Signaling between two interacting sensor kinases promotes biofilms and colonization by a bacterial symbiont

Cells acclimate to fluctuating environments by utilizing sensory circuits. One common sensory pathway used by bacteria is two‐component signaling (TCS), composed of an environmental sensor [the sensor kinase (SK)] and a cognate, intracellular effector [the response regulator (RR)]. The squid symbiont Vibrio fischeri uses an elaborate TCS phosphorelay containing a hybrid SK, RscS, and two RRs, SypE and SypG, to control biofilm formation and host colonization. Here, we found that another hybrid SK, SypF, was essential for biofilms by functioning downstream of RscS to directly control SypE and SypG. Surprisingly, although wild‐type SypF functioned as an SK in vitro, this activity was dispensable for colonization. In fact, only a single non‐enzymatic domain within SypF, the HPt domain, was critical in vivo. Remarkably, this domain within SypF interacted with RscS to permit a bypass of RscS‘s own HPt domain and SypF‘s enzymatic function. This represents the first in vivo example of a functional SK that exploits the enzymatic activity of another SK, an adaptation that demonstrates the elegant plasticity in the arrangement of TCS regulators.     

The pathogenic actinobacterium Rhodococcus equi: what's in a name?

A key regulatory decision for many bacteria is the switch between biofilm formation and motile dispersal, and this dynamic is well illustrated in the light‐organ symbiosis between the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the Hawaiian bobtail squid. Biofilm formation mediated by the syp gene cluster helps V. fischeri transition from a dispersed planktonic lifestyle to a robust aggregate on the surface of the nascent symbiotic organ. However, the bacteria must then swim to pores and down into the deeper crypt tissues that they ultimately colonize. A number of positive and negative regulators control syp expression and biofilm formation, but until recently the environmental inputs controlling this clash between opposing regulatory mechanisms have been unclear. Thompson et al. have now shown that Syp‐mediated biofilms can be repressed by a well‐known host‐derived molecule: nitric oxide. This regulation is accomplished by the NO sensor HnoX exerting control over the biofilm regulator HahK. The discoveries reported here by Thompson et al. cast new light on a critical early stage of symbiotic initiation in the V. fischeri‐squid model symbiosis, and more broadly it adds to a growing understanding of the role(s) that NO and HnoX play in biofilm regulation by many bacteria.     

Roles of the Structural Symbiosis Polysaccharide (syp) Genes in Host Colonization,Biofilm Formation,and Polysaccharide Biosynthesis in Vibrio fischeri

The symbiosis polysaccharide locus, syp, is required for Vibrio fischeri to form a symbiotic association with the squid Euprymna scolopes. It is also required for biofilm formation induced by the unlinked regulator RscS. The syp locus includes 18 genes that can be classified into four groups based on putative function: 4 genes encode putative regulators, 6 encode glycosyltransferases, 2 encode export proteins, and the remaining 6 encode proteins with other functions, including polysaccharide modification. To understand the roles of each of the 14 structural syp genes in colonization and biofilm formation, we generated nonpolar in-frame deletions of each gene. All of the deletion mutants exhibited defects in their ability to colonize juvenile squid, although the impact of the loss of SypB or SypI was modest. Consistent with their requirement for colonization, most of the structural genes were also required for RscS-induced biofilm formation. In particular, the production of wrinkled colonies, pellicles, and the matrix on the colony surface was eliminated or severely decreased in all mutants except for the sypB and sypI mutants; in contrast, only a subset of genes appeared to play a role in attachment to glass. Finally, immunoblotting data suggested that the structural Syp proteins are involved in polysaccharide production and/or export. These results provide important insights into the requirements for the syp genes under different environmental conditions and thus lay the groundwork for a more complete understanding of the matrix produced by V. fischeri to enhance cell-cell interactions and promote symbiotic colonization.     

Solution structure and dynamics of LuxU from Vibrio harveyi, a phosphotransferase protein involved in bacterial quorum sensing

The marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi controls its bioluminescence by a process known as quorum sensing. In this process, autoinducer molecules are detected by membrane-bound sensor kinase/response regulator proteins (LuxN and LuxQ) that relay a signal via a series of protein phosphorylation reactions to another response regulator protein, LuxO. Phosphorylated LuxO indirectly represses the expression of the proteins responsible for bioluminescence. Integral to this quorum sensing process is the function of the phosphotransferase protein, LuxU. LuxU acts to shuttle the phosphate from the membrane-bound proteins, LuxN and LuxQ, to LuxO. LuxU is a 114 amino acid residue monomeric protein. Solution NMR was used to determine the three-dimensional structure of LuxU. LuxU contains a four-helix bundle topology with the active-site histidine residue (His58) located on alpha-helix C and exposed to solution. The active site represents a cluster of positively charged residues located on an otherwise hydrophobic protein face. NMR spin-relaxation experiments identify a collection of flexible residues localized on the same region of LuxU as His58. The studies described here represent the first structural characterization of an isolated, monomeric bacterial phosphotransferase protein.     

Sequence and Function of LuxU: a Two-Component Phosphorelay Protein That Regulates Quorum Sensing in Vibrio harveyi

Vibrio harveyi regulates the expression of bioluminescence (lux) in response to cell density, a phenomenon known as quorum sensing. In V. harveyi, two independent quorum-sensing systems exist, and each produces, detects, and responds to a specific cell density-dependent autoinducer signal. The autoinducers are recognized by two-component hybrid sensor kinases called LuxN and LuxQ, and sensory information from both systems is transduced by a phosphorelay mechanism to the response regulator protein LuxO. Genetic evidence suggests that LuxO-phosphate negatively regulates the expression of luminescence at low cell density in the absence of autoinducers. At high cell density, interaction of the sensors with their cognate autoinducers results in dephosphorylation and inactivation of the LuxO repressor. In the present report, we show that LuxN and LuxQ channel sensory information to LuxO via a newly identified phosphorelay protein that we have named LuxU. LuxU shows sequence similarity to other described phosphorelay proteins, including BvgS, ArcB, and Ypd1. A critical His residue (His 58) of LuxU is required for phosphorelay function.     

Arabinose Induces Pellicle Formation by Vibrio fischeri

Biofilms are multicellular communities of bacteria attached to a surface and embedded in a protective matrix. In many cases, the signals that induce biofilm formation are unknown. Here, we report that biofilm formation by the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri can be induced by the addition of arabinose to LBS (Luria-Bertani-salt), a tryptone-based medium. Growth of cells in the presence of 0.2% arabinose, but not other sugars, induced the production of a pellicle at the air/liquid interfaces of static cultures. V. fischeri failed to grow on arabinose as the sole carbon source, suggesting that pellicle production did not occur as a result of increased growth, but experiments using the acid/base indicator phenol red suggested that V. fischeri may partially metabolize arabinose. Pellicle production was independent of the syp polysaccharide locus but was altered upon disruption of the bcs cellulose locus. Through a screen for mutants defective for pellicle production, we found that loss of motility disrupted the formation of the arabinose-induced pellicle. Among the ∼20 mutants that retained motility were strains with insertions in a putative msh pilus locus and a strain with a defect in yidK, which is involved in galactose catabolism. Mutants with the msh gene disrupted grew poorly in the presence of arabinose, while the yidK mutant appeared to be “blind” to the presence of arabinose. Finally, arabinose impaired symbiotic colonization by V. fischeri. This work thus identifies a novel signal and new pathways involved in control of biofilm formation by V. fischeri.     

Ecological Diversification of Vibrio fischeri Serially Passaged for 500 Generations in Novel Squid Host Euprymna tasmanica

Vibrio fischeri isolated from Euprymna scolopes (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) was used to create 24 lines that were serially passaged through the non-native host Euprymna tasmanica for 500 generations. These derived lines were characterized for biofilm formation, swarming motility, carbon source utilization, and in vitro bioluminescence. Phenotypic assays were compared between “ES” (E. scolopes) and “ET” (E. tasmanica) V. fischeri wild isolates to determine if convergent evolution was apparent between E. tasmanica evolved lines and ET V. fischeri. Ecological diversification was observed in utilization of most carbon sources examined. Convergent evolution was evident in motility, biofilm formation, and select carbon sources displaying hyperpolymorphic usage in V. fischeri. Convergence in bioluminescence (a 2.5-fold increase in brightness) was collectively evident in the derived lines relative to the ancestor. However, dramatic changes in other properties—time points and cell densities of first light emission and maximal light output and emergence of a lag phase in growth curves of derived lines—suggest that increased light intensity per se was not the only important factor. Convergent evolution implies that gnotobiotic squid light organs subject colonizing V. fischeri to similar selection pressures. Adaptation to novel hosts appears to involve flexible microbial metabolism, establishment of biofilm and swarmer V. fischeri ecotypes, and complex changes in bioluminescence. Our data demonstrate that numerous alternate fitness optima or peaks are available to V. fischeri in host adaptive landscapes, where novel host squids serve as habitat islands. Thus, V. fischeri founder flushes occur during the initiation of light organ colonization that ultimately trigger founder effect diversification.     

Discovery of a Nitric Oxide Responsive Quorum Sensing Circuit in Vibrio harveyi

Bacteria use small molecules to assess the density and identity of nearby organisms and formulate a response. This process, called quorum sensing (QS), commonly regulates bioluminescence, biofilm formation, and virulence. Vibrio harveyi have three described QS circuits. Each involves the synthesis of a molecule that regulates phosphorylation of its cognate receptor kinase. Each receptor exchanges phosphate with a common phosphorelay protein, LuxU, which ultimately regulates bioluminescence. Here, we show that another small molecule, nitric oxide (NO), participates in QS through LuxU. V. harveyi display a NO concentration-dependent increase in bioluminescence that is regulated by an hnoX gene. We demonstrate that H-NOX is a NO sensor and NO/H-NOX regulates phosphorylation of a kinase that transfers phosphate to LuxU. This study reveals the discovery of a fourth QS pathway in V. harveyi and suggests that bacteria use QS to integrate not only the density of bacteria but also other diverse information about their environment into decisions about gene expression.     

LapG mediates biofilm dispersal in Vibrio fischeri by controlling maintenance of the VCBS-containing adhesin LapV

Efficient symbiotic colonization of the squid Euprymna scolopes by the bacterium Vibrio fischeri depends on bacterial biofilm formation on the surface of the squid’s light organ. Subsequently, the bacteria disperse from the biofilm via an unknown mechanism and enter through pores to reach the interior colonization sites. Here, we identify a homolog of Pseudomonas fluorescens LapG as a dispersal factor that promotes cleavage of a biofilm-promoting adhesin, LapV. Overproduction of LapG inhibited biofilm formation and, unlike the wild-type parent, a ΔlapG mutant formed biofilms in vitro. Although V. fischeri encodes two putative large adhesins, LapI (near lapG on chromosome II) and LapV (on chromosome I), only the latter contributed to biofilm formation. Consistent with the Pseudomonas Lap system model, our data support a role for the predicted c-di-GMP-binding protein LapD in inhibiting LapG-dependent dispersal. Furthermore, we identified a phosphodiesterase, PdeV, whose loss promotes biofilm formation similar to that of the ΔlapG mutant and dependent on both LapD and LapV. Finally, we found a minor defect for a ΔlapD mutant in initiating squid colonization, indicating a role for the Lap system in a relevant environmental niche. Together, these data reveal new factors and provide important insights into biofilm dispersal by V. fischeri.     

Identification of a Novel Matrix Protein That Promotes Biofilm Maturation in Vibrio fischeri

Bacteria form communities, termed biofilms, in which cells adhere to each other within a matrix, typically comprised of polysaccharides, proteins, and extracellular DNA. Biofilm formation by the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri requires the Syp polysaccharide, but the involvement of matrix proteins is as yet unknown. Here we identified three genes, termed bmpA, -B, and -C (biofilm maturation protein), with overlapping functions in biofilm maturation. A triple bmpABC mutant, but not single or double mutants, was defective in producing wrinkled colonies, a form of biofilm. Surprisingly, the triple mutant was competent to form pellicles, another biofilm phenotype, but they generally lacked a three-dimensional architecture. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the extracellular matrix of the bmp mutant contained electron-dense, thread-like structures that were also present in the wild type but lacking in syp mutant strains. We hypothesized that the bmp mutant produces the Syp polysaccharide but fails to produce/export a distinct matrix component. Indeed, a mixture of the bmp and syp mutants produced a wrinkled colony. Finally, BmpA could be detected in cell-free supernatants from disrupted pellicles. Thus, this work identifies a new matrix protein necessary for biofilm maturation by V. fischeri and, based on the conservation of bmp, potentially other microbes.