Bioweathering of chrysotile by fungi isolated in ophiolitic sites

Asbestos minerals are commonly found in serpentine rocks and because of the hazard to human health, research has recently focused on possible detoxification strategies. Some fungal species that inhabit serpentine sites (two disused chrysotile asbestos mines in the Western Alps) have been isolated and characterized in order to obtain data on their biodiversity and bioweathering abilities on chrysotile fibres. The three dominant species (Verticillium leptobactrum, Paecilomyces lilacinus and Aspergillus fumigatus) have proved to be able to actively remove iron from chrysotile fibres, V. leptobactrum being the most efficient. A wide range of serpentinicolous fungi release siderophores, iron-chelating compounds, that could play a role in iron extraction from fibres. Iron removal had been correlated previously with a decrease in the toxic potential of fibres, and a biotechnological application of fungi can be envisaged for asbestos detoxification.     

Magnesite Enrichment with Pseudomonas oryzihabitans Isolated from Magnesite Ore

Magnesite is a primary source of magnesium and its compounds. The major problem in its practical use are the impurities such as silicon, iron and calcium carbonate. Some magnesite ores in Turkey cannot be used due to a high amount of CaCO₃ (≥3%). In this study, bacterial isolates from magnesite quarries in Mersin were tested by plate assay for their ability to decalcify magnesite. A bacterial strain producing the largest clear zones in the plate assay was identified as Pseudomonas oryzihabitans by 16S rDNA-PCR and applied to magnesite ore. It was found to be effective in decalcifying magnesite ore without significant concurrent dissolution of the magnesium carbonate.     

Pyoverdine biosynthesis and secretion in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: implications for metal homeostasis

Pyoverdines are siderophores produced by fluorescent Pseudomonads to acquire iron. At least 60 different pyoverdines produced by diverse strains have been chemically characterized. They all consist of a dihydroquinoline‐type chromophore linked to a peptide. These peptides are of various lengths and the sequences are strain specific. Pyoverdine biosynthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and fluorescent Pseudomonads is a complex process involving at least 12 different proteins, starting in the cytoplasm and ending in the periplasm. The cellular localization of pyoverdine precursors was recently shown to be consistent with their biosynthetic enzymes. In the cytoplasm, pyoverdine appears to be assembled at the inner membrane and particularly at the old cell pole of the bacterium. Mature pyoverdine is uniformly distributed throughout the periplasm, like the periplasmic enzyme PvdQ. Secretion of pyoverdine involves a recently identified ATP‐dependent efflux pump, PvdRT‐OpmQ. This efflux system does not only secrete newly synthesized pyoverdine but also pyoverdine that already transported iron into the bacterial periplasm and any pyoverdine–metal complex other than ferri‐pyoverdine present in the periplasm. This review considers how these new insights into pyoverdine biosynthesis and secretion contribute to our understanding of the role of pyoverdine in iron and metal homeostasis in fluorescent Pseudomonads.     

Biofilm and Siderophore Effects on Secondary Waste Water Disinfection

The efficiency of ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection of wastewater effluent using a large-scale pilot system was studied. The relationship between biofilm and siderophore production and UV doses received by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain ATCC 15442 was determined. UV decreased pyoverdine production and enhanced biofilm production. Consequently external factors conditioned by both pyoverdine and biofilm may affect the UV effect on bacterial disinfection.     

Lead-Enhanced Siderophore Production and Alteration in Cell Morphology in a Pb-Resistant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis> Strain 4EA

A lead-resistant bacterial strain 4EA from soil contaminated with car battery waste from Goa, India was isolated and identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This lead-resistant bacterial isolate interestingly revealed lead-enhanced siderophore (pyochelin and pyoverdine) production up to 0.5 mM lead nitrate whereas cells exhibit a significant decline in siderophore production above 0.5 mM lead nitrate. The bacterial cells also revealed significant alteration in cell morphology as size reduction when exposed to 0.8 mM lead nitrate. Enhanced production of siderophore was evidently detected by chrome azurol S agar diffusion (CASAD) assay as increase in diameter of orange halo, and reduction in bacterial size along with significant biosorption of lead was recorded by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX). Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain 4EA also exhibits cross tolerance to other toxic metals viz. cadmium, mercury, and zinc besides resistance to multiple antibiotics such as ampicillin, erythromycin, amikacin, cephalexin, co-trimoxazole, mecillinam, lincomycin, ciphaloridine, oleondamycin, and nalidixic acid.     

铜绿假单胞菌中S型绿脓杆菌素与荧光嗜铁素的功能协同性分析

在铜绿假单胞菌(Pseudomonas aeruginosa)中,S型绿脓杆菌素S2和S4与细菌中的铁载体荧光嗜铁素(pyoverdine)使用相同的摄取通道,表明二者之间存在某些联系。本研究表征了细菌中3个S型绿脓杆菌素(Pys2、PA3866、PyoS5)的单细菌基因表达分布,并研究了S2型绿脓杆菌素对细菌摄取荧光嗜铁素的影响。结果表明,在DNA损伤压力下,S型绿脓杆菌素基因的表达在细菌种群中呈现出高度分化,外源加入S2型绿脓杆菌素会减少细菌对荧光嗜铁素的摄取,因此S2型绿脓杆菌素的存在会阻止不合成荧光嗜铁素的“欺骗者”摄取环境中荧光嗜铁素,进而减弱其对活性氧(reactive oxygen species,ROS)压力的抵抗能力。另外我们发现,在细菌中过表达SOS响应(SOS response)调节因子PrtN时,荧光嗜铁素相关合成基因的表达量显著降低,进而导致荧光嗜铁素的总合成量和外分泌量显著降低。以上结果表明细菌中SOS压力响应系统与铁摄取系统的功能是存在相互联系的。     

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa senses and gradually responds to interspecific competition for iron

Phenotypic plasticity in response to competition is a well‐described phenomenon in higher organisms. Here, we show that also bacteria have the ability to sense the presence of competitors and mount fine‐tuned responses to match prevailing levels of competition. In our experiments, we studied interspecific competition for iron between the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) and its competitor Burkholderia cenocepacia (BC). We focused on the ability of PA to phenotypically adjust the production of pyoverdine, an iron‐scavenging siderophore. We found that PA upregulates pyoverdine production early on during competition under condition of low iron availability. This plastic upregulation was fine‐tuned in response to the level of competition imposed by BC, and seems to confer a relative fitness benefit to PA in the form of an earlier initiation of growth. At later time points, however, PA showed reduced growth in mixed compared to monoculture, suggesting that competitive responses are costly. Altogether, our results demonstrate that phenotypic plasticity in siderophore production plays an important role in interspecific competition for iron. Upregulating siderophore production may be a powerful strategy to lock iron away from competing species, and to reserve this nutrient for strain members possessing the compatible receptor for uptake.     

Effect of iron on the production of pyoverdine and outer membrane proteins ofPseudomonas aeruginosa PA01

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 grown under iron-deficient conditions excreted a yellowish-green pigment, pyoverdine, which has been reported as a siderophore of this bacterium. Addition of iron to the culture medium increased bacterial growth but repressed the production of pyoverdine. Iron levels of the culture medium also had a significant role in the composition of outer membrane proteins ofP. aeruginosa PA01.     

Fitness in soil and rhizosphere of Pseudomonas fluorescens C7R12 compared with a C7R12 mutant affected in pyoverdine synthesis and uptake

Fluorescent pseudomonads have evolved an efficient strategy of iron uptake based on the synthesis of the siderophore pyoverdine and its relevant outer membrane receptor. The possible implication of pyoverdine synthesis and uptake on the ecological competence of a model strain (Pseudomonas fluorescens C7R12) in soil habitats was evaluated using a pyoverdine minus mutant (PL1) obtained by random insertion of the transposon Tn5. The Tn5 flanking DNA was amplified by inverse PCR and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence was found to show a high level of identity with pvsB, a pyoverdine synthetase. As expected, the mutant PL1 was significantly more susceptible to iron starvation than the wild-type strain despite its ability to produce another unknown siderophore. As with the wild-type strain, the mutant PL1 was able to incorporate the wild-type pyoverdine and five pyoverdines of foreign origin, but at a significantly lower rate despite the similarity of the outer membrane protein patterns of the two strains. The survival kinetics of the wild-type and of the pyoverdine minus mutant, in bulk and rhizosphere soil, were compared under gnotobiotic and non-gnotobiotic conditions. In gnotobiotic model systems, both strains, when inoculated separately, showed a similar survival in soil and rhizosphere, suggesting that iron was not a limiting factor. In contrast, when inoculated together, the bacterial competition was favorable to the pyoverdine producer C7R12. The efficient fitness of PL1 in the presence of the indigenous microflora, even when coinoculated with C7R12, is assumed to be related to its ability to uptake heterologous pyoverdines. Altogether, these results suggest that pyoverdine-mediated iron uptake is involved in the ecological competence of the strain P. fluorescens C7R12.     

Siderophore-mediated iron acquisition in the entomopathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas entomophila L48 and its close relative Pseudomonas putida KT2440

Pseudomonas entomophila L48 is a recently identified entomopathogenic bacterium which, upon ingestion, kills Drosophila melanogaster, and is closely related to P. putida. The complete genome of this species has been sequenced and therefore a genomic, genetic and structural analysis of the siderophore-mediated iron acquisition was undertaken. P. entomophila produces two siderophores, a structurally new and unique pyoverdine and the secondary siderophore pseudomonine, already described in P. fluorescens species. Structural analysis of the pyoverdine produced by the closely related P. putida KT2440 showed that this strain produces an already characterised pyoverdine, but different from P. entomophila, and no evidence was found for the production of a second siderophore. Growth stimulation assays with heterologous pyoverdines demonstrated that P. entomophila is able to utilize a large variety of structurally distinct pyoverdines produced by other Pseudomonas species. In contrast, P. putida KT2440 is able to utilize only its own pyoverdine and the pyoverdine produced by P. syringae LMG 1247. Our data suggest that although closely related, P. entomophila is a more efficient competitor for iron than P. putida.     

Iron metabolism in Pseudomonas: salicylic acid, a siderophore of Pseudomonas fluorescens CHAO.

Under iron-starvation conditions of growth, Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0, a soil isolate involved in phytopathogenic fungi antagonisms, produced, together with pyoverdine, a second iron-chelating compound which was purified and identified by spectroscopy, HPLC and 1H-NMR to be salicylic acid. Mutants unable to synthesize pyoverdine overproduced this compound by a factor of 9-14. The biosynthesis of salicylic acid was under iron control; it was fully inhibited by 5 microM added iron in the growth medium. In contrast, salicylic acid of either bacterial or commercial origin facilitated labeled iron incorporation in iron-starved cells. Based on these two relationships observed with bacterial iron metabolism it is concluded that salicylic acid has a siderophore function for this strain.     

Biological durability and oxidative potential of man-made vitreous fibres as compared to crocidolite asbestos fibres

In this study we investigated relationships between redox properties and biodurability of crocidolite asbestos fibres and three different man-made vitreous fibres (MMVF): traditional stone wool fibres (MMVF 21), glass fibres (MMVF 11) and refractory ceramic fibres (RCF). Each fibre type was incubated up to 22 weeks in four different incubation media: gamble solution (GS) pH 5.0 and pH 7.4, representing blood plasma without proteins, and surfactant-like solution (SLS) pH 5.0 and pH 7.4. During incubation time aliquots of incubation mixtures were removed and analysed in a biochemical model reaction, mimicking activated phagocytes. In addition, changes of fibre morphology and chemical composition were examined using SEM- and EDX-technology. In the presence of crocidolite asbestos fibres and MMVF 21 the formation of OH*-radicals according to the Haber-Weiss sequence could be demonstrated, whereas MMVF 11 and RCF showed no reactivity. Crocidolite asbestos fibres exhibited a significant higher activity compared with the stone wool fibres at the onset of incubation. The oxidative capacities of these fibre types were shown to depend on both specific surface area and iron content. The oxidative potentials of crocidolite asbestos fibres as well as MMVF 21 were not constant during incubation over several weeks in each incubation medium. The reactivities showed sinoidal curves including reactivities much higher than those at the onset of incubation time. These irregular changes of oxidative capacity may be explained by changes of the redox state of fibre surface-complexed iron. Furthermore our results showed clear differences between incubation of fibres in GS and SLS, respectively, indicating that phospholipids play an important part in fibre dissolution behaviour and oxidative reactivity. In conclusion we suggest, that biodurability testing procedures should not exclusively concentrate on dissolution rates of fibres. They should include fibre characteristics concerning known pathogenic mechanisms to evaluate the real toxic potential of the fibre type looking at. Secondly we suggest, that phospholipids should be constituents of incubation liquids used for standardised fibre biodurability test procedures thus representing more realistic incubation conditions.     

Polyphenolic compounds on leaves limit iron availability and affect growth of epiphytic bacteria

Polyphenolic compounds produced by plants can chelate iron, reducing its bioavailability to plant‐associated bacteria. In response to limited iron levels, most bacteria produce siderophores to acquire needed iron quantities. The amount of phenolic compounds detected in methanolic washings of leaves of different plant species varied greatly, being nearly sevenfold higher in Viburnum tinus than in Phaseolus vulgaris. In species with high levels of total phenolics (e.g. Pelargonium hortorum), tannin concentration of leaf washings was also high and accounted for up to 85% of total phenolics. Both stimulation of production of the siderophore pyoverdine in Pseudomonas syringae strain B728a and inhibition of growth of an isogenic mutant I‐1, deficient in pyoverdine production were associated with plants harbouring high levels of leaf surface phenolics. Levels of tannic acid sufficient to inhibit growth of the pyoverdine mutant in culture in an iron‐reversible fashion were similar to tannin levels found on leaves of plants such as P. hortorum. Additionally, the amount of pyoverdines produced by P. syringae and quantified in leaf washings from a variety of plants was directly related to the concentration of tannins released from the leaf, indicating that tannins were responsible for sequestering iron. Phenolic compounds, principally tannins, may thus play an important role in plant–microbe interactions.     

Growth of Frankia strains in leaf litter-amended soil and the rhizosphere of a nonactinorhizal plant

Verticillium leptobactrum , a rare fungal species, has repeatedly been isolated from serpentinic rocks in the Western Alps, thus suggesting that it adapts easily to this selective mineral substrate. The rRNA internal transcribed spacer region of several isolates has been sequenced to confirm their identity and taxonomic position within Verticillium , a recently revised polyphyletic entity. Isolates of V. leptobactrum have also been investigated to establish their ability to weather asbestos chrysotile, the most common mineral in the isolation sites. The results of solubilization assays on magnesium and silicon, as well as measurement of the Mg/Si ratio in the asbestos fibres after exposure to fungal mycelia, indicate a high bioweathering activity of V. leptobactrum towards chrysotile. Comparison with data on Fusarium oxysporum shows differences among species, with V. leptobactrum being more active than F. oxysporum in removing structural ions from chrysotile. Asbestos weathering by fungi could be envisaged as a bioremediation strategy for hazardous asbestos-rich soils (e.g. abandoned mines). Fungi that have adapted to live in serpentine sites could be good candidates for this purpose.     

Development of phenylthiourea derivatives as allosteric inhibitors of pyoverdine maturation enzyme PvdP tyrosinase

Infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa become increasingly difficult to treat because these bacteria have acquired various mechanisms for antibiotic resistance, which creates the need for mechanistically novel antibiotics. Such antibiotics might be developed by targeting enzymes involved in the iron uptake mechanism because iron is essential for bacterial survival. For P. aeruginosa, pyoverdine has been described as an important virulence factor that plays a key role in iron uptake. Therefore, inhibition of enzymes involved in the pyoverdine synthesis, such as PvdP tyrosinase, can open a new window for the treatment of P. aeruginosa infections. Previously, we reported phenylthiourea as the first allosteric inhibitor of PvdP tyrosinase with high micromolar potency. In this report, we explored structure-activity relationships (SAR) for PvdP tyrosinase inhibition by phenylthiourea derivatives. This enables identification of a phenylthiourea derivative (3c) with a potency in the submicromolar range (IC₅₀ = 0.57 + 0.05 µM). Binding could be rationalized by molecular docking simulation and 3c was proved to inhibit the bacterial pyoverdine production and bacterial growth in P. aeruginosa PA01 cultures.     

Temperature and pyoverdine-mediated iron acquisition control surface motility of Pseudomonas putida

Pseudomonas putida KT2440 is unable to swarm at its common temperature of growth in the laboratory (30 degrees C) but exhibits surface motility similar to swarming patterns in other Pseudomonas between 18 degrees C and 28 degrees C. These motile cells show differentiation, consisting on elongation and the presence of surface appendages. Analysis of a collection of mutants to define the molecular determinants of this type of surface movement in KT2440 shows that while type IV pili and lipopolysaccharide O-antigen are requisites flagella are not. Although surface motility of flagellar mutants was macroscopically undistinguishable from that of the wild type, microscopy analysis revealed that these mutants move using a distinct mechanism to that of the wild-type strain. Mutants either in the siderophore pyoverdine (ppsD) or in the FpvA siderophore receptor were also unable to spread on surfaces. Motility in the ppsD strain was totally restored with pyoverdine and partially with the wild-type ppsD allele. Phenotype of the fpvA strain was not complemented by this siderophore. We discuss that iron influences surface motility and that it can be an environmental cue for swarming-like movement in P. putida. This study constitutes the first report assigning an important role to pyoverdine iron acquisition in en masse bacterial surface movement.     

Characterization of a pyoverdine-deficient mutant of Pseudomonas fluorescens impaired in the secretion of extracellular lipase

A mutant of Pseudomonas fluorescens strain B52 deficient in the synthesis of the fluorescent pigment, pyoverdine, was isolated. Absence of pyoverdine and other siderophores was confirmed by gel filtration, a specific siderophore assay, and inhibition studies with the iron chelator EDDA. Both parent and mutant synthesized additional outer membrane proteins in response to iron-limitation. Mutant cells cultured in the absence of iron(III) accumulated ⁵⁵Fe-labeled pyoverdine. The mutant produced extracellular proteinase normally on various media, but was deficient in lipase secretion. Growth of the mutant with partially-purified pyoverdine resulted in a 2.5-fold stimulation of lipase secretion. The mutant grew poorly in deferrated medium; however, the addition of iron(III) stimulated growth. Proteinase secretion in deferrated medium was stimulated over a narrow range of iron(III) concentration, while lipase secretion was only slightly affected. The data suggest that separate regulatory mechanisms exist for the control of proteinase and lipase secretion by iron(III).Contribution No. 768 from the Food Research Centre