Trigg, S. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2020

Isolation and characterization of Streptomyces bacteriophages and Streptomyces strains encoding biosynthetic arsenals

The threat to public health posed by drug-resistant bacteria is rapidly increasing, as some of healthcares most potent antibiotics are becoming obsolete. Approximately two-thirds of the worlds antibiotics are derived from natural products produced by Streptomyces encoded biosynthetic gene clusters. Thus, in order to identify novel gene clusters, we sequenced the genomes of four bioactive Streptomyces strains isolated from the soil in San Diego County and used Bacterial Cytological Profiling adapted for agar plate culturing in order to examine the mechanisms of bacterial inhibition exhibited by these strains. In the four strains, we identified 101 biosynthetic gene clusters. Some of these clusters were predicted to produce previously studied antibiotics; however, the known mechanisms of these molecules could not fully account for the antibacterial activity exhibited by the strains, suggesting that novel clusters might encode antibiotics. When assessed for their ability to inhibit the growth of clinically isolated pathogens, three Streptomyces strains demonstrated activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Additionally, due to the utility of bacteriophages for genetically manipulating bacterial strains via transduction, we also isolated four new phages (BartholomewSD, IceWarrior, Shawty, and TrvxScott) against S. platensis. A genomic analysis of our phages revealed nearly 200 uncharacterized proteins, including a new site-specific serine integrase that could prove to be a useful genetic tool. Sequence analysis of the Streptomyces strains identified CRISPR-Cas systems and specific spacer sequences that allowed us to predict phage host ranges. Ultimately, this study identified Streptomyces strains with the potential to produce novel chemical matter as well as integrase-encoding phages that could potentially be used to manipulate these strains.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2019

Contextual flexibility in Pseudomonas aeruginosa central carbon metabolism during growth in single carbon sources

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen, particularly noted for causing infections in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Previous studies have shown that the gene expression profile of P. aeruginosa appears to converge towards a common metabolic program as the organism adapts to the CF airway environment. However, at a systems level, we still have only a limited understanding of how these transcriptional changes impact on metabolic flux. To address this, we analysed the transcriptome, proteome and fluxome of P. aeruginosa grown on glycerol or acetate. These carbon sources were chosen because they are the primary breakdown products of airway surfactant, phosphatidylcholine, which is known to be a major carbon source for P. aeruginosa in the CF airways. We show that the flux of carbon through central metabolism is radically different on each carbon source. For example, the newly-recognised EDEMP cycle plays an important role in supplying NADPH during growth on glycerol. By contrast, the EDEMP cycle is attenuated during growth on acetate, and instead, NADPH is primarily supplied by the isocitrate dehydrogenase(s)-catalyzed reaction. Perhaps more importantly, our proteomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal a global remodelling of gene expression during growth on the different carbon sources, with unanticipated impacts on aerobic denitrification, electron transport chain architecture, and the redox economy of the cell. Collectively, these data highlight the remarkable metabolic plasticity of P. aeruginosa; a plasticity which allows the organism to seamlessly segue between different carbon sources, maximising the energetic yield from each.\n\nImportancePseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen, well-known for causing infections in the airways of people with cystic fibrosis. Although it is clear that P. aeruginosa is metabolically well-adapted to life in the CF lung, little is currently known about how the organism metabolises the nutrients available in the airways. In this work, we use a combination of gene expression and isotope tracer (\"fluxomic\") analyses to find out exactly where the input carbon goes during growth on two CF-relevant carbon sources, acetate and glycerol (derived from the breakdown of lung surfactant). We find that carbon is routed (\"fluxed\") through very different pathways during growth on these substrates, and that this is accompanied by an unexpected remodelling of the cells electron transfer pathways. Having access to this \"blueprint\" is important because the metabolism of P. aeruginosa is increasingly being recognised as a target for the development of much-needed antimicrobial agents.

microbiology↗