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  • 1
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: In Streptococcus pneumoniae, the first four genes of the capsule locus (cpsA to cpsD) are common to most serotypes. By analysis of various in-frame deletion and site-directed mutants, the function of their gene products in capsular polysaccharide (CPS) biosynthesis was investigated. We found that while CpsB, C and D are essential for encapsulation, CpsA is not. CpsC and CpsD have similarity to the amino-terminal and carboxy-terminal regions, respectively, of the autophosphorylating protein-tyrosine kinase Wzc from Escherichia coli. Alignment of CpsD with Wzc and other related proteins identified conserved Walker A and B sequence motifs and a tyrosine rich domain close to the carboxy-terminus. We have shown that CpsD is also an autophosphorylating protein-tyrosine kinase and that point mutations in cpsD affecting either the ATP-binding domain (Walker A motif) or the carboxy-terminal [YGX]4 repeat domain eliminated tyrosine phosphorylation of CpsD. We describe, for the first time, the phenotypic impact of these two mutations on polysaccharide production and show that they affect CPS production differently. Whereas a mutation in the Walker A motif resulted in loss of encapsulation, mutation of the tyrosines in the [YGX]4 repeat domain resulted in an apparent increase in encapsulation and a mucoid phenotype. These data suggest that autophosphorylation of CpsD at tyrosine attenuates its activity and reduces the level of encapsulation. Additionally, we demonstrated that CpsC is required for CpsD tyrosine phosphorylation and that CpsB influences dephosphorylation of CpsD. These results are consistent with CpsD tyrosine phosphorylation acting to negatively regulate CPS production. This has implications for the function of CpsC/CpsD homologues in both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and provides a mechanism to explain regulation of CPS production during pathogenesis.
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  • 2
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: A soluble flavoprotein that reoxidizes NADH and reduces molecular oxygen to water was purified from the facultative anaerobic human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. The nucleotide sequence of nox, the gene which encodes it, has been determined and was characterized at the functional and physiological level. Several nox mutants were obtained by insertion, nonsense or missense mutation. In extracts from these strains, no NADH oxidase activity could be measured, suggesting that a single enzyme encoded by nox, having a C44 in its active site, was utilizing O2 to oxidize NADH in S. pneumoniae. The growth rate and yield of the NADH oxidase-deficient strains were not changed under aerobic or anaerobic conditions, but the efficiency of development of competence for genetic transformation during growth was markedly altered. Conditions that triggered competence induction did not affect the amount of Nox, as measured using Western blotting, indicating that nox does not belong to the competence-regulated genetic network. The decrease in competence efficiency due to the nox mutations was similar to that due to the absence of oxygen in the nox+ strain, suggesting that input of oxygen into the metabolism via NADH oxidase was important for controlling competence development throughout growth. This was not related to regulation of nox expression by O2. Interestingly, the virulence and persistence in mice of a blood isolate was attenuated by a nox insertion mutation. Global cellular responses of S. pneumoniae, such as competence for genetic exchange or virulence in a mammalian host, could thus be modulated by oxygen via the NADH oxidase activity of the bacteria, although the bacterial energetic metabolism is essentially anaerobic. The enzymatic activity of the NADH oxidase coded by nox was probably involved in transducing the external signal, corresponding to O2 availability, to the cell metabolism and physiology; thus, this enzyme may function as an oxygen sensor. This work establishes, for the first time, the role of O2 in the regulation of pneumococcal transformability and virulence.
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  • 3
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 4
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Oxford BSL : Blackwell Science Ltd
    Molecular microbiology 23 (1997), S. 0 
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: We have previously reported the nucleotide sequence of the first six genes of the Streptococcuspneumoniae type 19F capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis locus (cps19f). In this study we used plasmid insertion/rescue and inverse polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to clone an additional 10 kb downstream region containing the remainder of the cps19f locus, which was then subjected to sequence analysis. The cps19f locus is located in the S. pneumoniae chromosome between dexB and aliA, and consists of 15 open reading frames (ORFs), designated cps19fA to cps19fO, that appear to be arranged as a single transcriptional unit. Insertion-duplication mutants in seven out of the nine new ORFs have been constructed in a smooth type 19F strain, all of which resulted in a rough (non-encapsulated) phenotype, confirming that the operon is essential for capsule production. Comparison with sequence databases has allowed us to propose functions for 12 of the cps19f gene products, and a biosynthetic pathway for type 19F capsular polysaccharide. T7 expression studies confirmed that cps19fH, cps19fK, cps19fL, cps19fM and cps19fN directed the production of polypeptides of the expected size in Escherichia coli. The function of the cps19fK product was confirmed by its ability to complement a mutation in nfrC (rffE ) in E. coli, as judged by restoration of sensitivity to bacteriophage N4. Interestingly, the last four genes of the locus (cps19fL–O ) exhibit very strong homology (up to 70% amino acid identity) to a portion of the Shigella flexneri rfb gene cluster encoding biosynthesis of dTDP-rhamnose. When expressed in E. coli, cps19fL–O were capable of complementing a mutation deleting the respective Shigella flexneri homologues. Southern hybridization analysis indicated that cps19fA and cps19fB were the only cps genes found in all 16 S. pneumoniae serotypes/groups tested. The region from cps19fG to cps19fK was found only in members of serogroup 19, and, within this, cps19fI was unique to type 19F.
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  • 5
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: The psaBCA locus of Streptococcus pneumoniae encodes a putative ABC Mn2+-permease complex. Downstream of the operon is psaD, which may be co-transcribed and encodes a thiol peroxidase. Previously, there has been discordance concerning the phenotypic impact of mutations in the psa locus, resolution of which has been complicated by differences in mutant construction and the possibility of polar effects. Here, we constructed unmarked, in frame deletion mutants ΔpsaB, ΔpsaC, ΔpsaA, ΔpsaD, ΔpsaBC, ΔpsaBCA and ΔpsaBCAD in S. pneumoniae D39 to examine the role of each gene within the locus in Mn2+ uptake, susceptibility to oxidative stress, virulence, nasopharyngeal colonization and chain morphology. The requirement for Mn2+ for growth and transformation was also investigated for all mutants. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis provided the first direct evidence that PsaBCA is indeed a Mn2+ transporter. However, this study did not substantiate previous reports that the locus plays a role in choline-binding protein pro-duction or chain morphology. We also confirmed the importance of the Psa permease in systemic virulence and resistance to superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, as well as demonstrating a role in nasopharyngeal colonization for the first time. Further evi-dence is provided to support the requirement for Mn2+ supplementation for growth and transformation of ΔpsaB, ΔpsaC, ΔpsaA, ΔpsaBC, ΔpsaBCA and ΔpsaBCAD mutants. However, transformation, as well as growth, of the ΔpsaD mutant was not dependent upon Mn2+ supplementation. We also show that, apart from sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide, the ΔpsaD mutant exhibited essentially similar phenotypes to those of the wild type. Western blot analysis with a PsaD antiserum showed that deleting any of the genes upstream of psaD did not affect its expression. However, we found that deleting psaB resulted in decreased expression of PsaA relative to that in D39, whereas deleting both psaB and psaC resulted in at least wild-type levels of PsaA.
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