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Mekasha S, Linke D. Secretion Systems in Gram-Negative Bacterial Fish Pathogens. Front Microbiol 2022; 12:782673. [PMID: 34975803 PMCID: PMC8714846 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.782673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial fish pathogens are one of the key challenges in the aquaculture industry, one of the fast-growing industries worldwide. These pathogens rely on arsenal of virulence factors such as toxins, adhesins, effectors and enzymes to promote colonization and infection. Translocation of virulence factors across the membrane to either the extracellular environment or directly into the host cells is performed by single or multiple dedicated secretion systems. These secretion systems are often key to the infection process. They can range from simple single-protein systems to complex injection needles made from dozens of subunits. Here, we review the different types of secretion systems in Gram-negative bacterial fish pathogens and describe their putative roles in pathogenicity. We find that the available information is fragmented and often descriptive, and hope that our overview will help researchers to more systematically learn from the similarities and differences between the virulence factors and secretion systems of the fish-pathogenic species described here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophanit Mekasha
- Section for Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Dirk Linke
- Section for Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Matanza XM, Osorio CR. Exposure of the Opportunistic Marine Pathogen Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae to Human Body Temperature Is a Stressful Condition That Shapes the Transcriptome, Viability, Cell Morphology, and Virulence. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:1771. [PMID: 32849395 PMCID: PMC7396505 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae (Pdd), an important pathogen for marine animals, is also an opportunistic human pathogen that can cause fatal necrotizing fasciitis. The regulatory changes triggered by the temperature shift experienced by this marine pathogen upon entering the human body, are completely unknown. Here we report an RNA-seq approach combined with phenotypical assays to study the response of Pdd to cultivation at 37°C in comparison to 25°C. We found that cultivation of a Pdd highly virulent strain for fish and mice, RM-71, at 37°C, initially enhanced bacterial growth in comparison to 25°C as evidenced by the increase in optical density. However, cells were found to undergo a progressive loss of viability after 6 h cultivation at 37°C, and no viable cells could be detected from 30 h cultures at 37°C. In contrast, at 25°C, viable cell counts achieved the highest values at 30 h cultivation. Cells grown at 25°C showed normal rod morphology by scanning electron microscopy analysis whereas cells grown at 37°C exhibited chain-like structures and aberrant long shapes suggesting a defect in daughter cell separation and in septum formation. Cells grown at 37°C also exhibited reduced tolerance to benzylpenicillin. Using a RNA-seq approach we discovered that growth at 37°C triggered a heat-shock response, whereas genes involved in motility and virulence were repressed including iron acquisition systems, the type two secretion system, and damselysin toxin, a major virulence factor of Pdd. Human isolates did not exhibit advantage growing at 37°C compared to fish isolates, and comparative genomics did not reveal gene markers specific of human isolates, suggesting that any Pdd genotype existing in the marine environment might potentially cause disease in humans. Altogether, these data indicate that the potential of Pdd to cause disease in humans is an accidental condition rather than a selected trait, and that human body temperature constitutes a stressful condition for Pdd. This study provides the first transcriptome profile of Pdd exposed at human body temperature, and unveils a number of candidate molecular targets for prevention and control of human infections caused by this pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xosé M Matanza
- Departamento de Microbioloxía e Parasitoloxía, Instituto de Acuicultura, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Carlos R Osorio
- Departamento de Microbioloxía e Parasitoloxía, Instituto de Acuicultura, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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von Hoven G, Qin Q, Neukirch C, Husmann M, Hellmann N. Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin: small pore, large consequences. Biol Chem 2020; 400:1261-1276. [PMID: 30951494 DOI: 10.1515/hsz-2018-0472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The small β-pore-forming α-toxin, also termed α-hemolysin or Hla is considered to be an important virulence factor of Staphylococcus aureus. Perforation of the plasma membrane (PM) by Hla leads to uncontrolled flux of ions and water. Already a small number of toxin pores seems to be sufficient to induce complex cellular responses, many of which depend on the efflux of potassium. In this article, we discuss the implications of secondary membrane lesions, for example, by endogenous channels, for Hla-mediated toxicity, for calcium-influx and membrane repair. Activation of purinergic receptors has been proposed to be a major contributor to the lytic effects of various pore forming proteins, but new findings raise doubts that this holds true for Hla. However, the recently discovered cellular pore forming proteins gasdermin D and Mixed lineage kinase domain-like pseudokinase (MLKL) which perforate the PM from the cytosolic side might contribute to both calcium-influx-dependent damage and membrane repair. Activation of endogenous pore forming proteins by Hla above a threshold concentration could explain the apparent dependence of pore characteristics on toxin concentrations. If secondary membrane damage in the aftermath of Hla-attack contributes significantly to overall PM permeability, it might be an interesting target for new therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gisela von Hoven
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Obere Zahlbacher Straße 67, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Qianqian Qin
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Obere Zahlbacher Straße 67, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Claudia Neukirch
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Obere Zahlbacher Straße 67, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Matthias Husmann
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Obere Zahlbacher Straße 67, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Nadja Hellmann
- Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Johann-Joachim Becher-Weg 30, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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Phobalysin: Fisheye View of Membrane Perforation, Repair, Chemotaxis and Adhesion. Toxins (Basel) 2019; 11:toxins11070412. [PMID: 31315179 PMCID: PMC6669599 DOI: 10.3390/toxins11070412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2019] [Revised: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Phobalysin P (PhlyP, for photobacterial lysin encoded on a plasmid) is a recently described small β-pore forming toxin of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae (Pdd). This organism, belonging to the family of Vibrionaceae, is an emerging pathogen of fish and various marine animals, which occasionally causes life-threatening soft tissue infections and septicemia in humans. By using genetically modified Pdd strains, PhlyP was found to be an important virulence factor. More recently, in vitro studies with purified PhlyP elucidated some basic consequences of pore formation. Being the first bacterial small β-pore forming toxin shown to trigger calcium-influx dependent membrane repair, PhlyP has advanced to a revealing model toxin to study this important cellular function. Further, results from co-culture experiments employing various Pdd strains and epithelial cells together with data on other bacterial toxins indicate that limited membrane damage may generally enhance the association of bacteria with target cells. Thereby, remodeling of plasma membrane and cytoskeleton during membrane repair could be involved. In addition, a chemotaxis-dependent attack-and track mechanism influenced by environmental factors like salinity may contribute to PhlyP-dependent association of Pdd with cells. Obviously, a synoptic approach is required to capture the regulatory links governing the interaction of Pdd with target cells. The characterization of Pdd’s secretome may hold additional clues because it may lead to the identification of proteases activating PhlyP’s pro-form. Current findings on PhlyP support the notion that pore forming toxins are not just killer proteins but serve bacteria to fulfill more subtle functions, like accessing their host.
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Terceti MS, Vences A, Matanza XM, Barca AV, Noia M, Lisboa J, dos Santos NMS, do Vale A, Osorio CR. The RstAB System Impacts Virulence, Motility, Cell Morphology, Penicillin Tolerance and Production of Type II Secretion System-Dependent Factors in the Fish and Human Pathogen Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:897. [PMID: 31105680 PMCID: PMC6491958 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The RstB histidine kinase of the two component system RstAB positively regulates the expression of damselysin (Dly), phobalysin P (PhlyP) and phobalysin C (PhlyC) cytotoxins in the fish and human pathogen Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae, a marine bacterium of the family Vibrionaceae. However, the function of the predicted cognate response regulator RstA has not been studied so far, and the role of the RstAB system in other cell functions and phenotypes remain uninvestigated. Here, we analyzed the effect of rstA and rstB mutations in cell fitness and in diverse virulence-related features. Both rstA and rstB mutants were severely impaired in virulence for sea bream and sea bass fish. Mutants in rstA and rstB genes were impaired in hemolysis and in Dly-dependent phospholipase activity but had intact PlpV-dependent phospholipase and ColP-dependent gelatinase activities. rstA and rstB mutants grown at 0.5% NaCl exhibited impaired swimming motility, enlarged cell size and impaired ability to separate after cell division, whereas at 1% NaCl the mutants exhibited normal phenotypes. Mutation of any of the two genes also impacted tolerance to benzylpenicillin. Notably, rstA and rstB mutants showed impaired secretion of a number of type II secretion system (T2SS)-dependent proteins, which included the three major cytotoxins Dly, PhlyP and PhlyC, as well as a putative delta-endotoxin and three additional uncharacterized proteins which might constitute novel virulence factors of this pathogenic bacterium. The analysis of the T2SS-dependent secretome of P. damselae subsp. damselae also led to the identification of RstAB-independent potential virulence factors as lipoproteins, sialidases and proteases. The RstAB regulon included plasmid, chromosome I and chromosome II-encoded genes that showed a differential distribution among isolates of this subspecies. This study establishes RstAB as a major regulator of virulence and diverse cellular functions in P. damselae subsp. damselae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mateus S. Terceti
- Departamento de Microbioloxía e Parasitoloxía, Instituto de Acuicultura, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela – USC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Ana Vences
- Departamento de Microbioloxía e Parasitoloxía, Instituto de Acuicultura, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela – USC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Xosé M. Matanza
- Departamento de Microbioloxía e Parasitoloxía, Instituto de Acuicultura, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela – USC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Alba V. Barca
- Departamento de Microbioloxía e Parasitoloxía, Instituto de Acuicultura, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela – USC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Manuel Noia
- Departamento de Bioloxía Funcional, Facultade de Bioloxía-CIBUS, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela – USC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Johnny Lisboa
- Fish Immunology and Vaccinology Group, IBMC-Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Nuno M. S. dos Santos
- Fish Immunology and Vaccinology Group, IBMC-Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana do Vale
- Fish Immunology and Vaccinology Group, IBMC-Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Carlos R. Osorio
- Departamento de Microbioloxía e Parasitoloxía, Instituto de Acuicultura, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela – USC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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