MsmK, an ATPase, Contributes to Utilization of Multiple Carbohydrates and Host Colonization of Streptococcus suis

Minimal Bacterial Cell JCVI-syn3B as a Chassis to Investigate Interactions between Bacteria and Mammalian Cells

Mycoplasmas are atypical bacteria with small genomes that necessitate colonization of their respective animal or plant hosts as obligate parasites, whether as pathogens, or commensals. Some can grow axenically in specialized complex media yet show only host-cell-dependent growth in cell culture, where they can survive chronically and often through interactions involving surface colonization or internalization. To develop a mycoplasma-based system to identify genes mediating such interactions, we exploited genetically tractable strains of the goat pathogen Mycoplasma mycoides (Mmc) with synthetic designer genomes representing the complete natural organism (minus virulence factors; JCVI-syn1.0) or its reduced counterpart (JCVI-syn3B) containing only those genes supporting axenic growth. By measuring growth of surviving organisms, physical association with cultured human cells (HEK-293T, HeLa), and induction of phagocytosis by human myeloid cells (dHL-60), we determined that JCVI-syn1.0 contained a set of eight genes (MMSYN1-0179 to MMSYN1-0186, dispensable for axenic growth) conferring survival, attachment, and phagocytosis phenotypes. JCVI-syn3B lacked these phenotypes, but insertion of these genes restored cell attachment and phagocytosis, although not survival. These results indicate that JCVI-syn3B may be a powerful living platform to analyze the role of specific gene sets, from any organism, on the interaction with diverse mammalian cells in culture.

Comparative genomics reveals probable adaptations for xylose use in Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum

Second-generation ethanol, a promising biofuel for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, faces challenges due to the inefficient metabolism of xylose, a pentose sugar. Overcoming this hurdle requires exploration of genes, pathways, and organisms capable of fermenting xylose. Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum is an organism capable of naturally fermenting compounds of industrial interest, such as xylose, and understanding evolutionary adaptations may help to bring novel genes and information that can be used for industrial yeast, increasing production of current bio-platforms. This study presents a deep evolutionary study of members of the firmicutes clade, focusing on adaptations in Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum that may be related to overall fermentation metabolism, especially for xylose fermentation. One highlight is the finding of positive selection on a xylose-binding protein of the xylFGH operon, close to the annotated sugar binding site, with this protein already being found to be expressed in xylose fermenting conditions in a previous study. Results from this study can serve as basis for searching for candidate genes to use in industrial strains or to improve Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum as a new microbial cell factory, which may help to solve current problems found in the biofuels' industry.

A multiomics analysis of direct interkingdom dynamics between influenza A virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae uncovers host-independent changes to bacterial virulence fitness

BACKGROUND

For almost a century, it has been recognized that influenza A virus (IAV) infection can promote the development of secondary bacterial infections (SBI) mainly caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn). Recent observations have shown that IAV is able to directly bind to the surface of Spn. To gain a foundational understanding of how direct IAV-Spn interaction alters bacterial biological fitness we employed combinatorial multiomic and molecular approaches.

RESULTS

Here we show IAV significantly remodels the global transcriptome, proteome and phosphoproteome profiles of Spn independently of host effectors. We identified Spn surface proteins that interact with IAV proteins (hemagglutinin, nucleoprotein, and neuraminidase). In addition, IAV was found to directly modulate expression of Spn virulence determinants such as pneumococcal surface protein A, pneumolysin, and factors associated with antimicrobial resistance among many others. Metabolic pathways were significantly altered leading to changes in Spn growth rate. IAV was also found to drive Spn capsule shedding and the release of pneumococcal surface proteins. Released proteins were found to be involved in evasion of innate immune responses and actively reduced human complement hemolytic and opsonizing activity. IAV also led to phosphorylation changes in Spn proteins associated with metabolism and bacterial virulence. Validation of proteomic data showed significant changes in Spn galactose and glucose metabolism. Furthermore, supplementation with galactose rescued bacterial growth and promoted bacterial invasion, while glucose supplementation led to enhanced pneumolysin production and lung cell apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Here we demonstrate that IAV can directly modulate Spn biology without the requirement of host effectors and support the notion that inter-kingdom interactions between human viruses and commensal pathobionts can promote bacterial pathogenesis and microbiome dysbiosis.

Exogenous glycogen utilization effects the transcriptome and pathogenicity of Streptococcus suis serotype 2

Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (SS2) is an important zoonotic pathogen that causes severe infections in humans and the swine industry. Acquisition and utilization of available carbon sources from challenging host environments is necessary for bacterial pathogens to ensure growth and proliferation. Glycogen is abundant in mammalian body and may support the growth of SS2 during infection in hosts. However, limited information is known about the mechanism between the glycogen utilization and host adaptation of SS2. Here, the pleiotropic effects of exogenous glycogen on SS2 were investigated through transcriptome sequencing. Analysis of transcriptome data showed that the main basic metabolic pathways, especially the core carbon metabolism pathways and virulence-associated factors, of SS2 responded actively to glycogen induction. Glycogen induction led to the perturbation of the glycolysis pathway and citrate cycle, but promoted the pentose phosphate pathway and carbohydrate transport systems. Extracellular glycogen utilization also promoted the mixed-acid fermentation in SS2 rather than homolactic fermentation. Subsequently, apuA, a gene encoding the unique bifunctional amylopullulanase for glycogen degradation, was deleted from the wild type and generated the mutant strain ΔapuA. The pathogenicity details of the wild type and ΔapuA cultured in glucose and glycogen were investigated and compared. Results revealed that the capsule synthesis or bacterial morphology were not affected by glycogen incubation or apuA deletion. However, extracellular glycogen utilization significantly enhanced the hemolytic activity, adhesion and invasion ability, and lethality of SS2. The deletion of apuA also impaired the pathogenicity of bacteria cultured in glucose, indicating that ApuA is indeed an important virulence factor. Our results revealed that exogenous glycogen utilization extensively influenced the expression profile of the S. suis genome. Based on the transcriptome response, exogenous glycogen utilization promoted the carbon adaption and pathogenicity of SS2.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters: Snap-on Complexes?

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are one of the largest families of membrane proteins in prokaryotic organisms. Much is now understood about the structure of these transporters and many reviews have been written on that subject. In contrast, less has been written on the assembly of ABC transporter complexes and this will be a major focus of this book chapter. The complexes are formed from two cytoplasmic subunits that are highly conserved (in terms of their primary and three-dimensional structures) across the whole family. These ATP-binding subunits give rise to the name of the family. They must assemble with two transmembrane subunits that will typically form the permease component of the transporter. The transmembrane subunits have been found to be surprisingly diverse in structure when the whole family is examined, with seven distinct folds identified so far. Hence nucleotide-binding subunits appear to have been bolted on to a variety of transmembrane platforms during evolution, leading to a greater variety in function. Furthermore, many importers within the family utilise a further external substrate-binding component to trap scarce substrates and deliver them to the correct permease components. In this chapter, we will discuss whether assembly of the various ABC transporter subunits occurs with high fidelity within the crowded cellular environment and whether promiscuity in assembly of transmembrane and cytoplasmic components can occur. We also discuss the new AlphaFold protein structure prediction tool which predicts a new type of transmembrane domain fold within the ABC transporters that is associated with cation exporters of bacteria and plants.

Comparative Phenotypic, Proteomic, and Phosphoproteomic Analysis Reveals Different Roles of Serine/Threonine Phosphatase and Kinase in the Growth, Cell Division, and Pathogenicity of Streptococcus suis

Eukaryote-like serine/threonine kinases (STKs) and cognate phosphatases (STPs) comprise an important regulatory system in many bacterial pathogens. The complexity of this regulatory system has not been fully understood due to the presence of multiple STKs/STPs in many bacteria and their multiple substrates involved in many different physiological and pathogenetic processes. Streptococci are the best materials for the study due to a single copy of the gene encoding STK and its cognate STP. Although several studies have been done to investigate the roles of STK and STP in zoonotic Streptococcus suis, respectively, few studies were performed on the coordinated regulatory roles of this system. In this study, we carried out a systemic study on STK/STP in S. suis by using a comparative phenotypic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic analysis. Mouse infection assays revealed that STK played a much more important role in S. suis pathogenesis than STP. The ∆stk and ∆stp∆stk strains, but not ∆stp, showed severe growth retardation. Moreover, both ∆stp and ∆stk strains displayed defects in cell division, but they were abnormal in different ways. The comparative proteomics and phosphoproteomics revealed that deletion of stk or stp had a significant influence on protein expression. Interestingly, more virulence factors were found to be downregulated in ∆stk than ∆stp. In ∆stk strain, a substantial number of the proteins with a reduced phosphorylation level were involved in cell division, energy metabolism, and protein translation. However, only a few proteins showed increased phosphorylation in ∆stp, which also included some proteins related to cell division. Collectively, our results show that both STP and STK are critical regulatory proteins for S. suis and that STK seems to play more important roles in growth, cell division, and pathogenesis.

Structural characterization of two solute-binding proteins for N,N'-diacetylchitobiose/N,N',N''-triacetylchitotoriose of the gram-positive bacterium, Paenibacillus sp. str. FPU-7

The chitinolytic bacterium Paenibacillus sp. str. FPU-7 efficiently degrades chitin into oligosaccharides such as N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) and disaccharides (GlcNAc)₂ through multiple secretory chitinases. Transport of these oligosaccharides by P. str. FPU-7 has not yet been clarified. In this study, we identified nagB1, predicted to encode a sugar solute-binding protein (SBP), which is a component of the ABC transport system. However, the genes next to nagB1 were predicted to encode two-component regulatory system proteins rather than transmembrane domains (TMDs). We also identified nagB2, which is highly homologous to nagB1. Adjacent to nagB2, two genes were predicted to encode TMDs. Binding experiments of the recombinant NagB1 and NagB2 to several oligosaccharides using differential scanning fluorimetry and surface plasmon resonance confirmed that both proteins are SBPs of (GlcNAc)₂ and (GlcNAc)₃. We determined their crystal structures complexed with and without chitin oligosaccharides at a resolution of 1.2 to 2.0 Å. The structures shared typical SBP structural folds and were classified as subcluster D-I. Large domain motions were observed in the structures, suggesting that they were induced by ligand binding via the "Venus flytrap" mechanism. These structures also revealed chitin oligosaccharide recognition mechanisms. In conclusion, our study provides insight into the recognition and transport of chitin oligosaccharides in bacteria.

Streptococcus suis MsmK: Novel Cell Division Protein Interacting with FtsZ and Maintaining Cell Shape

Bacteria of different shapes have adopted distinct mechanisms to faithfully coordinate morphogenesis and segregate their chromosomes prior to cell division. Despite recent focuses and advances, the mechanism of cell division in ovococci remains largely unknown. Streptococcus suis, a major zoonotic pathogen that causes problems in human health and in the global swine industry, is an elongated and ellipsoid bacterium that undergoes successive parallel splitting perpendicular to its long axis. Studies on cell cycle processes in this bacterium are limited. Here, we report that MsmK (multiple sugar metabolism protein K), an ATPase that contributes to the transport of multiple carbohydrates, has a novel role as a cell division protein in S. suis. MsmK can display ATPase and GTPase activities, interact with FtsZ via the N terminus of MsmK, and promote the bundling of FtsZ protofilaments in a GTP-dependent manner in vitro. Deletion of the C-terminal region or the Walker A or B motif affects the affinity between MsmK and FtsZ and decreases the ability of MsmK to promote FtsZ protofilament bundling. MsmK can form a complex with FtsZ in vivo, and its absence is not lethal but results in long chains and short, occasionally anuclear daughter cells. Superresolution microscopy revealed that the lack of MsmK in cells leads to normal septal peptidoglycan walls in mother cells but disturbed cell elongation and peripheral peptidoglycan synthesis. In summary, MsmK is a novel cell division protein that maintains cell shape and is involved in the synthesis of the peripheral cell wall.

IMPORTANCE Bacterial cell division is a highly ordered process regulated in time and space and is a potential target for the development of antimicrobial drugs. Bacteria of distinct shapes depend on different cell division mechanisms, but the mechanisms used by ovococci remain largely unknown. Here, we focused on the zoonotic pathogen Streptococcus suis and identified a novel cell division protein named MsmK, which acts as an ATPase of the ATP-binding cassette-type carbohydrate transport system. MsmK has GTPase and ATPase activities. In vitro protein assays showed that MsmK interacts with FtsZ and promotes FtsZ protofilament bundling that relies on GTP. Superresolution microscopy revealed that MsmK maintains cell shape and is involved in peripheral peptidoglycan synthesis. Knowledge of the multiple functions of MsmK may broaden our understanding of known cell division processes. Further studies in this area will elucidate how bacteria can faithfully and continually multiply in a constantly changing environment.

Proteomic and Metabolomic Analyses Provide Insights into the Mechanism on Arginine Metabolism Regulated by tRNA Modification Enzymes GidA and MnmE of Streptococcus suis

GidA and MnmE, two important tRNA modification enzymes, are contributed to the addition of the carboxymethylaminomethyl (cmnm) group onto wobble uridine of tRNA. GidA-MnmE modification pathway is evolutionarily conserved among Bacteria and Eukarya, which is crucial in efficient and accurate protein translation. However, its function remains poorly elucidated in zoonotic Streptococcus suis (SS). Here, a gidA and mnmE double knock-out (DKO) strain was constructed to systematically decode regulatory characteristics of GidA-MnmE pathway via proteomic. TMT labelled proteomics analysis identified that many proteins associated with cell divison and growth, fatty acid biosynthesis, virulence, especially arginine deiminase system (ADS) responsible for arginine metabolism were down-regulated in DKO mutant compared with the wild-type (WT) SC19. Accordingly, phenotypic experiments showed that the DKO strain displayed decreased in arginine consumption and ammonia production, deficient growth, and attenuated pathogenicity. Moreover, targeted metabolomic analysis identified that arginine was accumulated in DKO mutant as well. Therefore, these data provide molecular mechanisms for GidA-MnmE modification pathway in regulation of arginine metabolism, cell growth and pathogenicity of SS. Through proteomic and metabolomic analysis, we have identified arginine metabolism that is the links between a framework of protein level and the metabolic level of GidA-MnmE modification pathway perturbation.

Multitask ATPases (NBDs) of bacterial ABC importers type I and their interspecies exchangeability

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) type I importers are widespread in bacteria and play a crucial role in its survival and pathogenesis. They share the same modular architecture comprising two intracellular nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs), two transmembrane domains (TMDs) and a substrate-binding protein. The NBDs bind and hydrolyze ATP, thereby generating conformational changes that are coupled to the TMDs and lead to substrate translocation. A group of multitask NBDs that are able to serve as the cellular motor for multiple sugar importers was recently discovered. To understand why some ABC importers share energy-coupling components, we used the MsmX ATPase from Bacillus subtilis as a model for biological and structural studies. Here we report the first examples of functional hybrid interspecies ABC type I importers in which the NBDs could be exchanged. Furthermore, the first crystal structure of an assigned multitask NBD provides a framework to understand the molecular basis of the broader specificity of interaction with the TMDs.

Involvement of Various Enzymes in the Physiology and Pathogenesis of Streptococcus suis

Streptococcus suis causes severe infections in both swine and humans, making it a serious threat to the swine industry and public health. Insight into the physiology and pathogenesis of S. suis undoubtedly contributes to the control of its infection. During the infection process, a wide variety of virulence factors enable S. suis to colonize, invade, and spread in the host, thus causing localized infections and/or systemic diseases. Enzymes catalyze almost all aspects of metabolism in living organisms. Numerous enzymes have been characterized in extensive detail in S. suis, and have shown to be involved in the pathogenesis and/or physiology of this pathogen. In this review, we describe the progress in the study of some representative enzymes in S. suis, such as ATPases, immunoglobulin-degrading enzymes, and eukaryote-like serine/threonine kinase and phosphatase, and we highlight the important role of various enzymes in the physiology and pathogenesis of this pathogen. The controversies about the current understanding of certain enzymes are also discussed here. Additionally, we provide suggestions about future directions in the study of enzymes in S. suis.

Screening of Virulence-Related Transcriptional Regulators in Streptococcus suis

Streptococcus suis (S.suis) is an important zoonotic pathogen that causes many severe diseases in pigs and humans. Virulence-related transcriptional regulators have been widely reported in pathogenic microorganisms, but only a few have been identified in S.suis. Our aim was to screen virulence-related transcriptional regulators in S.suis. A total of 89 such genes were predicted in the S.suis genome, of which 22 were up-regulated and 18 were down-regulated during S.suis infection in mice. To evaluate the roles of these differentially expressed factors in S.suis virulence, deletion mutants were constructed, and 10 mutants were successfully obtained. Among these genes, the deletion of comR, sitR, or sxvR caused significantly decreased virulence in mice, compared to that with the wild-type strain. Moreover, the survival of ΔcomR, ΔsitR, and ΔsxvR mutant strains in blood was significantly reduced both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, their pro-inflammatory abilities were also obviously decreased in vivo. The regulatory mechanisms of comR, sitR, and sxvR were then analyzed by whole transcriptome RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). Results indicated that the absence of comR induced the down-regulation of 17 virulence factors or virulence-related factors, including genes involved in the synthesis of capsules, oxidative stress tolerance, immune evasion, and cell division. Furthermore, three and two virulence factors or virulence-related factors were down-regulated upon deletion of sitR and sxvR, respectively. Thus, this study reports the discovery of three virulence-associated transcriptional regulatory factors in S.suis. These factors could ultimately be targeted to control infection caused by these bacteria.

Enhanced acid-stress tolerance in Lactococcus lactis NZ9000 by overexpression of ABC transporters

Background

Microbial cell factories are widely used in the production of acidic products such as organic acids and amino acids. However, the metabolic activity of microbial cells and their production efficiency are severely inhibited with the accumulation of intracellular acidic metabolites. Therefore, it remains a key issue to enhance the acid tolerance of microbial cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of four ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters on acid stress tolerance in Lactococcus lactis.

Results

Overexpressing the rbsA, rbsB, msmK, and dppA genes exhibited 5.8-, 12.2-, 213.7-, and 5.2-fold higher survival rates than the control strain, respectively, after acid shock for 3 h at pH 4.0. Subsequently, transcriptional profile alterations in recombinant strains were analyzed during acid stress. The differentially expressed genes associated with cold-shock proteins (csp), fatty acid biosynthesis (fabH), and coenzyme A biosynthesis (coaD) were up-regulated in the four recombinant strains during acid stress. Additionally, some genes were differentially expressed in specific recombinant strains. For example, in L. lactis (RbsB), genes involved in the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway (pyrCBDEK) and glycine or betaine transport process (busAA and busAB) were up-regulated during acid stress, and the argG genes showed up-regulations in L. lactis (MsmK). Finally, we found that overexpression of the ABC transporters RbsB and MsmK increased intracellular ATP concentrations to protect cells against acidic damage in the initial stage of acid stress. Furthermore, L. lactis (MsmK) consistently maintained elevated ATP concentrations under acid stress.

Conclusions

This study elucidates the common and specific mechanisms underlying improved acid tolerance by manipulating ABC transporters and provides a further understanding of the role of ABC transporters in acid-stress tolerance.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-019-1188-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

MnmE, a Central tRNA-Modifying GTPase, Is Essential for the Growth, Pathogenicity, and Arginine Metabolism of Streptococcus suis Serotype 2

Streptococcus suis is an important pathogen in pigs and can also cause severe infections in humans. However, little is known about proteins associated with cell growth and pathogenicity of S. suis. In this study, a guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) MnmE homolog was identified in a Chinese isolate (SC19) that drives a tRNA modification reaction. A mnmE deletion strain (ΔmnmE) and a complementation strain (CΔmnmE) were constructed to systematically decode the characteristics and functions of MnmE both in vitro and in vivo studies via proteomic analysis. Phenotypic analysis revealed that the ΔmnmE strain displayed deficient growth, attenuated pathogenicity, and perturbation of the arginine metabolic pathway mediated by the arginine deiminase system (ADS). Consistently, tandem mass tag -based quantitative proteomics analysis confirmed that 365 proteins were differentially expressed (174 up- and 191 down-regulated) between strains ΔmnmE and SC19. Many proteins associated with DNA replication, cell division, and virulence were down-regulated. Particularly, the core enzymes of the ADS were significantly down-regulated in strain ΔmnmE. These data also provide putative molecular mechanisms for MnmE in cell growth and survival in an acidic environment. Therefore, we propose that MnmE, by its function as a central tRNA-modifying GTPase, is essential for cell growth, pathogenicity, as well as arginine metabolism of S. suis.

The MsmX ATPase plays a crucial role in pectin mobilization by Bacillus subtilis

Carbohydrates from plant cell walls are often found as heteropolysaccharides intertwined with each other. For competitive advantage against other microorganisms, and ability to fully exploit available carbon and energy sources, Bacillus subtilis possesses a high number of proteins dedicated to the uptake of mono- and oligosaccharides. Here, we characterize transporter complexes, belonging to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily, involved in the uptake of oligosaccharides commonly found in pectin. The uptake of these carbohydrates is shown to be MsmX-dependent, assigning a key role in pectin mobilization for MsmX, a multipurpose ATPase serving several distinct ABC-type I sugar importers. Mutagenesis analysis of the transmembrane domains of the AraNPQ MsmX-dependent importer revealed putative residues for MsmX interaction. Interestingly however, although MsmX is shown to be essential for energizing various ABC transporters we found that a second B. subtilis ATPase, YurJ, is able to complement its function when placed in trans at a different locus of the chromosome.

The Eukaryote-Like Serine/Threonine Kinase STK Regulates the Growth and Metabolism of Zoonotic Streptococcus suis

Like eukaryotes, bacteria express one or more serine/threonine kinases (STKs) that initiate diverse signaling networks. The STK from Streptococcus suis is encoded by a single-copy stk gene, which is crucial in stress response and virulence. To further understand the regulatory mechanism of STK in S. suis, a stk deletion strain (Δstk) and its complementary strain (CΔstk) were constructed to systematically decode STK characteristics by applying whole transcriptome RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and phosphoproteomic analysis. Numerous genes were differentially expressed in Δstk compared with the wild-type parental strain SC-19, including 320 up-regulated and 219 down-regulated genes. Particularly, 32 virulence-associated genes (VAGs) were significantly down-regulated in Δstk. Seven metabolic pathways relevant to bacterial central metabolism and translation are significantly repressed in Δstk. Phosphoproteomic analysis further identified 12 phosphoproteins that exhibit differential phosphorylation in Δstk. These proteins are associated with cell growth and division, glycolysis, and translation. Consistently, phenotypic assays confirmed that the Δstk strain displayed deficient growth and attenuated pathogenicity. Thus, STK is a central regulator that plays an important role in cell growth and division, as well as S. suis metabolism.

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Selective Metabolic Adaptation of Streptococcus suis to Porcine Blood and Cerebrospinal Fluid

Streptococcus suis is a zoonotic pathogen that can cause severe pathologies such as septicemia and meningitis in its natural porcine host as well as in humans. Establishment of disease requires not only virulence of the infecting strain but also an appropriate metabolic activity of the pathogen in its host environment. However, it is yet largely unknown how the streptococcal metabolism adapts to the different host niches encountered during infection. Our previous isotopologue profiling studies on S. suis grown in porcine blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) revealed conserved activities of central carbon metabolism in both body fluids. On the other hand, they suggested differences in the de novo amino acid biosynthesis. This prompted us to further dissect S. suis adaptation to porcine blood and CSF by RNA deep sequencing (RNA-seq). In blood, the majority of differentially expressed genes were associated with transport of alternative carbohydrate sources and the carbohydrate metabolism (pentose phosphate pathway, glycogen metabolism). In CSF, predominantly genes involved in the biosynthesis of branched-chain and aromatic amino acids were differentially expressed. Especially, isoleucine biosynthesis seems to be of major importance for S. suis in CSF because several related biosynthetic genes were more highly expressed. In conclusion, our data revealed niche-specific metabolic gene activity which emphasizes a selective adaptation of S. suis to host environments.

The involvement of MsmK in pathogenesis of the Streptococcus suis serotype 2

Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (SS2) is an important swine and human pathogen that causes global economic and public health problems. Virulent S. suis strains successfully maintain high bacterial concentrations in host blood and rapidly adapt to challenging environments within hosts. Successful survival in hosts is a major factor influencing the pathogenesis of SS2. We have previously identified that SS2 colonization in mouse brain is possibly affected by the ATPase, MsmK of carbohydrate ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporters because of carbohydrate utilization. In this study, the chain length of the msmK deletion mutant was longer than that of the wild type, and the former was significantly more susceptible than the latter when theses strains were exposed to mouse blood both in vivo and in vitro. The hemolytic activity of the mutant strain was decreased. Although the adhesion of the mutant to HEp‐2 cell lines was enhanced, the deletion of msmK impaired the abilities of SS2 to resist phagocytosis and survive severe stress conditions. MsmK contributed to the survival and adaptation of SS2 in host bloodstream. Therefore, MsmK was identified as a multifunctional component that not only contributed to carbohydrate utilization but also participated in SS2 pathogenesis.

GidA, a tRNA Modification Enzyme, Contributes to the Growth, and Virulence of Streptococcus suis Serotype 2

Glucose-inhibited division protein (GidA), is a tRNA modification enzyme functioning together with MnmE in the addition of a carboxymethylaminomethyl group to position 5 of the anticodon wobble uridine of tRNA. Here, we report a GidA homolog from a Chinese isolate SC-19 of the zoonotic Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (SS2). gidA disruption led to a defective growth, increased capsule thickness, and reduced hemolytic activity. Moreover, the gidA deletion mutant (ΔgidA) displayed reduced mortality and bacterial loads in mice, reduced ability of adhesion to and invasion in epithelial cells, and increased sensitivity to phagocytosis. The iTRAQ analysis identified 372 differentially expressed (182 up- and 190 down-regulated) proteins in ΔgidA and SC-19. Numerous DNA replication, cell division, and virulence associated proteins were downregulated, whereas many capsule synthesis enzymes were upregulated by gidA disruption. This is consistent with the phenotypes of the mutant. Thus, GidA is a translational regulator that plays an important role in the growth, cell division, capsule biosynthesis, and virulence of SS2. Our findings provide new insight into the regulatory function of GidA in bacterial pathogens.