport chain subunits and PFK (P < 0.05 for each), and 3) decreases in mitochondrial state 3 respiration rates and phosphofructokinase enzyme activity (P < 0.01 for each comparison). We speculate that these sepsis-induced reductions in the expression of genes encoding critical electron transport and glycolytic proteins contribute to the development and persistence of sepsis-induced abnormalities in cellular energy metabolism.