Identification of an extracellular infection-induced glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase of the phytopathogenic proteobacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000

According to molecular biology, genomic and proteo- mic data, the phytopathogenic gamma-proteobacte- rium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 pro-duces a number of proteins that may promote infec- tion and draw nutrients from plants. Remarkably, P. syringae DC3000 strain possesses three paralogous gap genes encoding glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehy- drogenase (GAPDH) enzymes with different predic- ted molecular sizes and metabolic functions. As GAPDH was shown to be a virulence factor in other microbial pathogens, in the current study, we analyzed the ex-pression levels of each paralogous gap gene by real- time PCR to understand the actual impact of their protein products on P. syringae virulence. We found that all of them were strongly induced during the in-fection process. Nevertheless, proteomic analysis of cul- ture supernatants revealed that only Class I GAPDH1 encoded by the gap1 gene was identified as an extra-cellular protein in infective cells. These results strongly suggest that this GAPDH should play a role in the infective process, including its well-know en-zymatic function in the glycolytic metabolic pathway.Peer Reviewe

Solubilization of inorganic phosphate and production of organic acids by bacteria isolated from a Moroccan mineral phosphate deposit

Three efficient inorganic-phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) were isolated from a phosphate rock deposit of a Moroccan mine. The phosphate solubilization index of these isolates, determined in National Botanical Research Institute's phosphate (NBRIP) medium supplemented with tribasic calcium phosphate, ranging from 2.8 to 4.4. The medium pH dropped from 7.0 to 3.5 units after growth under continuous agitation for seven days. PSB6, the most efficient PSB, closely related to Enterobacter hormaechei subsp. steigerwaltii strain NM23-1, permitted the recovery of the maximum soluble orthophosphate concentration in the medium (505 mg/L) after a growth period of 60 to 72 h. PSB4 and PSB5 strains were identified as Enterobacter sp. Strain TSSAS2-48 and Bacterium DR172. The capacity to solubilize inorganic phosphate by these PSB can be attributed to the secretion of organic acids, to determine their presence in the cultures supernatant, reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography was performed. The presence of 9 identified and three unidentified organic acids was consequently demonstrated. Gluconic acid was strongly produced by all strains, extending to 55.4 mM by PSB6, 46.4 mM by PSB5, and 44.9 mM by PSB4. Besides succinic, acetic, glutamic, oxaloacetic, pyruvic, malic and fumaric acids, a newly detected and identified organic acid was the alpha-ketoglutaric acid. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report mentioning alpha-ketoglutaric acid production by PSB strain

Identification of an extracellular infection-induced glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase of the phytopathogenic proteobacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000

According to molecular biology, genomic and proteo- mic data, the phytopathogenic gamma-proteobacte- rium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 pro-duces a number of proteins that may promote infec- tion and draw nutrients from plants. Remarkably, P. syringae DC3000 strain possesses three paralogous gap genes encoding glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehy- drogenase (GAPDH) enzymes with different predic- ted molecular sizes and metabolic functions. As GAPDH was shown to be a virulence factor in other microbial pathogens, in the current study, we analyzed the ex-pression levels of each paralogous gap gene by real- time PCR to understand the actual impact of their protein products on P. syringae virulence. We found that all of them were strongly induced during the in-fection process. Nevertheless, proteomic analysis of cul- ture supernatants revealed that only Class I GAPDH1 encoded by the gap1 gene was identified as an extra-cellular protein in infective cells. These results strongly suggest that this GAPDH should play a role in the infective process, including its well-know en-zymatic function in the glycolytic metabolic pathway.España AECID (MAEC) A1/043076/1

Widespread occurrence of non-phosphorylating glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase among gram-positive bacteria

The non-phosphorylating glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDHN, NADP+-specific, EC 1.2.1.9) is present in green eukaryotes and some Streptococcus strains. The present report describes the results of activity and immunoblot analyses, which were used to generate the first survey of bacterial GAPDHN distribution in a number of Bacillus, Streptococcus and Clostridium strains. Putative gapN genes were identified after PCR amplification of partial 700-bp sequences using degenerate primers constructed from highly conserved protein regions. Alignment of the amino acid sequences of these fragments with those of known sequences from other eukaryotic and prokaryotic GAPDHNs, demonstrated the presence of conserved residues involved in catalytic activity that are not conserved in aldehyde dehydrogenases, a protein family closely linked to GAPDHNs. The results confirm that the basic structural features of the members of the GAPDHN family have been conserved throughout evolution and that no identity exists with phosphorylating GAPDHs. Furthermore, phylogenetic trees generated from multiple sequence alignments suggested a close relationship between plant and bacterial GAPDHN families. [Int Microbiol 2005; 8(4):251-258

The ciliate protist tetrahymena pyriformis as a cellular adhesion model for the pathogenic bacterium staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main pathogenic agents responsible for nosocomial and community-acquired bacterial infections. The pathogenicity of this Gram-positive bacterium is ensured by its different adhesion factors. Collagen and the extracellular glycoprotein adhesin are among the Staphylococcus most important virulence factors. It has been shown that most of the S. aureus strains carry the ica operon, responsible for biofilm production. However, the coexpression of the icaA and the icaD genes is necessary for complete biofilm synthesis. The aim of our study was to study a collection of 15 clinical strains of S. aureus from different sources for the presence of cna and icaD genes coding intercellular adhesion proteins. We also intended to estimate the strains¿ ability to form biofilms by the red Cong method and to test the adhesion ability of S. aureus to the ciliated protist Tetrahymena pyriformis, which we used as a novel cellular adhesion model. Finally, we checked the adhesion¿s inhibition capacity of some plants extracts. The molecular detection of adhesion genes revealed that 80% of strains are cna positive, and 73% are icaD positive. Qualitative biofilm production of S. aureus revealed that 66.6% of strains were slime producers. The adhesion test revealed that 20% of strains are strongly adhering to T. pyriformis and that the Clematis cirrhosa extract has an anti-adhering effect of S. aureus to the ciliate T. pyriformis

Cell stress by phosphate of two protozoa tetrahymena thermophila and tetrahymena pyriformis

Phosphorus is one of the bioelements most needed as a compound cell by living organisms. Phosphorus is involved in several pathologies: in human with bone and kidney diseases, in mammals with metabolism disorder (glucose, insulin···), in microorganisms whose phosphorus is involved in cell growth. Phosphorus has various forms including pyrophosphate, a by-product of multiple pathways of biosynthesis. Enzymes that hydrolyze pyrophosphate are called inorganic pyrophosphatases (PPases). Two major types of inorganic pyrophosphatases are distinguished: the soluble pyrophosphatases (sPPases) and the membrane pyrophosphatases (mPPases or H+/Na+-PPases). They play a key role in the control of intracellular inorganic pyrophosphate level and produce an important ions gradient (H+ or Na+) to the cells. In this work, we primarily focused on the physiological study in a phosphate-poor medium of two models Tetrahymena thermophile and Tetrahymena pyriformis, following the mobility, the growth and the morphology of cells. Secondly, we evaluated the enzymatic activity of soluble and membrane pyrophosphatases in both species grown in the same complex medium. A decrease of cell growth is correlated with unusual morphologies and different mobility in the stress medium. The measurement of soluble and membrane inorganic pyrophosphatases activities also shows a decrease which illustrates the lack of phosphate found in the stress medium. Deficiency of phosphate is a limiting factor for protozoan growth. These results indicate that Tetrahymena can be used as a model of cellular stress and consists of a target to study inorganic pyrophosphatases for a better understanding of phosphate cycle in higher organisms

Inorganic Pyrophosphatases: Study of Interest

Inorganic pyrophosphatases are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of inorganic pyrophosphate to orthophosphate. These enzymes are divided into two groups: the soluble pyrophosphatases and the membrane pyrophosphatases. They vary in structure and each has a determined catalysis mechanism. Soluble pyrophosphatases are ubiquitous enzymes and play a key role in regulating the rate of pyrophosphate and balance in this sense, the biosynthetic reactions. Membrane pyrophosphatases are ion pumps, producing a proton or sodium gradient, and provide critical energy reserves to organisms, especially during stress conditions. Several studies have shown that these enzymes are involved in numerous disorders (diseases, fault cell growth∙∙∙). However they are potential targets for the development of agents against parasites. This article consists of a description of the different types, structures, catalytic properties of inorganic pyrophosphatases and their involvement in cellular metabolism

Cloning and heterologous overexpression of three gap genes encoding different glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases from the plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strain DC3000

The gammaproteobacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 is the causal agent of bacterial speck, a common disease of tomato. The mode of infection of this pathogen is not well understood, but according to molecular biological, genomic and proteomic data it produces a number of proteins that may promote infection and draw nutrients from the plant. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a major enzyme of carbon metabolism that was reported to be a surface antigen and virulence factor in other pathogenic microorganisms, but its possible role in the infection process of P. syringae has so far not been studied. Whole-genome sequence analyses revealed the occurrence in this phytopathogenic bacterium of three paralogous gap genes encoding distinct GAPDHs, namely two class I enzymes having different molecular mass subunits and one class III bifunctional D-erythrose-4-phosphate dehydrogenase/GAPDH enzyme. By using genome bioinformatics data, as well as alignments of both DNA and deduced protein sequences, the three gap genes of P. syringae were one-step cloned with a His-Tag in pET21a vector using a PCR-based strategy, and its expression optimized in E. coli BL21 to achieve high yield of the heterologous proteins. In accordance with their distinct molecular phylogenies, these bacterial gap genes encode functional GAPDHs of diverse molecular masses and nicotinamide-coenzyme specificities, suggesting specific metabolic and/or cellular roles.Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional y Desarrollo (MAEC) A1/043076/11 A/030965/10Junta de Andalucía BIO-26

Antibacterial activities of the crude ethanol extracts of medicinal plants against Listeria monocytogenes and some other pathogenic strains

Searches for substances with antimicrobial activity are frequent and medicinal plants have been considered interesting by some researchers since they are frequently used in popular medicine as remedies for many infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to verify the antibacterial effect of ethanol extracts of 13 plants (Artemisia Herba Alba, Lavandula officinalis L., Matricaria Chamomilla, Eugenia caryophylata , Cistus salvifolius, Mentha suaveolens subsp. Timija, Thymus serpyllum L.,Lippia citriodora, Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, Rosa centifolia, Thymus vulgaris L, Rosmarinus officinalis and Pelargonium graveolens) against Listeria monocytogenes and other pathogenic strains. These plants are used more for their therapeutic effects in the aromatization of the traditionally fermented dairy products. For this purpose, the agar well diffusion method was the antimicrobial susceptibility performed test. The major components of extracts tested were identified by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. The obtained results revealed in vitro anti-Listeria monocytogenes activities of all the extracts. Also, the extracts of clove, mint timija, cinnamon, cistus,rose, thyme, wild thyme, artemisia, rosemary, geranium and camomile presented in this order promises inhibitory capacity with MIC value between 0.25 mg/mL for clove extract and 6.75 mg/mL for camomile extract. On the other hand, the antimicrobial activity was mainly a function of their chemical composition, in particular in the nature of their major volatile compounds. This study thus confirmed the possibility of using these plants or some of their components in food systems to prevent the growthof foodborne bacteria and to extend the shelf-life of processed foods