Redox-operated genetic switches: the SoxR and OxyR transcription factors

Surfing in the storm: how Paraburkholderia xenovorans thrives under stress during biodegradation of toxic aromatic compounds and other stressors

The adaptive mechanisms of Burkholderiales during the catabolism of aromatic compounds and abiotic stress are crucial for their fitness and performance. The aims of this report are to review the bacterial adaptation mechanisms to aromatic compounds, oxidative stress, and environmental stressful conditions, focusing on the model aromatic-degrading Paraburkholderia xenovorans LB400, other Burkholderiales, and relevant degrading bacteria. These mechanisms include (i) the stress response during aromatic degradation, (ii) the oxidative stress response to aromatic compounds, (iii) the metabolic adaptation to oxidative stress, (iv) the osmoadaptation to saline stress, (v) the synthesis of siderophore during iron limitation, (vi) the proteostasis network, which plays a crucial role in cellular function maintenance, and (vii) the modification of cellular membranes, morphology, and bacterial lifestyle. Remarkably, we include, for the first time, novel genomic analyses on proteostasis networks, carbon metabolism modulation, and the synthesis of stress-related molecules in P. xenovorans. We analyzed these metabolic features in silico to gain insights into the adaptive strategies of P. xenovorans to challenging environmental conditions. Understanding how to enhance bacterial stress responses can lead to the selection of more robust strains capable of thriving in polluted environments, which is critical for improving biodegradation and bioremediation strategies.

Ketoprofen promotes the conjugative transfer of antibiotic resistance among antibiotic resistant bacteria in natural aqueous environments

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance in the environment pose a serious threat to global public health. It is acknowledged that non-antibiotic stresses, including disinfectants, pharmaceuticals and organic pollutants, play a crucial role in horizontal transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Despite the widespread presence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), notably in surface water, their contributions to the transfer of ARGs have not been systematically explored. Furthermore, previous studies have primarily concentrated on model strains to investigate whether contaminants promote the conjugative transfer of ARGs, leaving the mechanisms of ARG transmission among antibiotic resistant bacteria in natural aqueous environments under the selective pressures of non-antibiotic contaminants remains unclear. In this study, the Escherichia coli (E. coli) K12 carrying RP4 plasmid was used as the donor strain, indigenous strain Aeromonas veronii containing rifampicin resistance genes in Taihu Lake, and E. coli HB101 were used as receptor strains to establish inter-genus and intra-genus conjugative transfer systems, examining the conjugative transfer frequency under the stress of ketoprofen. The results indicated that ketoprofen accelerated the environmental spread of ARGs through several mechanisms. Ketoprofen promoted cell-to-cell contact by increasing cell surface hydrophobicity and reducing cell surface charge, thereby mitigating cell-to-cell repulsion. Furthermore, ketoprofen induced increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, activated the DNA damage-induced response (SOS), and enhanced cell membrane permeability, facilitating ARG transmission in intra-genus and inter-genus systems. The upregulation of outer membrane proteins, oxidative stress, SOS response, mating pair formation (Mpf) system, and DNA transfer and replication (Dtr) system related genes, as well as the inhibition of global regulatory genes, all contributed to higher transfer efficiency under ketoprofen treatment. These findings served as an early warning for a comprehensive assessment of the roles of NSAIDs in the spread of antibiotic resistance in natural aqueous environments.

Determinants of Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Factors in the Genome of Escherichia coli APEC 36 Strain Isolated from a Broiler Chicken with Generalized Colibacillosis

Objective: Multidrug-resistant, highly pathogenic Escherichia coli strains are the primary causative agents of intestinal and extraintestinal human diseases. The extensive utilization of antibiotics for farm animals has been identified as a contributing factor to the emergence and dissemination of E. coli strains that exhibit multidrug resistance and possess high pathogenic potential. Consequently, a significant research objective is to examine the genetic diversity of pathogenic E. coli strains and to identify those that may pose a threat to human health. Methods: In this study, we present the results of genome sequencing and analysis, as well as the physiological characterization of E. coli strain APEC 36, which was isolated from the liver of a broiler chicken with generalized colibacillosis. Results: We found that APEC 36 possess a number of mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, including antibiotic efflux, antibiotic inactivation, and antibiotic target alteration/replacement/protection. The most widely represented group among these mechanisms was that of antibiotic efflux. This finding is consistent with the strain's documented resistance to multiple antibiotics. APEC 36 has an extremely rare variant of the beta-lactamase CTX-M-169. Notwithstanding the multitude of systems for interfering with foreign DNA present in the strain, seven plasmids have been identified, three of which may possess novel replication origins. Additionally, qnrS1, which confers resistance to fluoroquinolones, was found to be encoded in the genome rather than in the plasmid. This suggests that the determinants of antibiotic resistance may be captured in the genome and stably transmitted from generation to generation. Conclusions: The APEC 36 strain has genes for toxins, adhesins, protectins, and an iron uptake system. The obtained set of genetic and physiological characteristics allowed us to assume that this strain has a high pathogenic potential for humans.

The effect of β-ionone on bacterial cells: the use of specific lux-biosensors

The diversity of the biological activity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including unsaturated ketone β-ionone, promising pharmacological, biotechnological, and agricultural agent, has aroused considerable interest. However, the functional role and mechanisms of action of VOCs remain insufficiently studied. In this work, the response of bacterial cells to the action of β-ionone was studied using specific bioluminescent lux-biosensors containing stress-sensitive promoters. We determined that in Escherichia coli cells, β-ionone induces oxidative stress (PkatG and Pdps promoters) through a specific response mediated by the OxyR/OxyS regulon, but not SoxR/SoxS (PsoxS promoter). It has been shown that β-ionone at high concentrations (50 μM and above) causes a weak induction of the expression from the PibpA promoter and slightly induces the PcolD promoter in the E. coli biosensors; the observed effect is enhanced in the ΔoxyR mutants. This indicates the presence of some damage to proteins and DNA. β-Ionone was found to inhibit the bichaperone-dependent DnaKJE-ClpB refolding of heat-inactivated bacterial luciferase in E. coli wild-type and ΔibpB mutant strains. In the cells of the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis 168 pNK-MrgA β-ionone does not cause oxidative stress. Thus, in this work, the specificity of bacterial cell stress responses to the action of β-ionone was shown.

Biocompatible plasma-treated liquids: A sustainable approach for decontaminating gastrointestinal-infection causing pathogens

Nosocomial infections are a serious threat and difficult to cure due to rising antibiotic resistance in pathogens and biofilms. Direct exposure to cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has been widely employed in numerous biological research endeavors. Nonetheless, plasma-treated liquids (PTLs) formulated with physiological solutions may offer additional benefits such as enhanced portability, and biocompatibility. Additionally, CAP-infused long-lived reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) such as nitrite (NO2-), nitrate (NO3-), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) can synergistically induce their antibacterial activity. Herein, we investigated those argon-plasma jet-treated liquids, including Ringer's lactate (RL), phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and physiological saline, have significant antibacterial activity against nosocomial/gastrointestinal-causing pathogens, which might be due to ROS-mediated lipid peroxidation. Combining the conventional culture-based method with propidium iodide monoazide quantitative PCR (PMAxx™-qPCR) indicated that PTLs induce a minimal viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state and moderately affect culturable counts. Specifically, the PTL exposure resulted in pathogenicity dysfunction via controlling T3SS-related effector genes of S. enterica. Overall, this study provides insights into the effectiveness of PTLs for inducing ROS-mediated damage, controlling the virulence of diarrheagenic bacteria, and modulating homeostatic genes.

OxyR is required for oxidative stress resistance of the entomopathogenic bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila and has a minor role during the bacterial interaction with its hosts

Xenorhabdus nematophila is a Gram-negative bacterium, mutualistically associated with the soil nematode Steinernema carpocapsae, and this nemato-bacterial complex is parasitic for a broad spectrum of insects. The transcriptional regulator OxyR is widely conserved in bacteria and activates the transcription of a set of genes that influence cellular defence against oxidative stress. It is also involved in the virulence of several bacterial pathogens. The aim of this study was to identify the X. nematophila OxyR regulon and investigate its role in the bacterial life cycle. An oxyR mutant was constructed in X. nematophila and phenotypically characterized in vitro and in vivo after reassociation with its nematode partner. OxyR plays a major role during the X. nematophila resistance to oxidative stress in vitro. Transcriptome analysis allowed the identification of 59 genes differentially regulated in the oxyR mutant compared to the parental strain. In vivo, the oxyR mutant was able to reassociate with the nematode as efficiently as the control strain. These nemato-bacterial complexes harbouring the oxyR mutant symbiont were able to rapidly kill the insect larvae in less than 48 h after infestation, suggesting that factors other than OxyR could also allow X. nematophila to cope with oxidative stress encountered during this phase of infection in insect. The significantly increased number of offspring of the nemato-bacterial complex when reassociated with the X. nematophila oxyR mutant compared to the control strain revealed a potential role of OxyR during this symbiotic stage of the bacterial life cycle.

Cylindrospermopsin enhances the conjugative transfer of plasmid-mediated multi-antibiotic resistance genes through glutathione biosynthesis inhibition

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN), a cyanobacterial toxin, has been detected in the global water environment. However, information concerning the potential environmental risk of CYN is limited, since the majority of previous studies have mainly focused on the adverse health effects of CYN through contaminated drinking water. The present study reported that CYN at environmentally relevant levels (0.1-100 μg/L) can significantly enhance the conjugative transfer of RP4 plasmid in Escherichia coli genera, wherein application of 10 μg/L of CYN led to maximum fold change of ∼6.5- fold at 16 h of exposure. Meanwhile, evaluation of underlying mechanisms revealed that environmental concentration of CYN exposure could increase oxidative stress in the bacterial cells, resulting in ROS overproduction. In turn, this led to an upregulation of antioxidant enzyme-related genes to avoid ROS attack. Further, inhibition of the synthesis of glutathione (GSH) was also detected, which led to the rapid depletion of GSH in cells and thus triggered the SOS response and promoted the conjugative transfer process. Increase in cell membrane permeability, upregulation of expression of genes related to pilus generation, ATP synthesis, and RP4 gene expression were also observed. These results highlight the potential impact on the spread of antimicrobial resistance in water environments.

Redox active plant phenolic, acetosyringone, for electrogenetic signaling

Redox is a unique, programmable modality capable of bridging communication between biology and electronics. Previous studies have shown that the E. coli redox-responsive OxyRS regulon can be re-wired to accept electrochemically generated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as an inducer of gene expression. Here we report that the redox-active phenolic plant signaling molecule acetosyringone (AS) can also induce gene expression from the OxyRS regulon. AS must be oxidized, however, as the reduced state present under normal conditions cannot induce gene expression. Thus, AS serves as a "pro-signaling molecule" that can be activated by its oxidation-in our case by application of oxidizing potential to an electrode. We show that the OxyRS regulon is not induced electrochemically if the imposed electrode potential is in the mid-physiological range. Electronically sliding the applied potential to either oxidative or reductive extremes induces this regulon but through different mechanisms: reduction of O2 to form H2O2 or oxidation of AS. Fundamentally, this work reinforces the emerging concept that redox signaling depends more on molecular activities than molecular structure. From an applications perspective, the creation of an electronically programmed "pro-signal" dramatically expands the toolbox for electronic control of biological responses in microbes, including in complex environments, cell-based materials, and biomanufacturing.

Excite the unexcitable: engineering cells and redox signaling for targeted bioelectronic control

The ever-growing influence of technology in our lives has led to an increasing interest in the development of smart electronic devices to interrogate and control biological systems. Recently, redox-mediated electrogenetics introduced a novel avenue that enables direct bioelectronic control at the genetic level. In this review, we discuss recent advances in methodologies for bioelectronic control, ranging from electrical stimulation to engineering efforts that allow traditionally unexcitable cells to be electrically 'programmable.' Alongside ion-transport signaling, we suggest redox as a route for rational engineering because it is a native form of electronic communication in biology. Using redox as a common language allows the interfacing of electronics and biology. This newfound connection opens a gateway of possibilities for next-generation bioelectronic tools.

Functional analysis of bacterial genes accidentally packaged in rhizospheric phageome of the wild plant species Abutilon fruticosum

The study aimed to reveal the structure and function of phageome existing in soil rhizobiome of Abutilon fruticosum in order to detect accidentally-packaged bacterial genes that encode Carbohydrate-Active enZymes (or CAZymes) and those that confer antibiotic resistance (e.g., antibiotic resistance genes or ARGs). Highly abundant genes were shown to mainly exist in members of the genera Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, Mycobacterium and Rhodococcus. Enriched CAZymes belong to glycoside hydrolase families GH4, GH6, GH12, GH15 and GH43 and mainly function in D-glucose biosynthesis via 10 biochemical passages. Another enriched CAZyme, e.g., alpha-galactosidase, of the GH4 family is responsible for the wealth of different carbohydrate forms in rhizospheric soil sink of A. fruticosum. ARGs of this phageome include the soxR and OleC genes that participate in the "antibiotic efflux pump" resistance mechanism, the parY mutant gene that participates in the "antibiotic target alteration" mechanism and the arr-1, iri, and AAC(3)-Ic genes that participate in the "antibiotic inactivation" mechanism. It is claimed that the genera Streptomyces, which harbors phages with oleC and parY mutant genes, and Pseudomonas, which harbors phages with soxR and AAC(3)-Ic genes, are approaching multidrug resistance via newly disseminating phages. These ARGs inhibit many antibiotics including oleandomycin, tetracycline, rifampin and aminoglycoside. The study highlights the possibility of accidental packaging of these ARGs in soil phageome and the risk of their horizontal transfer to human gut pathogens through the food chain as detrimental impacts of soil phageome of A. fruticosum. The study also emphasizes the beneficial impacts of phageome on soil microbiome and plant interacting in storing carbohydrates in the soil sink for use by the two entities upon carbohydrate deprivation.

Abundant resistome determinants in rhizosphere soil of the wild plant Abutilon fruticosum

A metagenomic whole genome shotgun sequencing approach was used for rhizospheric soil micribiome of the wild plant Abutilon fruticosum in order to detect antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) along with their antibiotic resistance mechanisms and to detect potential risk of these ARGs to human health upon transfer to clinical isolates. The study emphasized the potential risk to human health of such human pathogenic or commensal bacteria, being transferred via food chain or horizontally transferred to human clinical isolates. The top highly abundant rhizospheric soil non-redundant ARGs that are prevalent in bacterial human pathogens or colonizers (commensal) included mtrA, soxR, vanRO, golS, rbpA, kdpE, rpoB2, arr-1, efrA and ileS genes. Human pathogenic/colonizer bacteria existing in this soil rhizosphere included members of genera Mycobacterium, Vibrio, Klebsiella, Stenotrophomonas, Pseudomonas, Nocardia, Salmonella, Escherichia, Citrobacter, Serratia, Shigella, Cronobacter and Bifidobacterium. These bacteria belong to phyla Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. The most highly abundant resistance mechanisms included antibiotic efflux pump, antibiotic target alteration, antibiotic target protection and antibiotic inactivation. antimicrobial resistance (AMR) families of the resistance mechanism of antibiotic efflux pump included resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND) antibiotic efflux pump (for mtrA, soxR and golS genes), major facilitator superfamily (MFS) antibiotic efflux pump (for soxR gene), the two-component regulatory kdpDE system (for kdpE gene) and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) antibiotic efflux pump (for efrA gene). AMR families of the resistance mechanism of antibiotic target alteration included glycopeptide resistance gene cluster (for vanRO gene), rifamycin-resistant beta-subunit of RNA polymerase (for rpoB2 gene) and antibiotic-resistant isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase (for ileS gene). AMR families of the resistance mechanism of antibiotic target protection included bacterial RNA polymerase-binding protein (for RbpA gene), while those of the resistance mechanism of antibiotic inactivation included rifampin ADP-ribosyltransferase (for arr-1 gene). Better agricultural and food transport practices are required especially for edible plant parts or those used in folkloric medicine.

Regulation of type VI secretion systems at the transcriptional, posttranscriptional and posttranslational level

Bacteria live in complex polymicrobial communities and are constantly competing for resources. The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a widespread antagonistic mechanism used by Gram-negative bacteria to gain an advantage over competitors. T6SSs translocate toxic effector proteins inside target prokaryotic cells in a contact-dependent manner. In addition, some T6SS effectors can be secreted extracellularly and contribute to the scavenging scarce metal ions. Bacteria deploy their T6SSs in different situations, categorizing these systems into offensive, defensive and exploitative. The great variety of bacterial species and environments occupied by such species reflect the complexity of regulatory signals and networks that control the expression and activation of the T6SSs. Such regulation is tightly controlled at the transcriptional, posttranscriptional and posttranslational level by abiotic (e.g. pH, iron) or biotic (e.g. quorum-sensing) cues. In this review, we provide an update on the current knowledge about the regulatory networks that modulate the expression and activity of T6SSs across several species, focusing on systems used for interbacterial competition.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac accelerates the emergence of antibiotic resistance via mutagenesis

Overuse of antimicrobial agents are generally considered to be a key factor in the occurrence of antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB). Nevertheless, it is unclear whether ARB can be induced by non-antibiotic chemicals such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate whether NSAID diclofenac (DCF) promote the emergence of antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli K12 MG1655. Our results suggested that DCF induced the occurrence of ARB which showed hereditary stability of resistance. Meanwhile, gene variation was identified on chromosome of the ARB, and DCF can cause bacterial oxidative stress and SOS response. Subsequently, transcriptional levels of antioxidant (soxS, sodA, sodC, gor, katG, ahpF) and SOS (recA, lexA, uvrA, uvrB, ruvA, ruvB, dinB, umuC, polB) system-related genes were enhanced. However, the expression of related genes cannot be increased in high-dosage treatment compared with low-dosage samples because of cytotoxicity and cellular damage. Simultaneously, high-dosage DCF decreased the mutation frequency but enhanced the resistance of mutants. Our findings expand our knowledge of the promoting effect on the emergence of ARB caused by DCF. More attention and regulations should be given to these potential ecological and health risks for widespread DCF.

Functional annotation of rhizospheric phageome of the wild plant species Moringa oleifera

Introduction

The study aims to describe phageome of soil rhizosphere of M.oleifera in terms of the genes encoding CAZymes and other KEGG enzymes.

Methods

Genes of the rhizospheric virome of the wild plant species Moringa oleifera were investigated for their ability to encode useful CAZymes and other KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) enzymes and to resist antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the soil.

Results

Abundance of these genes was higher in the rhizospheric microbiome than in the bulk soil. Detected viral families include the plant viral family Potyviridae as well as the tailed bacteriophages of class Caudoviricetes that are mainly associated with bacterial genera Pseudomonas, Streptomyces and Mycobacterium. Viral CAZymes in this soil mainly belong to glycoside hydrolase (GH) families GH43 and GH23. Some of these CAZymes participate in a KEGG pathway with actions included debranching and degradation of hemicellulose. Other actions include biosynthesizing biopolymer of the bacterial cell wall and the layered cell wall structure of peptidoglycan. Other CAZymes promote plant physiological activities such as cell-cell recognition, embryogenesis and programmed cell death (PCD). Enzymes of other pathways help reduce the level of soil H₂O₂ and participate in the biosynthesis of glycine, malate, isoprenoids, as well as isoprene that protects plant from heat stress. Other enzymes act in promoting both the permeability of bacterial peroxisome membrane and carbon fixation in plants. Some enzymes participate in a balanced supply of dNTPs, successful DNA replication and mismatch repair during bacterial cell division. They also catalyze the release of signal peptides from bacterial membrane prolipoproteins. Phages with the most highly abundant antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) transduce species of bacterial genera Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, and Mycobacterium. Abundant mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in the rhizosphere include "antibiotic efflux pump" for ARGs soxR, OleC, and MuxB, "antibiotic target alteration" for parY mutant, and "antibiotic inactivation" for arr-1.

Discussion

These ARGs can act synergistically to inhibit several antibiotics including tetracycline, penam, cephalosporin, rifamycins, aminocoumarin, and oleandomycin. The study highlighted the issue of horizontal transfer of ARGs to clinical isolates and human gut microbiome.

Electrochemical disinfection may increase the spread of antibiotic resistance genes by promoting conjugal plasmid transfer

Current in the milliampere range can be used for electrochemical inactivation of bacteria. Yet, bacteria-including antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) may be subjected to sublethal conditions due to imperfect mixing or energy savings measures during electrochemical disinfection. It is not known whether such sublethal current intensities have the potential to stimulate plasmid transfer from ARB. In this study, conjugal transfer of plasmid pKJK5 was investigated between Pseudomonas putida strains under conditions reflecting electrochemical disinfection. Although the abundance of culturable and membrane-intact donor and recipient cells decreased with applied current (0-60 mA), both transconjugant density and transconjugant frequency increased. Both active chlorine and superoxide radicals were generated electrolytically, and ROS generation was induced. In addition, we detected significant over expression of a core oxidative stress defense gene (ahpCF) with current. Expression of selected conjugation related genes (traE, traI, trbJ, and trbL) also significantly correlated with current intensity. ROS accumulation, SOS response and subsequent derepression of conjugation are therefore the plausible consequence of sublethal current exposure. These findings suggest that sublethal intensities of current can enhance conjugal plasmid transfer, and that it is essential that conditions of electrochemical disinfection (applied voltage, current density, time and mixing) are carefully controlled to avoid conjugal ARG transmission.

Effects of functional modules and bacterial clusters response on transmission performance of antibiotic resistance genes under antibiotic stress during anaerobic digestion of livestock wastewater

The formation and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have attracted increasing attention. It is unclear whether the internal mechanisms by which antibiotics affect horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of ARGs during anaerobic digestion (AD) were influenced by dose and type. We investigated the effects of two major antibiotics (oxytetracycline, OTC, and sulfamethoxazole, SMX) on ARGs during AD according to antibiotic concentration in livestock wastewater influent. The low-dose antibiotic (0.5 mg/L) increased ROS and SOS responses, promoting the formation of ARGs. Meanwhile, low-dose antibiotics could also promote the spread of ARGs by promoting pili, communication responses, and the type IV secretion system (T4SS). However, different types and doses of antibiotics would lead to changes in the above functional modules and then affect the enrichment of ARGs. With the increasing dose of SMX, the advantages of pili and communication responses would gradually change. In the OTC system, low-dose has the strongest promoting ability in both pili and communication responses. Similarly, an increase in the dose of SMX would change T4SS from facilitation to inhibition, while OTC completely inhibits T4SS. Microbial and network analysis also revealed that low-dose antibiotics were more favorable for the growth of host bacteria.

MlrA, a MerR family regulator in Vibrio cholerae, senses the anaerobic signal in the small intestine of the host to promote bacterial intestinal colonization

Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae), one of the most important bacterial pathogens in history, is a gram-negative motile bacterium that causes fatal pandemic disease in humans via oral ingestion of contaminated water or food. This process involves the coordinated actions of numerous regulatory factors. The MerR family regulators, which are widespread in prokaryotes, have been reported to be associated with pathogenicity. However, the role of the MerR family regulators in V. cholerae virulence remains unknown. Our study systematically investigated the influence of MerR family regulators on intestinal colonization of V. cholerae within the host. Among the five MerR family regulators, MlrA was found to significantly promote the colonization capacity of V. cholerae in infant mice. Furthermore, we revealed that MlrA increases bacterial intestinal colonization by directly enhancing the expression of tcpA, which encodes one of the most important virulence factors in V. cholerae, by binding to its promoter region. In addition, we revealed that during infection, mlrA is activated by anaerobic signals in the small intestine of the host through Fnr. In summary, our findings reveal a MlrA-mediated virulence regulation pathway that enables V. cholerae to sense environmental signals at the infection site to precisely activate virulence gene expression, thus providing useful insights into the pathogenic mechanisms of V. cholerae.

Bacterial redox response factors in the management of environmental oxidative stress

Bacteria evolved to survive in the available environmental chemosphere via several cellular mechanisms. A rich pool of antioxidants and stress regulators plays a significant role in the survival of bacteria in unfavorable environmental conditions. Most of the microbes exhibit resistant phenomena in toxic environment niches. Naturally, bacteria possess efficient thioredoxin reductase, glutaredoxin, and peroxiredoxin redox systems to handle environmental oxidative stress. Further, an array of transcriptional regulators senses the oxidative stress conditions. Transcription regulators, such as OxyR, SoxRS, PerR, UspA, SsrB, MarA, OhrR, SarZ, etc., sense and transduce bacterial oxidative stress responses. The redox-sensitive transcription regulators continuously recycle the utilized antioxidant enzymes during oxidative stress. These regulators promote the expression of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxides that overcome oxidative insults. Therefore, the transcriptional regulations maintain steady-state activities of antioxidant enzymes representing the resistance against host cell/environmental oxidative insults. Further, the redox system provides reducing equivalents to synthesize biomolecules, thereby contributing to cellular repair mechanisms. The inactive transcriptional regulators in the undisturbed cells are activated by oxidative stress. The oxidized transcriptional regulators modulate the expression of antioxidant and cellular repair enzymes to survive in extreme environmental conditions. Therefore, targeting these antioxidant systems and response regulators could alter cellular redox homeostasis. This review presents the mechanisms of different redox systems that favor bacterial survival in extreme environmental oxidative stress conditions.

Sulforaphane, a secondary metabolite in crucifers, inhibits the oxidative stress adaptation and virulence of Xanthomonas by directly targeting OxyR

Plant secondary metabolites perform numerous functions in the interactions between plants and pathogens. However, little is known about the precise mechanisms underlying their contribution to the direct inhibition of pathogen growth and virulence in planta. Here, we show that the secondary metabolite sulforaphane (SFN) in crucifers inhibits the growth, virulence, and ability of Xanthomonas species to adapt to oxidative stress, which is essential for the successful infection of host plants by phytopathogens. The transcription of oxidative stress detoxification-related genes (catalase [katA and katG] and alkylhydroperoxide-NADPH oxidoreductase subunit C [ahpC]) was substantially inhibited by SFN in Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc), and this phenomenon was most obvious in sax gene mutants sensitive to SFN. By performing microscale thermophoresis (MST) and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), we observed that SFN directly bound to the virulence-related redox-sensing transcription factor OxyR and weakened the ability of OxyR to bind to the promoters of oxidative stress detoxification-related genes. Collectively, these results illustrate that SFN directly targets OxyR to inhibit the bacterial adaptation to oxidative stress, thereby decreasing bacterial virulence. Interestingly, this phenomenon occurs in multiple Xanthomonas species. This study provides novel insights into the molecular mechanisms by which SFN limits Xanthomonas adaptation to oxidative stress and virulence, and the findings will facilitate future studies on the use of SFN as a biopesticide to control Xanthomonas.

Abundant antibiotic resistance genes in rhizobiome of the human edible Moringa oleifera medicinal plant

Moringa oleifera (or the miracle tree) is a wild plant species widely grown for its seed pods and leaves, and is used in traditional herbal medicine. The metagenomic whole genome shotgun sequencing (mWGS) approach was used to characterize antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of the rhizobiomes of this wild plant and surrounding bulk soil microbiomes and to figure out the chance and consequences for highly abundant ARGs, e.g., mtrA, golS, soxR, oleC, novA, kdpE, vanRO, parY, and rbpA, to horizontally transfer to human gut pathogens via mobile genetic elements (MGEs). The results indicated that abundance of these ARGs, except for golS, was higher in rhizosphere of M. oleifera than that in bulk soil microbiome with no signs of emerging new soil ARGs in either soil type. The most highly abundant metabolic processes of the most abundant ARGs were previously detected in members of phyla Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes. These processes refer to three resistance mechanisms namely antibiotic efflux pump, antibiotic target alteration and antibiotic target protection. Antibiotic efflux mechanism included resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND), ATP-binding cassette (ABC), and major facilitator superfamily (MFS) antibiotics pumps as well as the two-component regulatory kdpDE system. Antibiotic target alteration included glycopeptide resistance gene cluster (vanRO), aminocoumarin resistance parY, and aminocoumarin self-resistance parY. While, antibiotic target protection mechanism included RbpA bacterial RNA polymerase (rpoB)-binding protein. The study supports the claim of the possible horizontal transfer of these ARGs to human gut and emergence of new multidrug resistant clinical isolates. Thus, careful agricultural practices are required especially for plants used in circles of human nutrition industry or in traditional medicine.

Link Between Antibiotic Persistence and Antibiotic Resistance in Bacterial Pathogens

Both, antibiotic persistence and antibiotic resistance characterize phenotypes of survival in which a bacterial cell becomes insensitive to one (or even) more antibiotic(s). However, the molecular basis for these two antibiotic-tolerant phenotypes is fundamentally different. Whereas antibiotic resistance is genetically determined and hence represents a rather stable phenotype, antibiotic persistence marks a transient physiological state triggered by various stress-inducing conditions that switches back to the original antibiotic sensitive state once the environmental situation improves. The molecular basics of antibiotic resistance are in principle well understood. This is not the case for antibiotic persistence. Under all culture conditions, there is a stochastically formed, subpopulation of persister cells in bacterial populations, the size of which depends on the culture conditions. The proportion of persisters in a bacterial population increases under different stress conditions, including treatment with bactericidal antibiotics (BCAs). Various models have been proposed to explain the formation of persistence in bacteria. We recently hypothesized that all physiological culture conditions leading to persistence converge in the inability of the bacteria to re-initiate a new round of DNA replication caused by an insufficient level of the initiator complex ATP-DnaA and hence by the lack of formation of a functional orisome. Here, we extend this hypothesis by proposing that in this persistence state the bacteria become more susceptible to mutation-based antibiotic resistance provided they are equipped with error-prone DNA repair functions. This is - in our opinion - in particular the case when such bacterial populations are exposed to BCAs.

Potent Activity of a High Concentration of Chemical Ozone against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

BACKGROUND

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are a significant public health problem worldwide, favoring multidrug-resistant (MDR) microorganisms. The SARS-CoV-2 infection was negatively associated with the increase in antimicrobial resistance, and the ESKAPE group had the most significant impact on HAIs. The study evaluated the bactericidal effect of a high concentration of O3 gas on some reference and ESKAPE bacteria.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Four standard strains and four clinical or environmental MDR strains were exposed to elevated ozone doses at different concentrations and times. Bacterial inactivation (growth and cultivability) was investigated using colony counts and resazurin as metabolic indicators. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed.

RESULTS

The culture exposure to a high level of O3 inhibited the growth of all bacterial strains tested with a statistically significant reduction in colony count compared to the control group. The cell viability of S. aureus (MRSA) (99.6%) and P. aeruginosa (XDR) (29.2%) was reduced considerably, and SEM showed damage to bacteria after O3 treatment Conclusion: The impact of HAIs can be easily dampened by the widespread use of ozone in ICUs. This product usually degrades into molecular oxygen and has a low toxicity compared to other sanitization products. However, high doses of ozone were able to interfere with the growth of all strains studied, evidencing that ozone-based decontamination approaches may represent the future of hospital cleaning methods.

Flow Cytometric Analysis of Oxidative Stress in Escherichia coli B Strains Deficient in Genes of the Antioxidant Defence

The detection of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the analysis of oxidative stress are frequent applications of functional flow cytometry. Identifying and quantifying the ROS species generated during oxidative stress are crucial steps for the investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying stress responses. Currently, there is a wide availability of fluorogenic substrates for such purposes, but limitations in their specificity and sensitivity may affect the accuracy of the analysis. The aim of our work was to validate a new experimental model based in different strains of Escherichia coli B deficient in key genes for antioxidant defense, namely oxyR, sodA and sodB. We applied this model to systematically assess issues of specificity in fluorescent probes and the involvement of different ROS in a bacterial model of oxidative stress, as the probes can react with a variety of oxidants and free radical species. Our results confirm the higher sensitivity and specificity of the fluorescent probe mitochondrial peroxy yellow 1 (MitoPY1) for the detection of H₂O₂, and its very low capacity for organic hydroperoxides, thus extending MitoPY1's specificity for H₂O₂ in mammalian cells to a bacterial model. On the contrary, the fluorescent probe 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H₂DCF-DA) is more sensitive to organic peroxides than to H₂O₂, confirming the lack of selectivity of H₂DCF-DA to H₂O₂. Treatment with organic peroxides and H₂O₂ suggests a superoxide-independent oxidation of the fluorescent probe Hydroethidine (HE). We found a positive correlation between the lipophilicity of the peroxides and their toxicity to E. coli, suggesting greater quantitative importance of the peroxidative effects on the bacterial membrane and/or greater efficiency of the protection systems against the intracellular effects of H₂O₂ than against the membrane oxidative stress induced by organic peroxides. Altogether, our results may aid in preventing or minimizing experimental errors and providing recommendations for the proper design of cytometric studies of oxidative stress, in accordance with current recommendations and guidelines.

Oxidative stress response system in Escherichia coli arising from diphenyl ditelluride (PhTe)2 exposure

The toxicity of diphenyl ditelluride (PhTe)₂ is associated with its ability to oxidize sulfhydryl groups from biological molecules. Therefore, we evaluated possible molecular mechanisms of toxicity induced by this organochalcogen in Escherichia coli (E. coli) by evaluating oxidative damage markers, relative expression of genes associated with the cellular redox state in bacteria, such as katG, sodA, sodB, soxS, and oxyR, as well as the activity of enzymes responsible for cellular redox balance. After exposure of (PhTe)₂ (6, 12, and 24 μg/mL), there was a decrease in non-protein thiols (NPSH) levels, an increase in protein carbonylation and lipid peroxidation in E. coli. Intra- and extracellular reactive species (RS) was increased at concentrations of 6, 12, and 24 μg/mL. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was increased at the three concentrations tested, while catalase (CAT) activity was higher at 12 and 24 μg/mL. The soxS gene showed lower expression at the three concentrations tested, while the oxyR gene was supressed at 24 μg/mL. The katG antioxidant response gene showed lower expression, and sodA and sodB were positively activated, except for sodB at 6 μg/mL. Our findings demonstrate that exposure to (PhTe)₂ induced RS formation, NPSH depletion and changes in transcriptional factors regulation, characterizing it as a multi-target compound, causing disruption in cellular oxidative state, as well as molecular mechanisms associated in E. coli.

The OxyR and SoxR transcriptional regulators are involved in a broad oxidative stress response in Paraburkholderia xenovorans LB400

Background

Aerobic metabolism generates reactive oxygen species that may cause critical harm to the cell. The aim of this study is the characterization of the stress responses in the model aromatic-degrading bacterium Paraburkholderia xenovorans LB400 to the oxidizing agents paraquat and H₂O₂.

Methods

Antioxidant genes were identified by bioinformatic methods in the genome of P. xenovorans LB400, and the phylogeny of its OxyR and SoxR transcriptional regulators were studied. Functionality of the transcriptional regulators from strain LB400 was assessed by complementation with LB400 SoxR of null mutant P. aeruginosa ΔsoxR, and the construction of P. xenovorans pIZoxyR that overexpresses OxyR. The effects of oxidizing agents on P. xenovorans were studied measuring bacterial susceptibility, survival and ROS formation after exposure to paraquat and H₂O₂. The effects of these oxidants on gene expression (qRT-PCR) and the proteome (LC–MS/MS) were quantified.

Results

P. xenovorans LB400 possesses a wide repertoire of genes for the antioxidant defense including the oxyR, ahpC, ahpF, kat, trxB, dpsA and gorA genes, whose orthologous genes are regulated by the transcriptional regulator OxyR in E. coli. The LB400 genome also harbors the soxR, fumC, acnA, sodB, fpr and fldX genes, whose orthologous genes are regulated by the transcriptional regulator SoxR in E. coli. The functionality of the LB400 soxR gene was confirmed by complementation of null mutant P. aeruginosa ΔsoxR. Growth, susceptibility, and ROS formation assays revealed that LB400 cells were more susceptible to paraquat than H₂O₂. Transcriptional analyses indicated the upregulation of the oxyR, ahpC1, katE and ohrB genes in LB400 cells after exposure to H₂O₂, whereas the oxyR, fumC, ahpC1, sodB1 and ohrB genes were induced in presence of paraquat. Proteome analysis revealed that paraquat induced the oxidative stress response proteins AhpCF and DpsA, the universal stress protein UspA and the RNA chaperone CspA. Both oxidizing agents induced the Ohr protein, which is involved in organic peroxide resistance. Notably, the overexpression of the LB400 oxyR gene in P. xenovorans significantly decreased the ROS formation and the susceptibility to paraquat, suggesting a broad OxyR-regulated antioxidant response.

Conclusions

This study showed that P. xenovorans LB400 possess a broad range oxidative stress response, which explain the high resistance of this strain to the oxidizing compounds paraquat and H₂O₂.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40659-022-00373-7.

Interaction of Periplasmic Fab Production and Intracellular Redox Balance in Escherichia coli Affects Product Yield

Antibody fragments such as Fab's require the formation of disulfide bonds to achieve a proper folding state. During their recombinant, periplasmic expression in Escherichia coli, oxidative folding is mediated by the DsbA/DsbB system in concert with ubiquinone. Thereby, overexpression of Fab's is linked to the respiratory chain, which is not only immensely important for the cell's energy household but also known as a major source of reactive oxygen species. However, the effects of an increased oxidative folding demand and the consequently required electron flux via ubiquinone on the host cell have not been characterized so far. Here, we show that Fab expression in E. coli BL21(DE3) interfered with the intracellular redox balance, thereby negatively impacting host cell performance. Production of four different model Fab's in lab-scale fed-batch cultivations led to increased oxygen consumption rates and strong cell lysis. An RNA sequencing analysis revealed transcription activation of the oxidative stress-responsive soxS gene in the Fab-producing strains. We attributed this to the accumulation of intracellular superoxide, which was measured using flow cytometry. An exogenously supplemented ubiquinone analogue improved Fab yields up to 82%, indicating that partitioning of the quinone pool between aerobic respiration and oxidative folding limited ubiquinone availability and hence disulfide bond formation capacity. Combined, our results provide a more in-depth understanding of the profound effects that periplasmic Fab expression and in particular disulfide bond formation has on the host cell. Thereby, we show new possibilities to elaborate cell engineering and process strategies for improved host cell fitness and process outcome.

Does Silver in Different Forms Affect Bacterial Susceptibility and Resistance? A Mechanistic Perspective

The exceptional increase in antibiotic resistance in past decades motivated the scientific community to use silver as a potential antibacterial agent. However, due to its unknown antibacterial mechanism and the pattern of bacterial resistance to silver species, it has not been revolutionized in the health sector. This study deciphers mechanistic aspects of silver species, i.e., ions and lysozyme-coated silver nanoparticles (L-Ag NPs), against E. coli K12 through RNA sequencing analysis. The obtained results support the reservoir nature of nanoparticles for the controlled release of silver ions into bacteria. This study differentiates between the antibacterial mechanism of silver species by discussing the pathway of their entry in bacteria, sequence of events inside cells, and response of bacteria to overcome silver stress. Controlled release of ions from L-Ag NPs not only reduces bacterial growth but also reduces the likelihood of resistance development. Conversely, direct exposure of silver ions, leads to rapid activation of the bacterial defense system leading to development of resistance against silver ions, like the well-known antibiotic resistance problem. These findings provide valuable insight on the mechanism of silver resistance and antibacterial strategies deployed by E. coli K12, which could be a potential target for the generation of aim-based and effective nanoantibiotics.

Glutamate dehydrogenase enables Salmonella to survive under oxidative stress and escape from clearance in macrophages

Oxidative stress and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a biological threat to bacteria, which induce the synthesis of proteins and production of antioxidants to combat it. Herein, we report that glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) of Salmonella can assimilate ammonium into glutamate and promote the generation of glutathione (GSH) to combat oxidative damage. Oxidation induces the transcription of gdhA, which encodes GDH, and activates the enzymatic activity of GDH. The ΔgdhA mutant Salmonella strain showed decreased levels of GSH and reduced survival in macrophages, and this growth deficiency could be partially restored by overexpression of GDH and complementation with its downstream metabolites. Therefore, GDH plays a critical role in the growth of Salmonella in oxidative environments, especially under low energy supply.

Discovery of Mycothiogranaticins from Streptomyces vietnamensis GIMV4.0001 and the Regulatory Effect of Mycothiol on the Granaticin Biosynthesis

Granaticins are benzoisochromanequinone polyketides with remarkable antibacterial and anticancer activities. Three sulfur-containing granaticin congeners, mycothiogranaticins A (1), B (2) and granaticin MA (3) were discovered from a granaticin-producing strain of Streptomyces vietnamensis GIMV4.0001. Two of them were structurally determined with mycothiol or N-acetylcysteine moieties and found to be bio-actively reluctant. Disruption of the mshA gene (SVTN_RS20640) that encodes the D-inositol-3-phosphate glycosyltransferase crucial for mycothiol biosynthesis, fully abolished the production of mycothiogranaticins. The result substantiated that the newly discovered mycothiogranaticins are consequences of the combination of the granaticin and mycothiol biosynthetic pathways. The overall granaticin production of the ΔmshA mutant strain was unexpectedly decreased by at least more than 50%, while similar production level of granaticins to that of the wild type strain was observed in an mycothiol-S transferase gene (SVTN_RS22215) disruptant Δmst. These results indicated that the mycothiol deficiency was responsible for the decreased production of granaticins. Mycothiol may positively regulate the biosynthesis of granaticin possibly by maintaining the cellular redox balance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that mycothiol can not only be a direct building block of polyketides but also play a regulatory role in the polyketide biosynthesis.

Bacterial MerR family transcription regulators: activationby distortion

Transcription factors (TFs) modulate gene expression by regulating the accessibility of promoter DNA to RNA polymerases (RNAPs) in bacteria. The MerR family TFs are a large class of bacterial proteins unique in their physiological functions and molecular action: they function as transcription repressors under normal circumstances, but rapidly transform to transcription activators under various cellular triggers, including oxidative stress, imbalance of cellular metal ions, and antibiotic challenge. The promoters regulated by MerR TFs typically contain an abnormal long spacer between the -35 and -10 elements, where MerR TFs bind and regulate transcription activity through unique mechanisms. In this review, we summarize the function, ligand reception, DNA recognition, and molecular mechanism of transcription regulation of MerR-family TFs.

OxyR-Like Improves Cell Hydrogen Peroxide Tolerance by Participating in Monocyte Chemotaxis and Oxidative Phosphorylation Regulation in Magnetospirillum Gryphiswaldense MSR-1

The formation of magnetosomes inside magnetotactic bacteria is a complex process strictly controlled by the intracellular metabolic regulatory system. A series of transcriptional regulators are involved in the biosynthesis of the magnetosome, including OxyR-Like protein, which is indispensable for the maturation of magnetosomes in Magnetospirillum Gryphiswaldense MSR-1. In this study, a new function of the OxyR-Like protein that helps cells resist reactive oxygen species (ROS) was identified. A comparison of expression profile data between wild-type MSR-1 and an oxyR-Like defective mutant demonstrated that seven genes encoding chemotaxis proteins were down-regulated in the latter. On the contrary, the expression levels of numerous genes encoding proteins that are critical for cellular aerobic respiration were up-regulated. Thus, OxyR-Like enhanced the resistance of cells to ROS by increasing their environmental perception and maintaining their oxidative phosphorylation at a reasonable level to avoid the excessive production of endogenous ROS. These results increase our knowledge of the OxyR-Like regulatory network and establish a relationship between the antioxidant metabolic pathway and magnetosome biomineralization in MSR-1.

Can thiol-based redox systems be utilized as parts for synthetic biology applications?

OBJECTIVES

Synthetic biology has emerged from molecular biology and engineering approaches and aims to develop novel, biologically-inspired systems for industrial and basic research applications ranging from biocomputing to drug production. Surprisingly, redoxin (thioredoxin, glutaredoxin, peroxiredoxin) and other thiol-based redox systems have not been widely utilized in many of these synthetic biology applications.

METHODS

We reviewed thiol-based redox systems and the development of synthetic biology applications that have used thiol-dependent parts.

RESULTS

The development of circuits to facilitate cytoplasmic disulfide bonding, biocomputing and the treatment of intestinal bowel disease are amongst the applications that have used thiol-based parts. We propose that genetically encoded redox sensors, thiol-based biomaterials and intracellular hydrogen peroxide generators may also be valuable components for synthetic biology applications.

DISCUSSION

Thiol-based systems play multiple roles in cellular redox metabolism, antioxidant defense and signaling and could therefore offer a vast and diverse portfolio of components, parts and devices for synthetic biology applications. However, factors limiting the adoption of redoxin systems for synthetic biology applications include the orthogonality of thiol-based components, limitations in the methods to characterize thiol-based systems and an incomplete understanding of the design principles of these systems.

Oxidation alters the architecture of the phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase editing domain to confer hyperaccuracy

High fidelity during protein synthesis is accomplished by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs). These enzymes ligate an amino acid to a cognate tRNA and have proofreading and editing capabilities that ensure high fidelity. Phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase (PheRS) preferentially ligates a phenylalanine to a tRNA^Phe over the chemically similar tyrosine, which differs from phenylalanine by a single hydroxyl group. In bacteria that undergo exposure to oxidative stress such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, tyrosine isomer levels increase due to phenylalanine oxidation. Several residues are oxidized in PheRS and contribute to hyperactive editing, including against mischarged Tyr-tRNA^Phe, despite these oxidized residues not being directly implicated in PheRS activity. Here, we solve a 3.6 Å cryo-electron microscopy structure of oxidized S. Typhimurium PheRS. We find that oxidation results in widespread structural rearrangements in the β-subunit editing domain and enlargement of its editing domain. Oxidization also enlarges the phenylalanyl-adenylate binding pocket but to a lesser extent. Together, these changes likely explain why oxidation leads to hyperaccurate editing and decreased misincorporation of tyrosine. Taken together, these results help increase our understanding of the survival of S. Typhimurium during human infection.

Mobility of antibiotic resistance and its co-occurrence with metal resistance in pathogens under oxidative stress

The bacterial communities are challenged with oxidative stress during their exposure to bactericidal antibiotics, metals, and different levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) encountered in diverse environmental habitats. The frequency of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and metal resistance genes (MRGs) co-selection is increased by selective pressure posed by oxidative stress. Hence, study of resistance acquisition is important from an evolutionary perspective. To understand the dependence of oxidative stress on the dissemination of ARGs and MRGs through a pathogenic bacterial population, 12 metagenomes belonging to gut, water and soil habitats were evaluated. The metagenome-wide analysis showed the chicken gut to pose the most diverse pool of ARGs (30.4 ppm) and pathogenic bacteria (Simpson diversity = 0.98). The most common types of resistances found in all the environmental samples were efflux pumps (13.22 ppm) and genes conferring resistance to vancomycin (12.4 ppm), tetracycline (12.1 ppm), or beta-lactam (9.4 ppm) antibiotics. Additionally, limiting DO level in soil was observed to increase the abundance of excision nucleases (uvrA and uvrB), DNA polymerase (polA), catalases (katG), and other oxidative stress response genes (OSGs). This was further evident from major variations occurred in antibiotic efflux genes due to the effect of DO concentration on two human pathogens, namely Salmonella enterica and Shigella sonnei found in all the selected habitats. In conclusion, the microbial community, when challenged with oxidative stress caused by environmental variations in oxygen level, tends to accumulate higher amounts of ARGs with increased dissemination potential through triggering non-lethal mutagenesis. Furthermore, the genetic linkage or co-occurrence of ARGs and MRGs provides evidence for selecting ARGs under high concentrations of heavy metals.

Transcriptomic Response Analysis of Escherichia coli to Palladium Stress

Palladium (Pd), due to its unique catalytic properties, is an industrially important heavy metal especially in the form of nanoparticles. It has a wide range of applications from automobile catalytic converters to the pharmaceutical production of morphine. Bacteria have been used to biologically produce Pd nanoparticles as a new environmentally friendly alternative to the currently used energy-intensive and toxic physicochemical methods. Heavy metals, including Pd, are toxic to bacterial cells and cause general and oxidative stress that hinders the use of bacteria to produce Pd nanoparticles efficiently. In this study, we show in detail the Pd stress-related effects on E. coli. Pd stress effects were measured as changes in the transcriptome through RNA-Seq after 10 min of exposure to 100 μM sodium tetrachloropalladate (II). We found that 709 out of 3,898 genes were differentially expressed, with 58% of them being up-regulated and 42% of them being down-regulated. Pd was found to induce several common heavy metal stress-related effects but interestingly, Pd causes unique effects too. Our data suggests that Pd disrupts the homeostasis of Fe, Zn, and Cu cellular pools. In addition, the expression of inorganic ion transporters in E. coli was found to be massively modulated due to Pd intoxication, with 17 out of 31 systems being affected. Moreover, the expression of several carbohydrate, amino acid, and nucleotide transport and metabolism genes was vastly changed. These results bring us one step closer to the generation of genetically engineered E. coli strains with enhanced capabilities for Pd nanoparticles synthesis.

Chlorine disinfection facilitates natural transformation through ROS-mediated oxidative stress

The bacterial infection that involves antimicrobial resistance is a rising global threat to public health. Chlorine-based water disinfection processes can inactivate antibiotic resistant bacteria. However, at the same time, these processes may cause the release of antibiotic resistance genes into the water as free DNA, and consequently increase the risk to disseminate antibiotic resistance via natural transformation. Presently, little is known about the contribution of residual chlorine affecting the transformation of extracellular antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). This study investigates whether chloramine and free chlorine promote the transformation of ARGs and how this may occur. We reveal that both chloramine and free chlorine, at practically relevant concentrations, significantly stimulated the transformation of plasmid-encoded ARGs by the recipient Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1, by up to a 10-fold increase. The underlying mechanisms underpinning the increased transformations were revealed. Disinfectant exposure induced a series of cell responses, including increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), bacterial membrane damage, ROS-mediated DNA damage, and increased stress response. These effects thus culminated in the enhanced transformation of ARGs. This promoted transformation was observed when exposing disinfectant-pretreated A. baylyi to free plasmid. In contrast, after pretreating free plasmid with disinfectants, the transformation of ARGs decreased due to the damage of plasmid integrity. These findings provide important insight on the roles of disinfectants affecting the horizontal transfer of ARGs, which could be crucial in the management of antibiotic resistance in our water systems.

Oxidative Stress Response in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative environmental and human opportunistic pathogen highly adapted to many different environmental conditions. It can cause a wide range of serious infections, including wounds, lungs, the urinary tract, and systemic infections. The high versatility and pathogenicity of this bacterium is attributed to its genomic complexity, the expression of several virulence factors, and its intrinsic resistance to various antimicrobials. However, to thrive and establish infection, P. aeruginosa must overcome several barriers. One of these barriers is the presence of oxidizing agents (e.g., hydrogen peroxide, superoxide, and hypochlorous acid) produced by the host immune system or that are commonly used as disinfectants in a variety of different environments including hospitals. These agents damage several cellular molecules and can cause cell death. Therefore, bacteria adapt to these harsh conditions by altering gene expression and eliciting several stress responses to survive under oxidative stress. Here, we used PubMed to evaluate the current knowledge on the oxidative stress responses adopted by P. aeruginosa. We will describe the genes that are often differently expressed under oxidative stress conditions, the pathways and proteins employed to sense and respond to oxidative stress, and how these changes in gene expression influence pathogenicity and the virulence of P. aeruginosa. Understanding these responses and changes in gene expression is critical to controlling bacterial pathogenicity and developing new therapeutic agents.

Constructing of Bacillus subtilis-Based Lux-Biosensors with the Use of Stress-Inducible Promoters

Here, we present a new lux-biosensor based on Bacillus subtilis for detecting of DNA-tropic and oxidative stress-causing agents. Hybrid plasmids pNK-DinC, pNK-AlkA, and pNK-MrgA have been constructed, in which the Photorhabdus luminescens reporter genes luxABCDE are transcribed from the stress-inducible promoters of B. subtilis: the SOS promoter PdinC, the methylation-specific response promoter PalkA, and the oxidative stress promoter PmrgA. The luminescence of B. subtilis-based biosensors specifically increases in response to the appearance in the environment of such common toxicants as mitomycin C, methyl methanesulfonate, and H₂O₂. Comparison with Escherichia coli-based lux-biosensors, where the promoters PdinI, PalkA, and Pdps were used, showed generally similar characteristics. However, for B. subtilis PdinC, a higher response amplitude was observed, and for B. subtilis PalkA, on the contrary, both the amplitude and the range of detectable toxicant concentrations were decreased. B. subtilis PdinC and B. subtilis PmrgA showed increased sensitivity to the genotoxic effects of the 2,2'-bis(bicyclo [2.2.1] heptane) compound, which is a promising propellant, compared to E. coli-based lux-biosensors. The obtained biosensors are applicable for detection of toxicants introduced into soil. Such bacillary biosensors can be used to study the differences in the mechanisms of toxicity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals promote the transmission of multidrug resistance plasmids through intra- and intergenera conjugation

Antibiotic resistance is a global threat to public health. The use of antibiotics at sub-inhibitory concentrations has been recognized as an important factor in disseminating antibiotic resistance via horizontal gene transfer. Although non-antibiotic, human-targeted pharmaceuticals are widely used by society (95% of the pharmaceuticals market), the potential contribution to the spread of antibiotic resistance is not clear. Here, we report that commonly consumed, non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac), a lipid-lowering drug (gemfibrozil), and a β-blocker (propranolol), at clinically and environmentally relevant concentrations, significantly accelerated the dissemination of antibiotic resistance via plasmid-borne bacterial conjugation. Various indicators were used to study the bacterial response to these drugs, including monitoring reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell membrane permeability by flow cytometry, cell arrangement, and whole-genome RNA and protein sequencing. Enhanced conjugation correlated well with increased production of ROS and cell membrane permeability. Additionally, these non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals induced responses similar to those detected when bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, such as inducing the SOS response and enhancing efflux pumps. The findings advance understanding of the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes, emphasizing the concern that non-antibiotic, human-targeted pharmaceuticals enhance the spread of antibiotic resistance among bacterial populations.

Bioelectronic control of a microbial community using surface-assembled electrogenetic cells to route signals

We developed a bioelectronic communication system that is enabled by a redox signal transduction modality to exchange information between a living cell-embedded bioelectronics interface and an engineered microbial network. A naturally communicating three-member microbial network is 'plugged into' an external electronic system that interrogates and controls biological function in real time. First, electrode-generated redox molecules are programmed to activate gene expression in an engineered population of electrode-attached bacterial cells, effectively creating a living transducer electrode. These cells interpret and translate electronic signals and then transmit this information biologically by producing quorum sensing molecules that are, in turn, interpreted by a planktonic coculture. The propagated molecular communication drives expression and secretion of a therapeutic peptide from one strain and simultaneously enables direct electronic feedback from the second strain, thus enabling real-time electronic verification of biological signal propagation. Overall, we show how this multifunctional bioelectronic platform, termed a BioLAN, reliably facilitates on-demand bioelectronic communication and concurrently performs programmed tasks.

How Bacterial Redox Sensors Transmit Redox Signals via Structural Changes

Bacteria, like humans, face diverse kinds of stress during life. Oxidative stress, which is produced by cellular metabolism and environmental factors, can significantly damage cellular macromolecules, ultimately negatively affecting the normal growth of the cell. Therefore, bacteria have evolved a number of protective strategies to defend themselves and respond to imposed stress by changing the expression pattern of genes whose products are required to convert harmful oxidants into harmless products. Structural biology combined with biochemical studies has revealed the mechanisms by which various bacterial redox sensor proteins recognize the cellular redox state and transform chemical information into structural signals to regulate downstream signaling pathways.

OxyR controls magnetosome formation by regulating magnetosome island (MAI) genes, iron metabolism, and redox state

Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense MSR-1 uses chains of magnetosomes, membrane-enveloped magnetite (Fe(II)Fe(III)₂O₄) nanocrystals, to align along magnetic field. The process of magnetosome biomineralization requires a precise biological control of redox conditions to maintain a balanced amounts of ferric and ferrous iron. Here, we identified functions of the global regulator OxyR (MGMSRv2_4250, OxyR-4250) in MSR-1 during magnetosome formation. OxyR deletion mutant ΔoxyR-4250 displayed reduced magnetic response, and increased levels of intracellular ROS (reactive oxygen species). OxyR-4250 protein upregulated expression of six antioxidant genes (ahpC1, ahpC2, katE, katG, sodB, trxA), four iron metabolism-related regulator genes (fur, irrA, irrB, irrC), a bacterioferritin gene (bfr), and a DNA protection gene (dps). OxyR-4250 was shown, for the first time, to directly regulate magnetosome island (MAI) genes mamGFDC, mamXY, and feoAB1 operons. Taken together, our findings indicate that OxyR-4250 helps maintain a proper redox environment for magnetosome formation by eliminating excess ROS, regulating iron homeostasis and participating in regulation of Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ ratio within the magnetosome vesicle through regulating MAI genes.

Bacterial death from treatment with fluoroquinolones and other lethal stressors

INTRODUCTION

Lethal stressors, including antimicrobials, kill bacteria in part through a metabolic response proposed to involve reactive oxygen species (ROS). The quinolone anti-bacterials have served as key experimental tools in developing this idea.

AREAS COVERED

Bacteriostatic and bactericidal action of quinolones are distinguished, with emphasis on the contribution of chromosome fragmentation and ROS accumulation to bacterial death. Action of non-quinolone antibacterials and non-antimicrobial stressors is described to provide a general framework for understanding stress-mediated, bacterial death.

EXPERT OPINION

Quinolones trap topoisomerases on DNA in reversible complexes that block DNA replication and bacterial growth. At elevated drug concentrations, DNA ends are released from topoisomerase-mediated constraint, leading to the idea that death arises from chromosome fragmentation. However, DNA ends also stimulate repair, which is energetically expensive. An incompletely understood metabolic shift occurs, and ROS accumulate. Even after quinolone removal, ROS continue to amplify, generating secondary and tertiary damage that overwhelms repair and causes death. Repair may also contribute to death directly via DNA breaks arising from incomplete base-excision repair of ROS-oxidized nucleotides. Remarkably, perturbations that interfere with ROS accumulation confer tolerance to many diverse lethal agents.

Use of a model to understand the synergies underlying the antibacterial mechanism of H2O2-producing honeys

Honey has been valued as a powerful antimicrobial since ancient times. However, the understanding of the underlying antibacterial mechanism is incomplete. The complexity and variability of honey composition represent a challenge to this scope. In this study, a simple model system was used to investigate the antibacterial effect of, and possible synergies between, the three main stressors present in honey: sugars, gluconic acid, and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), which result from the enzymatic conversion of glucose on honey dilution. Our results demonstrated that the synergy of H₂O₂ and gluconic acid is essential for the antibacterial activity of honey. This synergy caused membrane depolarization, destruction of the cell wall, and eventually growth inhibition of E. coli K-12. The presence of H₂O₂ stimulated the generation of other long-lived ROS in a dose-dependent manner. Sugars caused osmosis-related morphological changes, however, decreased the toxicity of the H₂O₂/gluconic acid. The susceptibility of catalase and general stress response sigma factor mutants confirmed the synergy of the three stressors, which is enhanced at higher H₂O₂ concentrations. By monitoring cellular phenotypic changes caused by model honey, we explained how this can be bactericidal even though the antimicrobial compounds which it contains are at non-inhibitory concentrations.

Nanoscale battery cathode materials induce DNA damage in bacteria

The increasing use of nanoscale lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (Li x Ni y Mn z Co1-y-z O2, NMC) as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries poses risk to the environment. Learning toxicity mechanisms on molecular levels is critical to promote proactive risk assessment of these complex nanomaterials and inform their sustainable development. We focused on DNA damage as a toxicity mechanism and profiled in depth chemical and biological changes linked to DNA damage in two environmentally relevant bacteria upon nano-NMC exposure. DNA damage occurred in both bacteria, characterized by double-strand breakage and increased levels of many putative chemical modifications on bacterial DNA bases related to direct oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation, measured by cutting-edge DNA adductomic techniques. Chemical probes indicated elevated intracellular reactive oxygen species and transition metal ions, in agreement with DNA adductomics and gene expression analysis. By integrating multi-dimensional datasets from chemical and biological measurements, we present rich mechanistic insights on nano-NMC-induced DNA damage in bacteria, providing targets for biomarkers in the risk assessment of reactive materials that may be extrapolated to other nano-bio interactions.

In vitro antimicrobial effects and mechanism of air plasma‐activated water on Staphylococcus aureus biofilm

The deactivation effects and mechanism of plasma‐activated water (PAW) against Staphylococcus aureus biofilm and the inhibitory effect on the biofilm regrowth capacity for the surviving S. aureus post PAW treatment were investigated in vitro. Systematic measurements on bacterial cultivability, metabolic capacity, membrane integrity and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentration under two different experimental categories were carried out after PAW treatment. Considerable deactivation effects were discovered on biofilm S. aureus on both prolonging the PAW inducement or treatment time. The rising concentration of intracellular ROS and the PAW‐contained RS might exert synergistic effects in deactivating the biofilm S. aureus. Moreover, the biomass, bacterial cultivability and metabolic capacity of the regrown S. aureus biofilm all significantly declined along with the increasing PAW inducement or treatment time. Therefore, except for the short‐term rapid inactivation effects on the biofilm, the PAW treatment could also exert long‐term inhibitory effects on the regeneration of S. aureus biofilm.

Flavonols regulate root hair development by modulating accumulation of reactive oxygen species in the root epidermis

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are signaling molecules produced by tissue-specific respiratory burst oxidase homolog (RBOH) enzymes to drive development. In Arabidopsis thaliana, ROS produced by RBOHC was previously reported to drive root hair elongation. We identified a specific role for one ROS, H₂O₂, in driving root hair initiation and demonstrated that localized synthesis of flavonol antioxidants control the level of H₂O₂ and root hair formation. Root hairs form from trichoblast cells that express RBOHC and have elevated H₂O₂ compared with adjacent atrichoblast cells that do not form root hairs. The flavonol-deficient tt4 mutant has elevated ROS in trichoblasts and elevated frequency of root hair formation compared with the wild type. The increases in ROS and root hairs in tt4 are reversed by genetic or chemical complementation. Auxin-induced root hair initiation and ROS accumulation were reduced in an rbohc mutant and increased in tt4, consistent with flavonols modulating ROS and auxin transport. These results support a model in which localized synthesis of RBOHC and flavonol antioxidants establish patterns of ROS accumulation that drive root hair formation.