Effects of quorum sensing autoinducer degradation gene on virulence and biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The aiiA gene from Bacillus thuringiensis was cloned into the Pseudomonas/E. coli shuttle vector and transformed into Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO1. Western blotting showed that the AiiA protein was expressed in PAO1. After induction by IPTG for 6 h and 18 h, expression of the aiiA gene in PAO1 completely degraded the quorum sensing autoinducers N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs): N-oxododecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (OdDHL) and N-butyryl-L-homoserine lactone (BHL). The reduced amount of AHLs in PAO1 was also correlated with decreased expression and production of several virulence factors such as elastase and pyocyanin. AiiA expression also influenced bacterial swarming motility. Most importantly, our studies indicated that aiiA played significant roles in P. aeruginosa biofilm formation and dispersion, as observed by the differences of the biofilm formation on liquid and solid surfaces, and biofilm structures under a scanning electron microscope. These authors contributed equally to this work Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30570020) and Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (Grant No. 2004ABA120)     

AiiA蛋白的可溶性表达及其抗菌活性研究

AHLs是革兰氏阴性细菌在增殖过程中产生的一类信号分子,与其致病性密切相关。AiiA蛋白作为一种胞内解酯酶．能水解致病菌产生的AHb分子,使内酯环开环后不能再激活某些胞外酶的表达．从而极大地减弱了细菌的致病性。本研究从苏云金芽孢杆菌LLB15中分离编码aiiA基因的质粒DNA。用PCR方法克隆面讲基因,并利用pET载体构建6-His融合表达质粒pET29a-aiiA,转化E.coli BL21（DE3）菌株,并筛选得到E.coli BL21（DE3）-pET29a-aiiA工程菌。在20℃的低温和0．8mmol／LIPTG条件下。经25h的诱导表达,获得了54．4ug／mL可溶性AiiA蛋白。通过镍柱亲和层析,在国内外首次纯化了带6-His标记的AiiA蛋白。水解活性和抗病性检测表明,该蛋白能水解AHLs分子．对胡萝卜欧文氏软腐病菌具有较强的抗病作用。     

基于细菌群感效应人工构建分子开关

对生物体内已有的或者人工组装的生物合成途径进行优化操作涉及两个重要问题:代谢途径中关键酶的活性及蛋白表达水平。对于酶表达水平的研究,传统的做法是采用强启动子控制下的靶蛋白过量表达策略。靶蛋白的过量表达通常会导致细胞内积累大量的无活性包涵体,从而严重影响细胞的生理状态和相关生物途径的有效运转。针对这一问题,设计一种分子开关来精确调控生物合成过程中关键酶的表达水平,对于研究生物合成途径的代谢节律以及促进生物合成途径高效运转都具有重要的实用价值。基于细菌群落中普遍存在群感效应的基本原理并结合酶促催化的动力学特征,首先在大肠杆菌群落中建立信号分子高丝氨酸内酯(AHL)介导的细胞–细胞交流机制,将靶基因egfp置入到启动子PluxI的控制之下。在细胞生长过程中,产生的AHL累积到一定浓度启动靶基因表达。通过在细胞生长的不同阶段启动AHL降解酶AiiA的表达控制环境中信号分子AHL的浓度水平,从而控制靶基因egfp的转录效率,最终实现对靶蛋白EGFP表达水平的精确控制。通过检测细胞的生长状态、靶基因在mRNA水平、蛋白质水平的表达情况证明人工设计的分子开关可以便捷高效地控制靶基因表达水平,具有时空调节的严谨性。该分子开关有望广泛应用于代谢工程和合成生物学等研究领域中。     

海洋微生物ZD02信号降解酶基因aiiA克隆及其生物信息学分析

根据细菌群体感应信号降解酶(AiiA)基因设计简并引物,从海洋微生物ZD02基因组中扩增编码AiiA的基因aiiA,筛选其阳性克隆,测序后分析其基因序列.结果表明:筛选到的阳性克隆ZD02-aiiA序列全长753 bp(Genbank登录号:KC756214),存在一个开放阅读框(ORF),编码由250个氨基酸残基组成的多肽,预测分子量为28.1 kDa,蛋白等电点为4.78.由该序列推导得到的氨基酸残基序列含有一个保守结构域(Lactamase-B) (34AA～235AA),并预测了AiiA的三级结构.以上研究为该序列的重组表达及其相关活性研究奠定了基础.     

海洋微生物信号降解酶基因aiiA克隆与表达载体的构建

根据已知的微生物信号降解酶基因aliA的序列设计、合成特异性引物探针,以从海洋分离的微生物ZD02的基因组为模板,PCR扩增编码蛋白alia信号降解酶的基因aliA序列,产物经PCR验证后用于构建克隆载体pMD18-ZD02aiiA,并以此克隆载体为模板,以带酶切位点的引物扩增基因,经BamHI和EcoRI双酶切后将其插入表达载体pET-17b,构建原核表达质粒pET—ZD02aiiA。经酶切、PCR鉴定及序列测定等,结果表明：克隆基因已正确插入到载体的多克隆位点,序列和读码框正确,为海洋微生物ZD02信号降解酶基因的体外重组和诱导表达研究打下基础。     

aiiA基因表达载体的构建及其在毕赤酵母中的表达

构建携带N-酰基高丝氨酸内酯酶基因(aiiA)的重组毕赤酵母表达载体pPIC3.5K-aiiA,采用电转化方法转入毕赤酵母GS115,经营养缺陷型培养基、表型鉴定和高G418浓度筛选获得高拷贝表达盒的酵母转化子,用0.5%甲醇诱导表达,RT-PCR鉴定可检测到重组酵母中编码目的基因成熟肽的mRNA,SDS-PAGE和Western blot检测结果表明,aiiA基因在毕赤酵母中成功表达,用指示菌紫色杆菌CV026检测发现目的蛋白具有降解N-酰基高丝氨酸内酯的活性。     

Effects of quorum sensing autoinducer degradation gene on virulence and biofilm formation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis>

The aiiA gene from Bacillus thuringiensis was cloned into the Pseudomonas/E. coli shuttle vector and transformed into Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO1. Western blotting showed that the AiiA protein was expressed in PAO1. After induction by IPTG for 6 h and 18 h, expression of the aiiA gene in PAO1 completely degraded the quorum sensing autoinducers N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs): N-oxododecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (OdDHL) and N-butyryl-L-homoserine lactone (BHL). The reduced amount of AHLs in PAO1 was also correlated with decreased expression and production of several virulence factors such as elastase and pyocyanin. AiiA expression also influenced bacterial swarming motility. Most importantly, our studies indicated that aiiA played significant roles in P. aeruginosa biofilm formation and dispersion, as observed by the differences of the biofilm formation on liquid and solid surfaces, and biofilm structures under a scanning electron microscope.