The Enterococcus faecalis pheromone-responsive plasmid pAM373 does not encode an entry exclusion function

A new flavor of entry exclusion in ICE elements provides a selective advantage for the element and its host

Entry exclusion has been described in many bacterial conjugation systems, but their molecular mechanisms are not well understood. In the current issue, Avello et al. describe a new exclusion system in the conjugative element ICEBs1. They identify the yddJ gene as the functional exclusion gene and its target as the protein product of the conG gene. They provide evidence for a possible mechanism and for the contribution of the system to reduce fitness costs of ICE expression.

Enterococcal Genetics

The study of the genetics of enterococci has focused heavily on mobile genetic elements present in these organisms, the complex regulatory circuits used to control their mobility, and the antibiotic resistance genes they frequently carry. Recently, more focus has been placed on the regulation of genes involved in the virulence of the opportunistic pathogenic species Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. Little information is available concerning fundamental aspects of DNA replication, partition, and division; this article begins with a brief overview of what little is known about these issues, primarily by comparison with better-studied model organisms. A variety of transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms of regulation of gene expression are then discussed, including a section on the genetics and regulation of vancomycin resistance in enterococci. The article then provides extensive coverage of the pheromone-responsive conjugation plasmids, including sections on regulation of the pheromone response, the conjugative apparatus, and replication and stable inheritance. The article then focuses on conjugative transposons, now referred to as integrated, conjugative elements, or ICEs, and concludes with several smaller sections covering emerging areas of interest concerning the enterococcal mobilome, including nonpheromone plasmids of particular interest, toxin-antitoxin systems, pathogenicity islands, bacteriophages, and genome defense.

Antagonistic Donor Density Effect Conserved in Multiple Enterococcal Conjugative Plasmids

Enterococcus faecalis, a common causative agent of hospital-acquired infections, is resistant to many known antibiotics. Its ability to acquire and transfer resistance genes and virulence determinants through conjugative plasmids poses a serious concern for public health. In some cases, induction of transfer of E. faecalis plasmids results from peptide pheromones produced by plasmid-free recipient cells, which are sensed by the plasmid-bearing donor cells. These plasmids generally encode an inhibitory peptide that competes with the pheromone and suppresses self-induction of donors. We recently demonstrated that the inhibitor peptide encoded on plasmid pCF10 is part of a unique quorum-sensing system in which it functions as a "self-sensing signal," reducing the response to the pheromone in a density-dependent fashion. Based on the similarities between regulatory features controlling conjugation in pAD1 and pAM373 and those controlling conjugation in pCF10, we hypothesized that these plasmids are likely to exhibit similar quorum-sensing behaviors. Experimental findings indicate that for both pAD1 and pAM373, high donor densities indeed resulted in decreased induction of the conjugation operon and reduced conjugation frequencies. This effect was restored by the addition of exogenous inhibitor, confirming that the inhibitor serves as an indicator for donor density. Donor density also affects cross-species conjugative plasmid transfer. Based on our experimental results, we propose models for induction and shutdown of the conjugation operon in pAD1 and pAM373.

IMPORTANCE

Enterococcus faecalis is a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. Its ability to transfer antibiotic resistance and virulence determinants by sharing its genetic material with other bacteria through direct cell-cell contact via conjugation poses a serious threat. Two antagonistic signaling peptides control the transfer of plasmids pAD1 and pAM373: a peptide pheromone produced by plasmid-free recipients triggers the conjugative transfer in plasmid-containing donors, and an inhibitor peptide encoded on the plasmid and produced by donor cells serves to modulate the donor response in accordance with the relative abundance of donors and recipients. We demonstrate that high donor density reduces the conjugation frequency of both of these plasmids, which is a consequence of increased inhibitor concentration in high-donor-density cultures. While most antibiotic strategies end up selecting resistant strains and disrupting the community balance, manipulating bacterial signaling mechanisms can serve as an alternate strategy to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Tales of conjugation and sex pheromones: A plasmid and enterococcal odyssey

This review covers highlights of the author's experience becoming and working as a plasmid biologist. The account chronicles a progression from studies of ColE1 DNA in Escherichia coli to Gram-positive bacteria with an emphasis on conjugation in enterococci. It deals with gene amplification, conjugative transposons and sex pheromones in the context of bacterial antibiotic resistance.

Properties of Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pAD1, a member of a widely disseminated family of pheromone-responding, conjugative, virulence elements encoding cytolysin

The 60-kb pAD1 represents a large and widely disseminated family of conjugative, pheromone-responding, virulence plasmids commonly found in clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis. It encodes a hemolysin/bacteriocin (cytolysin) shown to contribute to virulence in animal models, and the related bacteriocin is active against a wide variety of Gram-positive bacteria. This review summarizes what is currently known about the molecular biology of pAD1, including aspects of its cytolytic, UV-resistance, replication, maintenance, and conjugative properties.

Comparative and functional analysis of sortase-dependent proteins in the predicted secretome of Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118

Surface proteins are important factors in the interaction of probiotic and pathogenic bacteria with their environment or host. We performed a comparative bioinformatic analysis of four publicly available Lactobacillus genomes and the genome of Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius strain UCC118 to identify secreted proteins and those linked to the cell wall. Proteins were identified which were predicted to be anchored by WXL-binding domains, N- or C-terminal anchors, GW repeats, lipoprotein anchors, or LysM-binding domains. We identified 10 sortase-dependent surface proteins in L. salivarius UCC118, including three which are homologous to mucus-binding proteins (LSL_0152, LSL_0311, and LSL_1335), a collagen-binding protein homologue (LSL_2020b), two hypothetical proteins (LSL_1838 and LSL_1902b), an enterococcal surface protein homologue (LSL_1085), a salivary agglutinin-binding homologue (LSL_1832b), an epithelial binding protein homologue (LSL_1319), and a proteinase homologue (LSL_1774b). However, two of the genes are gene fragments and four are pseudogenes, suggesting a lack of selection for their function. Two of the 10 genes were not transcribed in vitro, and 1 gene showed a 10-fold increase in transcript level in stationary phase compared to logarithmic phase. The sortase gene was deleted, and three genes encoding sortase-dependent proteins were disrupted. The sortase mutant and one sortase-dependent protein (mucus-binding homologue) mutant showed a significant reduction in adherence to human epithelial cell lines. The genome-wide investigation of surface proteins can thus help our understanding of their roles in host interaction.

Characterization of the pheromone response of the Enterococcus faecalis conjugative plasmid pCF10: complete sequence and comparative analysis of the transcriptional and phenotypic responses of pCF10-containing cells to pheromone induction

The sex pheromone plasmids in Enterococcus faecalis are one of the most efficient conjugative plasmid transfer systems known in bacteria. Plasmid transfer rates can reach or exceed 10(-1) transconjugants per donor in vivo and under laboratory conditions. We report the completion of the DNA sequence of plasmid pCF10 and the analysis of the transcription profile of plasmid genes, relative to conjugative transfer ability following pheromone induction. These experiments employed a mini-microarray containing all 57 open reading frames of pCF10 and a set of selected chromosomal genes. A clear peak of transcription activity was observed 30 to 60 min after pheromone addition, with transcription subsiding 2 h after pheromone induction. The transcript activity correlated with the ability of donor cells to transfer pCF10 to recipient cells. Remarkably, aggregation substance (Asc10, encoded by the prgB gene) was present on the cell surface for a long period of time after pheromone-induced transcription of prgB and plasmid transfer ability had ceased. This observation could have relevance for the virulence of E. faecalis.

Virulence, phenotype and genotype characteristics of endodontic Enterococcus spp

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Enterococci have been implicated in persistent root canal infections but their role in the infection process remains unclear. This study investigated the virulence, phenotype and genotype of 33 endodontic enterococcal isolates.

METHODS

Phenotypic tests were conducted for antibiotic resistance, clumping response to pheromone, and production of gelatinase, hemolysin and bacteriocin. Genotype analysis involved polymerase chain reaction amplification of virulence determinants encoding aggregation substances asa and asa373, cytolysin activator cylA, gelatinase gelE, gelatinase-negative phenotype ef1841/fsrC, adherence factors esp and ace, and endocarditis antigen efaA. Physical DNA characterization involved pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of genomic DNA, and plasmid analysis.

RESULTS

Potential virulence traits expressed included production of gelatinase by Enterococcus faecalis (n=23), and response to pheromones in E. faecalis culture filtrate (n=16). Fourteen strains produced bacteriocin. Five strains were resistant to tetracycline and one to gentamicin, whereas all were susceptible to ampicillin, benzylpenicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, fusidic acid, kanamycin, rifampin, streptomycin and vancomycin. Polymerase chain reaction products encoding efaA, ace, and asa were detected in all isolates; esp was detected in 20 isolates, cylA in six isolates, but asa373 was never detected. The gelatinase gene (gelE) was detected in all isolates of E. faecalis (n=31) but not in Enterococcus faecium (n=2); a 23.9 kb deletion sequence corresponding to the gelatinase-negative phenotype was detected in six of the eight E. faecalis isolates that did not produce gelatinase. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and plasmid analyses revealed genetic polymorphism with clonal types evident. Plasmid DNA was detected in 25 strains, with up to four plasmids per strain and a similar (5.1 kb) plasmid occurring in 16 isolates.

CONCLUSIONS

Phenotypic and genotypic evidence of potential virulence factors were identified in endodontic Enterococcus spp., specifically production of gelatinase and response to pheromones.

Plasmid content of a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis isolate from a patient also colonized by Staphylococcus aureus with a VanA phenotype

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis coisolated with vancomycin-resistant (VanA) Staphylococcus aureus was found to contain two plasmids, designated pAM830 (45 kb) and pAM831 (95 kb). pAM830, found to be conjugative and closely related to the Inc18 family of broad-host-range conjugative plasmids, encodes resistances to vancomycin (via a Tn1546-like element) and erythromycin; pAM831 encodes resistances to gentamicin, streptomycin, and erythromycin.

Identification and characterization of genes encoding sex pheromone cAM373 activity in Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus

The sex pheromone cAM373 of Enterococcus faecalis and the related staph-cAM373 of Staphylococcus aureus were found to correspond to heptapeptides located within the C-termini of the signal sequences of putative prelipoproteins. The deduced mature forms of the lipoproteins share no detectable homology and presumably serve unrelated functions in the cells. The chromosomally encoded genetic determinants for production of the pheromones have been identified and designated camE (encoding cAM373) and camS (encoding staph-cAM373). Truncated and full-length clones of camE were generated in Escherichia coli, in which cAM373 activity was expressed. In E. faecalis, insertional inactivation in the middle of camE had no detectable phenotypic effects on the pheromone system. Establishment of an in frame translation stop codon within the signal sequence resulted in reduction of cAM373 activity to 3% of normal levels. The camS determinant has homologues in Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis and Listeria monocytogenes; however, corresponding heptapeptides present within those sequences do not resemble staph-cAM373 closely. The particular significance of staph-cAM373 as a potential intergeneric inducer of transfer-proficient genetic elements is discussed.