Lactobacillus plantarum possesses the capability for wall teichoic acid backbone alditol switching

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Specific strains of Lactobacillus plantarum are marketed as health-promoting probiotics. The role and interplay of cell-wall compounds like wall- and lipo-teichoic acids (WTA and LTA) in bacterial physiology and probiotic-host interactions remain obscure. L. plantarum WCFS1 harbors the genetic potential to switch WTA backbone alditol, providing an opportunity to study the impact of WTA backbone modifications in an isogenic background. RESULTS: Through genome mining and mutagenesis we constructed derivatives that synthesize alternative WTA variants. The mutants were shown to completely lack WTA, or produce WTA and LTA that lack D-Ala substitution, or ribitol-backbone WTA instead of the wild-type glycerol-containing backbone. DNA micro-array experiments established that the tarIJKL gene cluster is required for the biosynthesis of this alternative WTA backbone, and suggest ribose and arabinose are precursors thereof. Increased tarIJKL expression was not observed in any of our previously performed DNA microarray experiments, nor in qRT-PCR analyses of L. plantarum grown on various carbon sources, leaving the natural conditions leading to WTA backbone alditol switching, if any, to be identified. Human embryonic kidney NF-kappaB reporter cells expressing Toll like receptor (TLR)-2/6 were exposed to purified WTAs and/or the TA mutants, indicating that WTA is not directly involved in TLR-2/6 signaling, but attenuates this signaling in a backbone independent manner, likely by affecting the release and exposure of immunomodulatory compounds such as LTA. Moreover, human dendritic cells did not secrete any cytokines when purified WTAs were applied, whereas they secreted drastically decreased levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-12p70 and TNF-alpha after stimulation with the WTA mutants as compared to the wild-type. CONCLUSIONS: The study presented here correlates structural differences in WTA to their functional characteristics, thereby providing important information aiding to improve our understanding of molecular host-microbe interactions and probiotic functionality.     

Galactosylated wall teichoic acid,but not lipoteichoic acid,retains InlB on the surface of serovar 4b Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive, intracellular pathogen harboring the surface-associated virulence factor InlB, which enables entry into certain host cells. Structurally diverse wall teichoic acids (WTAs), which can also be differentially glycosylated, determine the antigenic basis of the various Listeria serovars. WTAs have many physiological functions; they can serve as receptors for bacteriophages, and provide a substrate for binding of surface proteins such as InlB. In contrast, the membrane-anchored lipoteichoic acids (LTAs) do not show significant variation and do not contribute to serovar determination. It was previously demonstrated that surface-associated InlB non-covalently adheres to both WTA and LTA, mediating its retention on the cell wall. Here, we demonstrate that in a highly virulent serovar 4b strain, two genes gtlB and gttB are responsible for galactosylation of LTA and WTA respectively. We evaluated the InlB surface retention in mutants lacking each of these two genes, and found that only galactosylated WTA is required for InlB surface presentation and function, cellular invasiveness and phage adsorption, while galactosylated LTA plays no role thereof. Our findings demonstrate that a simple pathogen-defining serovar antigen, that mediates bacteriophage susceptibility, is necessary and sufficient to sustain the function of an important virulence factor.     

Distinct and essential morphogenic functions for wall‐ and lipo‐teichoic acids in Bacillus subtilis

Teichoic acids (TAs) are anionic polymers that constitute a major component of the cell wall in most Gram‐positive bacteria. Despite decades of study, their function has remained unclear. TAs are covalently linked either to the cell wall peptidoglycan (wall TA (WTA)) or to the membrane (lipo‐TA (LTA)). We have characterized the key enzyme of LTA synthesis in Bacillus subtilis, LTA synthase (LtaS). We show that LTA is needed for divalent cation homoeostasis and that its absence has severe effects on cell morphogenesis and cell division. Inactivation of both LTA and WTA is lethal and comparison of the individual mutants suggests that they have differentiated roles in elongation (WTA) and division (LTA). B. subtilis has four ltaS paralogues and we show how their roles are partially differentiated. Two paralogues have a redundant role in LTA synthesis during sporulation and their absence gives a novel absolute block in sporulation. The crystal structure of the extracytoplasmic part of LtaS, solved at 2.4‐Å resolution, reveals a phosphorylated threonine residue, which provides clues about the catalytic mechanism and identifies the active site of the enzyme.     

低H~+_-ATPase活性植物乳杆菌突变菌筛选及基因表达的相对定量分析

【目的】筛选H~+_-ATPase活性降低的植物乳杆菌突变菌,比较其与亲本菌基因表达水平的差异,进一步探索H~+_-ATPase的调控机制。【方法】利用硫酸新霉素诱变、筛选突变菌,并对亲本菌(ZUST)和突变菌(ZUST-1、ZUST-2)进行生长、产酸能力及H~+_-ATPase活性的测定。分别提取亲本菌和突变菌的基因组DNA,扩增H~+_-ATPase全部编码基因并测序。通过荧光定量PCR对H~+_-ATPase全部编码基因进行相对定量分析。【结果】突变菌的生长和产酸能力均低于亲本菌,突变菌ZUST-1和ZUST-2的H~+_-ATPase活性比亲本菌分别降低了10.1%和28.8%。突变菌ZUST-1和ZUST-2的atp A基因均有22个位点发生突变,而ZUST-2的atp C基因有6个位点发生突变。突变菌ZUST-1和ZUST-2的atp A在对数期基因表达水平分别比亲本菌ZUST下调了41.1%和35.7%,在稳定期分别下调了43.6%和14.2%;ZUST-1的atp C基因在对数期的表达水平比ZUST略高,在稳定期比ZUST上调了30%,而ZUST-2的atp C基因未表达。【结论】突变菌H~+_-ATPase活性减弱会导致其全部编码基因在稳定期表达水平上调(除ZUST-2的atp C不表达外),而且atp A和atp C基因突变导致的基因表达水平的差异是影响H~+_-ATPase活性的主要因素,此研究结果为进一步研究植物乳杆菌中H~+_-ATPase的调控机制奠定了基础。     

Structural and Enzymatic Analysis of TarM Glycosyltransferase from Staphylococcus aureus Reveals an Oligomeric Protein Specific for the Glycosylation of Wall Teichoic Acid

Anionic glycopolymers known as wall teichoic acids (WTAs) functionalize the peptidoglycan layers of many Gram-positive bacteria. WTAs play central roles in many fundamental aspects of bacterial physiology, and they are important determinants of pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance. A number of enzymes that glycosylate WTA in Staphylococcus aureus have recently been identified. Among these is the glycosyltransferase TarM, a component of the WTA de novo biosynthesis pathway. TarM performs the synthesis of α-O-N-acetylglycosylated poly-5′-phosphoribitol in the WTA structure. We have solved the crystal structure of TarM at 2.4 Å resolution, and we have also determined a structure of the enzyme in complex with its substrate UDP-GlcNAc at 2.8 Å resolution. The protein assembles into a propeller-like homotrimer in which each blade contains a GT-B-type glycosyltransferase domain with a typical Rossmann fold. The enzymatic reaction retains the stereochemistry of the anomeric center of the transferred GlcNAc-moiety on the polyribitol backbone. TarM assembles into a trimer using a novel trimerization domain, here termed the HUB domain. Structure-guided mutagenesis experiments of TarM identify residues critical for enzyme activity, assign a putative role for the HUB in TarM function, and allow us to propose a likely reaction mechanism.     

L-Rhamnosylation of Listeria monocytogenes Wall Teichoic Acids Promotes Resistance to Antimicrobial Peptides by Delaying Interaction with the Membrane

Listeria monocytogenes is an opportunistic Gram-positive bacterial pathogen responsible for listeriosis, a human foodborne disease. Its cell wall is densely decorated with wall teichoic acids (WTAs), a class of anionic glycopolymers that play key roles in bacterial physiology, including protection against the activity of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). In other Gram-positive pathogens, WTA modification by amine-containing groups such as D-alanine was largely correlated with resistance to AMPs. However, in L. monocytogenes, where WTA modification is achieved solely via glycosylation, WTA-associated mechanisms of AMP resistance were unknown. Here, we show that the L-rhamnosylation of L. monocytogenes WTAs relies not only on the rmlACBD locus, which encodes the biosynthetic pathway for L-rhamnose, but also on rmlT encoding a putative rhamnosyltransferase. We demonstrate that this WTA tailoring mechanism promotes resistance to AMPs, unveiling a novel link between WTA glycosylation and bacterial resistance to host defense peptides. Using in vitro binding assays, fluorescence-based techniques and electron microscopy, we show that the presence of L-rhamnosylated WTAs at the surface of L. monocytogenes delays the crossing of the cell wall by AMPs and postpones their contact with the listerial membrane. We propose that WTA L-rhamnosylation promotes L. monocytogenes survival by decreasing the cell wall permeability to AMPs, thus hindering their access and detrimental interaction with the plasma membrane. Strikingly, we reveal a key contribution of WTA L-rhamnosylation for L. monocytogenes virulence in a mouse model of infection.     

Lipoteichoic acids on Lactobacillus plantarum cell surfaces correlate with induction of interleukin‐12p40 production

Heat‐killed cells of Lactobacillus plantarum L‐137 are potent inducers of IL‐12 in vitro as well as in vivo and have been shown to have antiallergic, antitumor, and antiviral effects through this induction, which leads to a Th1 type immune response. To determine why L‐137 cells induce much greater IL‐12 production than the type strain Lactobacillus plantarum JCM1149, we examined the differences in their CW components. The L‐137 CW was found to have a higher alanine content and IL‐12p40 induction was significantly greater in comparison with JCM1149 CW, whereas peptidoglycans isolated from both strains did not cause IL‐12p40 induction. Because in purified CW preparations from gram‐positive bacteria, the presence of LTA, the major proinflammatory structure on these bacteria, has been known to have high alanine content, we investigated the responsiveness of both strains to anti‐LTA antibody by flow cytometry. L‐137 cells reacted more with anti‐LTA antibody than did JCM1149 cells. Furthermore, derivative strains of L‐137, cured of a specific plasmid pLTK11 of the 15 endogenous plasmids in wild‐type L‐137, had poor responsiveness to anti‐LTA antibody and showed lower IL‐12p40 inducing activity than the wild‐type L‐137 with pLTK11. Our results suggest that LTA expression on the cell surface causes IL‐12p40 induction, and that the above internal plasmid of L‐137 influences LTA synthesis and expression on the cell surface.     

Differential localization of LTA synthesis proteins and their interaction with the cell division machinery in Staphylococcus aureus

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is an important cell wall component of Gram‐positive bacteria. In Staphylococcus aureus it consists of a polyglycerolphosphate‐chain that is retained within the membrane via a glycolipid. Using an immunofluorescence approach, we show here that the LTA polymer is not surface exposed in S. aureus, as it can only be detected after digestion of the peptidoglycan layer. S. aureus mutants lacking LTA are enlarged and show aberrant positioning of septa, suggesting a link between LTA synthesis and the cell division process. Using a bacterial two‐hybrid approach, we show that the three key LTA synthesis proteins, YpfP and LtaA, involved in glycolipid production, and LtaS, required for LTA backbone synthesis, interact with one another. All three proteins also interacted with numerous cell division and peptidoglycan synthesis proteins, suggesting the formation of a multi‐enzyme complex and providing further evidence for the co‐ordination of these processes. When assessed by fluorescence microscopy, YpfP and LtaA fluorescent protein fusions localized to the membrane while the LtaS enzyme accumulated at the cell division site. These data support a model whereby LTA backbone synthesis proceeds in S. aureus at the division site in co‐ordination with cell division, while glycolipid synthesis takes place throughout the membrane.     

金黄色葡萄球菌壁磷壁酸致病与免疫的分子机制研究进展

金黄色葡萄球菌(Staphylococcus aureus)壁磷壁酸(wall teichoic acids, WTAs)是多元醇经由磷酸二酯键共价连接组成的细胞壁表面阴离子糖类聚合物,参与调节细胞壁的稳态并介导细菌毒力。金黄色葡萄球菌WTAs与宿主细胞表面特定的受体结合,可诱导天然免疫和获得性免疫应答。此外,金黄色葡萄球菌WTAs还参与调控毒力基因的表达,有助于细菌的定殖感染,在基因工程靶标治疗和噬菌体药物治疗方面具有广泛的应用前景。本文对金黄色葡萄球菌WTAs的合成进行了概述,综述了WTAs对宿主免疫应答的调控作用,以及在细菌对宿主侵袭与定殖中的致病机制,并归纳WTAs的耐药分子机制和作为药物治疗靶标的研究现状。这些研究为揭示WTAs的致病与免疫分子机制提供研究思路,为预防和治疗金黄色葡萄球菌的感染提供新的策略。     

The cell wall binding domain of Listeria bacteriophage endolysin PlyP35 recognizes terminal GlcNAc residues in cell wall teichoic acid

The cell wall binding domains (CBD) of bacteriophage endolysins target the enzymes to their substrate in the bacterial peptidoglycan with extraordinary specificity. Despite strong interest in these enzymes as novel antimicrobials, little is known regarding their interaction with the bacterial wall and their binding ligands. We investigated the interaction of Listeria phage endolysin PlyP35 with carbohydrate residues present in the teichoic acid polymers on the peptidoglycan. Biochemical and genetic analyses revealed that CBD of PlyP35 specifically recognizes the N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) residue at position C4 of the polyribitol-phosphate subunits. Binding of CBDP35 could be prevented by removal of wall teichoic acid (WTA) polymers from cell walls, and inhibited by addition of purified WTAs or acetylated saccharides. We show that Listeria monocytogenes genes lmo2549 and lmo2550 are required for decoration of WTAs with GlcNAc. Inactivation of either gene resulted in a lack of GlcNAc glycosylation, and the mutants failed to bind CBDP35. We also report that the GlcNAc-deficient phenotype of L. monocytogenes strain WSLC 1442 is due to a small deletion in lmo2550, resulting in synthesis of a truncated gene product responsible for the glycosylation defect. Complementation with lmo2550 completely restored display of characteristic serovar 1/2 specific WTA and the wild-type phenotype.     

The Customer Isn't Always Right—Conservation and Animal Welfare Implications of the Increasing Demand for Wildlife Tourism

Tourism accounts for 9% of global GDP and comprises 1.1 billion tourist arrivals per annum. Visits to wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs) may account for 20–40% of global tourism, but no studies have audited the diversity of WTAs and their impacts on the conservation status and welfare of subject animals. We scored these impacts for 24 types of WTA, visited by 3.6–6 million tourists per year, and compared our scores to tourists’ feedback on TripAdvisor. Six WTA types (impacting 1,500–13,000 individual animals) had net positive conservation/welfare impacts, but 14 (120,000–340,000 individuals) had negative conservation impacts and 18 (230,000–550,000 individuals) had negative welfare impacts. Despite these figures only 7.8% of all tourist feedback on these WTAs was negative due to conservation/welfare concerns. We demonstrate that WTAs have substantial negative effects that are unrecognised by the majority of tourists, suggesting an urgent need for tourist education and regulation of WTAs worldwide.     

Heat-Killed Lactic Acid Bacteria Inhibit Nitric Oxide Production via Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase and Cyclooxygenase-2 in RAW 264.7 Cells

Heat-killed lactic acid bacteria perform immunomodulatory functions and are advantageous as probiotics, considering their long product shelf-life, easy storage, and convenient transportation. In this study, we aimed to develop appropriate heat treatments for industrial preparation of probiotics with antioxidant activity. Among 75 heat-killed strains, Lactococcus lactis MG5125 revealed the highest nitric oxide inhibition (86.2%), followed by Lactobacillus acidophilus MG4559 (86.0%), Lactobacillus plantarum MG5270 (85.7%), Lactobacillus fermentum MG4510 (85.3%), L. plantarum MG5239 (83.9%), L. plantarum MG5289 (83.2%), and L. plantarum MG5203 (81.8%). Moreover, the heat-killed selected strains markedly inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 expression. The use of heat-killed bacteria with intact bio-functionality can elongate the shelf-life and simplify the food processing steps of probiotic foods, given their high stability. The antioxidant and immune-modulatory activities of the heat-killed strains selected in this study indicate a strong potential for their utilization probiotic products manufacturing.

     

Wall Teichoic Acids Restrict Access of Bacteriophage Endolysin Ply118, Ply511, and PlyP40 Cell Wall Binding Domains to the Listeria monocytogenes Peptidoglycan

The C-terminal cell wall binding domains (CBDs) of phage endolysins direct the enzymes to their binding ligands on the bacterial cell wall with high affinity and specificity. The Listeria monocytogenes Ply118, Ply511, and PlyP40 endolysins feature related CBDs which recognize the directly cross-linked peptidoglycan backbone structure of Listeria. However, decoration with fluorescently labeled CBDs primarily occurs at the poles and septal regions of the rod-shaped cells. To elucidate the potential role of secondary cell wall-associated carbohydrates such as the abundant wall teichoic acid (WTA) on this phenomenon, we investigated CBD binding using L. monocytogenes serovar 1/2 and 4 cells deficient in WTA. Mutants were obtained by deletion of two redundant tagO homologues, whose products catalyze synthesis of the WTA linkage unit. While inactivation of either tagO1 (EGDe lmo0959) or tagO2 (EGDe lmo2519) alone did not affect WTA content, removal of both alleles following conditional complementation yielded WTA-deficient Listeria cells. Substitution of tagO from an isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactopyranoside-inducible single-copy integration vector restored the original phenotype. Although WTA-deficient cells are viable, they featured severe growth inhibition and an unusual coccoid morphology. In contrast to CBDs from other Listeria phage endolysins which directly utilize WTA as binding ligand, the data presented here show that WTAs are not required for attachment of CBD118, CBD511, and CBDP40. Instead, lack of the cell wall polymers enables unrestricted spatial access of CBDs to the cell wall surface, indicating that the abundant WTA can negatively regulate sidewall localization of the cell wall binding domains.     

Identification and probiotic properties of lactobacilli isolated from two different fermented beverages

Purpose

Scientific information regarding the microbial content and functional aspects of fermented beverages traditionally produced in certain parts of Europe are scarce. However, such products are believed to have some health benefits and might contain functional bacterial strains, such as probiotics. The aim of the study was to identify such lactic acid bacteria strains isolated from water kefir and, for the first time, from braga, a Romanian fermented beverage made of cereals.

Methods

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were identified to species level based on (GTG)₅-PCR fingerprinting and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Selected strains were screened for their antibacterial activity and probiotic potential.

Results

Eight isolates belonging to seven Lactobacillus species were recovered from the two drinks. The identification of LAB involved in the fermentation of braga (Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum, and Lactobacillus delbrueckii) is firstly reported here. Five of the Lactobacillus isolates showed antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella enterica. Moreover, most of them showed a good resistance to pH 2.5 and some survived at high concentrations of bile salts (up to 2%). Two L. plantarum isolates were able to inhibit all the indicator strains, and showed the best viability (about 70%) after a sequential treatment simulating the passage through the gastrointestinal tract.

Conclusion

Based on the results, the most promising candidates for designing new probiotic products are: L. plantarum BR9 from braga and L. plantarum CR1 from water kefir.

     

Comparison of polysaccharide glycoconjugates as candidate vaccines to combat Clostridiodes (Clostridium) difficile

Two known Clostridiodes (Clostridium) difficile surface antigens, a lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and a polysaccharide (PS-II) were isolated and purified in order to prepare glycoconjugate vaccines to the carrier protein human serum albumin utilising a reductive amination strategy. Mice and rabbits were immunized with a prime and two boost strategy and the resulting sera were examined for their ability to recognise the purified homologous antigens and subsequently killed whole cells of C. difficile strains and other Clostridia species. Immunisation derived antisera from rabbits and mice, recognised all strains of C. difficile vegetative cells examined, with generally similar titers from animals that received the LTA or the PS-II conjugates. Sera raised to the LTA conjugates were able to recognise other Clostridia species C. butyricum, C. bifermentans and C. subterminale whereas sera raised to the PS-II conjugates were not. These LTA and PS-II sera recognised live cells in an immunofluorescence assay and were also able to recognise the spore form of the bacterium. This study has confirmed that the LTA and PS-II polysaccharides are both highly conserved surface polymers of C. difficile that are easily accessible to the immune system and as such may have potential as vaccine antigens or as targets for therapeutics to combat C. difficile infection.

     

Multi-spectrometric analyses of lipoteichoic acids isolated from Lactobacillus plantarum

Lipoteichoic acid is a major cell wall virulence factor of gram-positive bacteria. LTAs from various bacteria have differential immunostimulatory potentials due to heterogeneity in their structures. Although recent studies have demonstrated that LTA isolated from Lactobacillus plantarum (pLTA) has anti-inflammatory properties and is less inflammatory than LTAs from pathogenic bacteria, little is known about the structure of pLTA. In this study, high-field NMR spectra of the pLTA were compared with those of LTA from pathogenic bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus (aLTA). The 2D NMR results demonstrated that pLTA possesses α-linked hexose sugar substituents on the poly-glycerophosphate backbone instead of N-acetylglucosamine substituents, and unsaturated fatty acids in its glycolipids. The sugar substituents were revealed as an approximately 29:1 molar ratio of the glucose to galactose by HPAEC-PAD analysis. MALDI-TOF/TOF MS analyses identified the presence of unsaturated fatty acids in the glycolipid moieties of pLTA. In addition, the glycolipid structure was found to be composed of trihexosyl-diacyl- and/or trihexosyl-triacyl-glycerol ceramide units by means of unique fragment ions of the glycolipids. These results enabled us to elucidate the pLTA structure, which is distinctively different from canonical LTA structure, and suggest that the unique immunological property of pLTA might be caused by the pLTA structure.     

Analysis of phage resistance in Staphylococcus aureus SA003 reveals different binding mechanisms for the closely related Twort-like phages ɸSA012 and ɸSA039

We have previously generated strains of Staphylococcus aureus SA003 resistant to its specific phage ɸSA012 through a long-term coevolution experiment. However, the DNA mutations responsible for the phenotypic change of phage resistance are unknown. Whole-genome analysis revealed eight genes that acquired mutations: six point mutations (five missense mutations and one nonsense mutation) and two deletions. Complementation of the phage-resistant strains by the wild-type alleles showed that five genes were linked to phage adsorption of ɸSA012, and two mutated host genes were linked to the inhibition of post-adsorption. Unlike ɸSA012, infection by ɸSA039, a close relative of ɸSA012, onto early coevolved phage-resistant SA003 (SA003R2) was impaired drastically. Here, we identified that ɸSA012 and ɸSA039 adsorb to the cell surface S. aureus SA003 through a different mechanism. ɸSA012 requires the backbone of wall teichoic acids (WTA), while ɸSA039 requires both backbone and the β-GlcNAc residue. In silico analysis of the ɸSA039 genome revealed that several proteins in the tail and baseplate region were different from ɸSA012. The difference in tail and baseplate proteins might be the factor for specificity difference between ɸSA012 and ɸSA039.

     

Fermented soybean meal extract improves oxidative stress factors in the lung of inflammation/infection animal model

Context

Fermented soybean products have been used in various ways, and more research is being conducted on them to reveal their benefit.

Objective

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidative activity of fermented soybean meal extract by Lactobacillus plantarum in vitro and in vivo tests.

Materials and methods

A Lactobacillus plantarum strain RM10 was selected through plate and fermentation experiment, which increased the degree of protein hydrolysis (1.015 μg/mL) and antioxidant activity in soybean meal fermented by selected bacteria (FSBM). In vivo study was done on septic rats as an inflammation/infection model, and then the trial groups were treated with different concentrations of fermented soybean meal extracts (FSBM, 5, 10, and 20%).

Results

DPPH radical-scavenging and ferrozine ion-chelating activity enhanced (P < 0.05) after fermentation of soybean meal compared to control group. Reduced (P < 0.05) expression of inflammatory genes and enzymes was detected in the lungs of rats treated with fermented soybean meal extract.

Discussion and conclusions

These results demonstrated that a diet containing fermented soybean meal extract improved extreme inflammatory response in an infectious disease like sepsis by reducing inflammatory factors.

     

Mutant firefly luciferase enzymes resistant to the inhibition by sodium chloride

Objectives

Firefly luciferase, one of the most extensively studied enzymes, has numerous applications. However, luciferase activity is inhibited by sodium chloride. This study was aimed at obtaining mutant luciferase enzymes resistant to the sodium chloride inhibition.

Results

We first obtained two mutant luciferase enzymes whose inhibition were alleviated and determined the mutations to be Val288Ile and Glu488Val. Under medical dialysis condition (140 mM sodium chloride), the wild type was inhibited to 44% of its original activity level. In contrast, the single mutants, Val288Ile and Glu488Val, retained 67% and 79% of their original activity, respectively. Next, we introduced Val288Ile and Glu488Val mutations into wild-type luciferase to create a double mutant using site-directed mutagenesis. Notably, the double mutant retained its activity more than 95% of that in the absence of sodium chloride.

Conclusions

The mutant luciferase, named luciferase CR, was found to retain its activity in various concentrations of sodium chloride. The luciferase CR may be extensively useful in any bioassay which includes firefly luciferase and is employed in the presence of sodium chloride.