Methionine Sulfoxide Reductases Are Essential for Virulence of Salmonella Typhimurium

Production of reactive oxygen species represents a fundamental innate defense against microbes in a diversity of host organisms. Oxidative stress, amongst others, converts peptidyl and free methionine to a mixture of methionine-S- (Met-S-SO) and methionine-R-sulfoxides (Met-R-SO). To cope with such oxidative damage, methionine sulfoxide reductases MsrA and MsrB are known to reduce MetSOs, the former being specific for the S-form and the latter being specific for the R-form. However, at present the role of methionine sulfoxide reductases in the pathogenesis of intracellular bacterial pathogens has not been fully detailed. Here we show that deletion of msrA in the facultative intracellular pathogen Salmonella (S.) enterica serovar Typhimurium increased susceptibility to exogenous H2O2, and reduced bacterial replication inside activated macrophages, and in mice. In contrast, a ΔmsrB mutant showed the wild type phenotype. Recombinant MsrA was active against free and peptidyl Met-S-SO, whereas recombinant MsrB was only weakly active and specific for peptidyl Met-R-SO. This raised the question of whether an additional Met-R-SO reductase could play a role in the oxidative stress response of S. Typhimurium. MsrC is a methionine sulfoxide reductase previously shown to be specific for free Met-R-SO in Escherichia (E.) coli. We tested a ΔmsrC single mutant and a ΔmsrBΔmsrC double mutant under various stress conditions, and found that MsrC is essential for survival of S. Typhimurium following exposure to H2O2, as well as for growth in macrophages, and in mice. Hence, this study demonstrates that all three methionine sulfoxide reductases, MsrA, MsrB and MsrC, facilitate growth of a canonical intracellular pathogen during infection. Interestingly MsrC is specific for the repair of free methionine sulfoxide, pointing to an important role of this pathway in the oxidative stress response of Salmonella Typhimurium

A Promoter Mutation Causes Differential Nitrate Reductase Activity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis

The recent publication of the genome sequence of Mycobacterium bovis showed >99.95% identity to M. tuberculosis. No genes unique to M. bovis were found. Instead numerous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. This has led to the hypothesis that differential gene expression due to SNPs might explain the differences between the human and bovine tubercle bacilli. One phenotypic distinction between M. tuberculosis and M. bovis is nitrate reduction, which not only is an essential diagnostic tool but also contributes to mycobacterial pathogenesis. We previously showed that narGHJI encodes a nitrate reductase in both M. tuberculosis and M. bovis and that NarGHJI-mediated nitrate reductase activity was substantially higher in the human tubercle bacillus. In the present study we used a genetic approach to demonstrate that an SNP within the promoter of the nitrate reductase gene cluster narGHJI is responsible for the different nitrate reductase activity of M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. This is the first example of an SNP that leads to differential gene expression between the human and bovine tubercle bacilli

Dependence of Mycobacterium bovis BCG on Anaerobic Nitrate Reductase for Persistence Is Tissue Specific

Mycobacterium bovis BCG, the only presently available vaccine against tuberculosis, was obtained from virulent M. bovis after serial passages in vitro. The vaccine strain retained at least some of its original virulence, as it persists in immune-competent hosts and occasionally may cause fatal disease in immune-deficient hosts. Mycobacterial persistence in vivo is thought to depend on anaerobic metabolism, an apparent paradox since all mycobacteria are obligate aerobes. Here we report that M. bovis BCG lacking anaerobic nitrate reductase (NarGHJI), an enzyme essential for nitrate respiration, failed to persist in the lungs, liver, and kidneys of immune-competent (BALB/c) mice. In immune-deficient (SCID) mice, however, bacilli caused chronic infection despite disruption of narG, even if growth of the mutant was severely impaired in lungs, liver, and kidneys. Persistence and growth of BCG in the spleens of either mouse strain appeared largely unaffected by lack of anaerobic nitrate reductase, indicating that the role of the enzyme in pathogenesis is tissue specific. These data suggest first that anaerobic nitrate reduction is essential for metabolism of M. bovis BCG in immune-competent but not immune-deficient mice and second that its role in mycobacterial disease is tissue specific, both of which are observations with important implications for pathogenesis of mycobacteria and vaccine development

The transcriptional regulator LysG (Rv1985c) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis activates lysE (Rv1986) in a lysine-dependent manner.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein encoded by the Rv1986 gene is a target for memory T cells in patients with tuberculosis, and shows strong similarities to a lysine exporter LysE of Corynebacterium glutamicum. During infection, the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis adapts its metabolism to environmental changes. In this study, we found that the expression of Rv1986 is controlled by Rv1985c. Rv1985c is located directly upstream of Rv1986 with an overlapping promoter region between both genes. Semiquantitative reverse transcription PCR using an isogenic mutant of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lacking Rv1985c showed that in the presence of lysine, Rv1985c protein positively upregulated the expression of Rv1986. RNA sequencing revealed the transcription start points for both transcripts and overlapping promoters. An inverted repeat in the center of the intergenic region was identified, and binding of Rv1985c protein to the intergenic region was confirmed by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Whole transcriptome expression analysis and RNAsequencing showed downregulated transcription of ppsBCD in the Rv1985c-mutant compared to the wild type strain. Taken together, our findings characterize the regulatory network of Rv1985c in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Due to their similarity of an orthologous gene pair in Corynebacterium glutamicum, we suggest to rename Rv1985c to lysG(Mt), and Rv1986 to lysE(Mt)

Polymorphic Nucleotide within the Promoter of Nitrate Reductase (NarGHJI) Is Specific for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis rapidly reduces nitrate, leading to the accumulation of nitrite. This characteristic served for the past 40 years to differentiate M. tuberculosis from other members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), such as Mycobacterium bovis (non-BCG [referred to here as simply “M. bovis”]), Mycobacterium bovis BCG, Mycobacterium africanum, or Mycobacterium microti. Here, a narG deletion in M. tuberculosis showed that rapid nitrite accumulation of M. tuberculosis is mediated by narGHJI. Analysis of narG mutants of M. bovis and M. bovis BCG showed that, as in M. tuberculosis, nitrite accumulation was mediated by narGHJI, and no other nitrate reductase was involved. However, in contrast to M. tuberculosis, accumulation was delayed for several days. Comparison of the narGHJI promoter revealed that, at nucleotide −215 prior to the start codon of narG, M. tuberculosis carried a thymine residue, whereas the bovine mycobacteria carried a cytosine residue. Using LightCycler technology we examined 62 strains of M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. bovis BCG, M. microti, and M. africanum and demonstrated that this single nucleotide polymorphism was specific for M. tuberculosis. For further differentiation within the MTBC, we included, by using LightCycler technology, the previously described analysis of oxyR polymorphism, which is specific for the bovine mycobacteria, and the RD1 polymorphism, which is specific for M. bovis BCG. Based on these results, we suggest a LightCycler format for rapid and unambiguous diagnosis of M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, and M. bovis BCG

When a respiratory pathogen turns to the skin: cutaneous tuberculosis in a lung transplant patient

A 62-year-old male, who received immune suppressive therapy due to a lung transplantation several years ago, developed multiple painful abscesses in the right forearm. First misdiagnosed as staphylococcal abscesses, Mycobacterium tuberculosis was eventually cultured from the abscesses. In addition, the patient also suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis and respiratory specimens were also culture-positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Cutaneous tuberculosis must be kept as a differential diagnosis in the case of abscess-like lesions on the skin, especially in immunocompromised patients. Mycobacteria specific tests (polymerase chain reaction in respiratory samples and wound smears) and antituberculotic combination therapy are necessary to treat Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection/reactivation adequately

Depletion of tryptophan is not involved in expression of tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase mediated by interferon.

Gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) affects tryptophan metabolism by mediating the expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase. In the present study, we investigated the role of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-mediated tryptophan depletion in the induction of tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase by IFN-gamma. The addition of excess tryptophan to the culture medium did not affect the induction of tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase by IFN-gamma, indicating that tryptophan degradation is not directly involved in the IFN-gamma-mediated expression of tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase