1
|
Bray AS, Zafar MA. Deciphering the gastrointestinal carriage of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Infect Immun 2024:e0048223. [PMID: 38597634 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00482-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Bacterial infections pose a significant global health threat, accounting for an estimated 7.7 million deaths. Hospital outbreaks driven by multi-drug-resistant pathogens, notably Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), are of grave concern. This opportunistic pathogen causes pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and bacteremia, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. The rise of hypervirulent K. pneumoniae adds complexity, as it increasingly infects healthy individuals. Recent epidemiological data suggest that asymptomatic gastrointestinal carriage serves as a reservoir for infections in the same individual and allows for host-to-host transmission via the fecal-oral route. This review focuses on K. pneumoniae's gastrointestinal colonization, delving into epidemiological evidence, current animal models, molecular colonization mechanisms, and the protective role of the resident gut microbiota. Moreover, the review sheds light on in vivo high-throughput approaches that have been crucial for identifying K. pneumoniae factors in gut colonization. This comprehensive exploration aims to enhance our understanding of K. pneumoniae gut pathogenesis, guiding future intervention and prevention strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S Bray
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
| | - M Ammar Zafar
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Bowser S, Melton-Celsa A, Chapartegui-González I, Torres AG. Efficacy of EHEC gold nanoparticle vaccines evaluated with the Shiga toxin-producing Citrobacter rodentium mouse model. Microbiol Spectr 2024; 12:e0226123. [PMID: 38047703 PMCID: PMC10783022 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02261-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) remains an important cause of diarrheal disease and complications worldwide, especially in children, yet there are no available vaccines for human use. Inadequate pre-clinical evaluation due to inconsistent animal models remains a major barrier to novel vaccine development. We demonstrate the usefulness of Stx2d-producing Citrobacter rodentium in assessing vaccine effectiveness because it more closely recapitulates human disease caused by EHEC.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Bowser
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA
| | - Angela Melton-Celsa
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Itziar Chapartegui-González
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA
| | - Alfredo G. Torres
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA
- Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Luo X, Fang G, Chen K, Song Y, Lu T, Tomberlin JK, Zhan S, Huang Y. A gut commensal bacterium promotes black soldier fly larval growth and development partly via modulation of intestinal protein metabolism. mBio 2023; 14:e0117423. [PMID: 37706881 PMCID: PMC10653789 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01174-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Black solider fly larvae and the gut microbiota can recycle nutrients from various organic wastes into valuable insect biomass. We found that Citrobacter amalonaticus, a gut commensal bacterium of the insect, exerts beneficial effects on larval growth and development and that the expression of many metabolic larval genes was significantly impacted by the symbiont. To identify the larval genes involved in the host-symbiont interaction, we engineered the symbiont to produce double-strand RNA and enabled the strain to silence host genes in the larval gut environment where the interaction takes place. With this approach, we confirmed that two intestinal protease families are involved in the interaction and provided further evidence that intestinal protein metabolism plays a role in the interaction. This work expands the genetic toolkits available to study the insect functional genomics and host-symbiont interaction and provide the prospective for the future application of gut microbiota on the large-scale bioconversion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xingyu Luo
- Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Gangqi Fang
- Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Kuangqin Chen
- Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Yu Song
- Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tianyi Lu
- Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | | | - Shuai Zhan
- Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Yongping Huang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Chaukimath P, Frankel G, Visweswariah SS. The metabolic impact of bacterial infection in the gut. FEBS J 2023; 290:3928-3945. [PMID: 35731686 DOI: 10.1111/febs.16562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Revised: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 08/17/2023]
Abstract
Bacterial infections of the gut are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The interplay between the pathogen and the host is finely balanced, with the bacteria evolving to proliferate and establish infection. In contrast, the host mounts a response to first restrict and then eliminate the infection. The intestine is a rapidly proliferating tissue, and metabolism is tuned to cater to the demands of proliferation and differentiation along the crypt-villus axis (CVA) in the gut. As bacterial pathogens encounter the intestinal epithelium, they elicit changes in the host cell, and core metabolic pathways such as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, lipid metabolism and glycolysis are affected. This review highlights the mechanisms utilized by diverse gut bacterial pathogens to subvert host metabolism and describes host responses to the infection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pooja Chaukimath
- Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Gad Frankel
- Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection and Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London, UK
| | - Sandhya S Visweswariah
- Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Chen GY, Thorup NR, Miller AJ, Li YC, Ayres JS. Cooperation between physiological defenses and immune resistance produces asymptomatic carriage of a lethal bacterial pathogen. Sci Adv 2023; 9:eadg8719. [PMID: 37352357 PMCID: PMC10289649 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg8719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/25/2023]
Abstract
Animals evolved two defense strategies to survive infections. Antagonistic strategies include immune resistance mechanisms that operate to kill invading pathogens. Cooperative or physiological defenses mediate host adaptation to the infected state, limiting physiological damage and disease, without killing the pathogen, and have been shown to cause asymptomatic carriage and transmission of lethal pathogens. Here, we demonstrate that physiological defenses cooperate with the adaptive immune response to generate long-term asymptomatic carriage of the lethal enteric murine pathogen, Citrobacter rodentium. Asymptomatic carriage of genetically virulent C. rodentium provided immune resistance against subsequent infections. Immune protection was dependent on systemic antibody responses and pathogen virulence behavior rather than the recognition of specific virulent antigens. Last, we demonstrate that an avirulent strain of C. rodentium in the field has background mutations in genes that are important for LPS structure. Our work reveals insight into how asymptomatic infections can arise mechanistically with immune resistance, mediating exclusion of phenotypically virulent enteric pathogen to promote asymptomatic carriage.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Grischa Y. Chen
- Molecular and Systems Physiology Lab, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Gene Expression Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Natalia R. Thorup
- Molecular and Systems Physiology Lab, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Gene Expression Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Abigail J. Miller
- Molecular and Systems Physiology Lab, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Gene Expression Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Yao-Cheng Li
- Gene Expression Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Janelle S. Ayres
- Molecular and Systems Physiology Lab, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Gene Expression Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Abstract
A dense and diverse microbial community inhabits the gut and many epithelial surfaces. Referred to as the microbiota, it co-evolved with the host and is beneficial for many host physiological processes. A major function of these symbiotic microorganisms is protection against pathogen colonization and overgrowth of indigenous pathobionts. Dysbiosis of the normal microbial community increases the risk of pathogen infection and overgrowth of harmful pathobionts. The protective mechanisms conferred by the microbiota are complex and include competitive microbial-microbial interactions and induction of host immune responses. Pathogens, in turn, have evolved multiple strategies to subvert colonization resistance conferred by the microbiota. Understanding the mechanisms by which microbial symbionts limit pathogen colonization should guide the development of new therapeutic approaches to prevent or treat disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Caballero-Flores
- Department of Pathology and Rogel Cancer Center, The University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Joseph M Pickard
- Department of Pathology and Rogel Cancer Center, The University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Gabriel Núñez
- Department of Pathology and Rogel Cancer Center, The University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Herzog MKM, Cazzaniga M, Peters A, Shayya N, Beldi L, Hapfelmeier S, Heimesaat MM, Bereswill S, Frankel G, Gahan CG, Hardt WD. Mouse models for bacterial enteropathogen infections: insights into the role of colonization resistance. Gut Microbes 2023; 15:2172667. [PMID: 36794831 PMCID: PMC9980611 DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2172667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Globally, enteropathogenic bacteria are a major cause of morbidity and mortality.1-3 Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli, and Listeria are among the top five most commonly reported zoonotic pathogens in the European Union.4 However, not all individuals naturally exposed to enteropathogens go on to develop disease. This protection is attributable to colonization resistance (CR) conferred by the gut microbiota, as well as an array of physical, chemical, and immunological barriers that limit infection. Despite their importance for human health, a detailed understanding of gastrointestinal barriers to infection is lacking, and further research is required to investigate the mechanisms that underpin inter-individual differences in resistance to gastrointestinal infection. Here, we discuss the current mouse models available to study infections by non-typhoidal Salmonella strains, Citrobacter rodentium (as a model for enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic E. coli), Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter jejuni. Clostridioides difficile is included as another important cause of enteric disease in which resistance is dependent upon CR. We outline which parameters of human infection are recapitulated in these mouse models, including the impact of CR, disease pathology, disease progression, and mucosal immune response. This will showcase common virulence strategies, highlight mechanistic differences, and help researchers from microbiology, infectiology, microbiome research, and mucosal immunology to select the optimal mouse model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mathias K.-M. Herzog
- Department of Biology, Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Monica Cazzaniga
- APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
- School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Audrey Peters
- Department of Life Sciences, MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Nizar Shayya
- Institute of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Luca Beldi
- Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Markus M. Heimesaat
- Institute of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan Bereswill
- Institute of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gad Frankel
- Department of Life Sciences, MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Cormac G.M. Gahan
- APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
- School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
- School of Pharmacy, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Wolf-Dietrich Hardt
- Department of Biology, Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Alfaro T, Elmore JR, Stromberg ZR, Hutchison JR, Hess BM. Engineering Citrobacter freundii using CRISPR/Cas9 system. J Microbiol Methods 2022; 200:106533. [PMID: 35779647 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2022.106533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Revised: 06/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated proteins) system is a useful tool to edit genomes quickly and efficiently. However, the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to edit bacterial genomes has been limited to select microbial chassis primarily used for bioproduction of high value products. Thus, expansion of CRISPR/Cas9 tools to other microbial organisms is needed. Here, our aim was to assess the suitability of CRISPR/Cas9 for genome editing of the Citrobacter freundii type strain ATCC 8090. We evaluated the commonly used two plasmid pCas/pTargetF system to enable gene deletions and insertions in C. freundii and determined editing efficiency. The CRISPR/Cas9 based method enabled high editing efficiency (~91%) for deletion of galactokinase (galk) and enabled deletion with various single guide RNA (sgRNA) sequences. To assess the ability of CRISPR/Cas9 tools to insert genes, we used the fluorescent reporter mNeonGreen, an endopeptidase (yebA), and a transcriptional regulator (xylS) and found successful insertion with high efficiency (81-100%) of each gene individually. These results strengthen and expand the use of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to C. freundii as an additional microbial chassis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Trinidad Alfaro
- Chemical and Biological Signatures Group, National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA
| | - Joshua R Elmore
- Synthetic Biology Group, Earth and Biological Science Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA
| | - Zachary R Stromberg
- Chemical and Biological Signatures Group, National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA
| | - Janine R Hutchison
- Chemical and Biological Signatures Group, National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA
| | - Becky M Hess
- Chemical and Biological Signatures Group, National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Cruz N, Abernathy GA, Dichosa AEK, Kumar A. The Age of Next-Generation Therapeutic-Microbe Discovery: Exploiting Microbe-Microbe and Host-Microbe Interactions for Disease Prevention. Infect Immun 2022; 90:e0058921. [PMID: 35384688 PMCID: PMC9119102 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00589-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans are considered "superorganisms," harboring a diverse microbial collective that outnumbers human cells 10 to 1. Complex and gravely understudied host- and microbe-microbe interactions-the product of millions of years of host-microbe coevolution-govern the superorganism in almost every aspect of life functions and overall well-being. Abruptly disrupting these interactions via extrinsic factors has undesirable consequences for the host. On the other hand, supplementing commensal or beneficial microbes may mitigate perturbed interactions or enhance the interactive relationships that ultimately benefit all parties. Hence, immense efforts have focused on dissecting the innumerable host- and microbe-microbe relationships to characterize if a "positive" or "negative" interaction is at play and to exploit such behavior for broader implications. For example, microbiome research has worked to identify and isolate naturally antipathogenic microbes that may offer therapeutic potential either in a direct, one-on-one application or by leveraging its unique metabolic properties. However, the discovery and isolation of such desired therapeutic microbes from complex microbiota have proven challenging. Currently, there is no conventional technique to universally and functionally screen for these microbes. With this said, we first describe in this review the historical (probiotics) and current (fecal microbiota or defined consortia) perspectives on therapeutic microbes, present the discoveries of therapeutic microbes through exploiting microbe-microbe and host-microbe interactions, and detail our team's efforts in discovering therapeutic microbes via our novel microbiome screening platform. We conclude this minireview by briefly discussing challenges and possible solutions with therapeutic microbes' applications and paths ahead for discovery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Cruz
- B-10: Biosecurity and Public Health Group, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
| | - George A. Abernathy
- B-10: Biosecurity and Public Health Group, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
| | - Armand E. K. Dichosa
- B-10: Biosecurity and Public Health Group, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
| | - Anand Kumar
- B-10: Biosecurity and Public Health Group, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
| |
Collapse
|