Activation of a Vibrio cholerae CBASS anti-phage system by quorum sensing and folate depletion.

IMPORTANCE: To counteract infection with phage, bacteria have evolved a myriad of molecular defense systems. Some of these systems initiate a process called abortive infection, in which the infected cell kills itself to prevent phage propagation. However, such systems must be inhibited in the absence of phage infection to prevent spurious death of the host. Here, we show that the cyclic oligonucleotide based anti-phage signaling system (CBASS) accomplishes this by sensing intracellular folate molecules and only expressing this system in a group. These results enhance our understanding of the evolution of the seventh Vibrio cholerae pandemic and more broadly how bacteria defend themselves against phage infection.

The Vibrio cholerae Seventh Pandemic Islands act in tandem to defend against a circulating phage.

The current circulating pandemic El Tor biotype of Vibrio cholerae has persisted for over sixty years and is characterized by its acquisition of two unique genomic islands called the Vibrio Seventh Pandemic Islands 1 and 2 (VSP-I and VSP-II). However, the functions of most of the genes on VSP-I and VSP-II are unknown and the advantages realized by El Tor through these two islands are not clear. Recent studies have broadly implicated these two mobile genetic elements with phage defense. Still, protection against phage infection through these islands has not been observed directly in any V. cholerae El Tor biotype. Here we report the isolation of a circulating phage from a cholera patient stool sample and demonstrate that propagation of this phage in its native host is inhibited by elements in both VSP-I and VSP-II, providing direct evidence for the role of these genomic islands in phage defense. Moreover, we show that these defense systems are regulated by quorum sensing and active only at certain cell densities. Finally, we have isolated a naturally occurring phage variant that is resistant to the defense conferred by the VSP islands, illustrating the countermeasures used by phages to evade these defense mechanisms. Together, this work demonstrates a functional role for the VSPs in V. cholerae and highlights the key regulatory and mechanistic insights that can be gained by studying anti-phage systems in their native contexts.

Modifying TIMER to generate a slow-folding DsRed derivative for optimal use in quickly-dividing bacteria.

It is now well appreciated that members of pathogenic bacterial populations exhibit heterogeneity in growth rates and metabolic activity, and it is known this can impact the ability to eliminate all members of the bacterial population during antibiotic treatment. It remains unclear which pathways promote slowed bacterial growth within host tissues, primarily because it has been difficult to identify and isolate slow growing bacteria from host tissues for downstream analyses. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a novel variant of TIMER, a slow-folding fluorescent protein, named DsRed42, to identify subsets of slowly dividing bacteria within host tissues. The original TIMER folds too slowly for fluorescence accumulation in quickly replicating bacterial species (Escherichia coli, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis), however DsRed42 accumulates red fluorescence in late stationary phase cultures of E. coli and Y. pseudotuberculosis. We show DsRed42 signal also accumulates during exposure to sources of nitric oxide (NO), suggesting DsRed42 signal detects growth-arrested bacterial cells. In a mouse model of Y. pseudotuberculosis deep tissue infection, DsRed42 signal was detected, and primarily accumulates in bacteria expressing markers of stationary phase growth. There was no significant overlap between DsRed42 signal and NO-exposed subpopulations of bacteria within host tissues, suggesting NO stress was transient, allowing bacteria to recover from this stress and resume replication. This novel DsRed42 variant represents a tool that will enable additional studies of slow-growing subpopulations of bacteria, specifically within bacterial species that quickly divide.

Direct activation of a phospholipase by cyclic GMP-AMP in El Tor Vibrio cholerae.

Sensing and responding to environmental changes is essential for bacteria to adapt and thrive, and nucleotide-derived second messengers are central signaling systems in this process. The most recently identified bacterial cyclic dinucleotide second messenger, 3', 3'-cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP), was first discovered in the El Tor biotype of Vibrio cholerae The cGAMP synthase, DncV, is encoded on the VSP-1 pathogenicity island, which is found in all El Tor isolates that are responsible for the current seventh pandemic of cholera but not in the classical biotype. We determined that unregulated production of DncV inhibits growth in El Tor V. cholerae but has no effect on the classical biotype. This cGAMP-dependent phenotype can be suppressed by null mutations in vc0178 immediately 5' of dncV in VSP-1. VC0178 [renamed as cGAMP-activated phospholipase in Vibrio (CapV)] is predicted to be a patatin-like phospholipase, and coexpression of capV and dncV is sufficient to induce growth inhibition in classical V. cholerae and Escherichia coli Furthermore, cGAMP binds to CapV and directly activates its hydrolase activity in vitro. CapV activated by cGAMP in vivo degrades phospholipids in the cell membrane, releasing 16:1 and 18:1 free fatty acids. Together, we demonstrate that cGAMP activates CapV phospholipase activity to target the cell membrane and suggest that acquisition of this second messenger signaling pathway may contribute to the emergence of the El Tor biotype as the etiological agent behind the seventh cholera pandemic.

A highly specific phage defense system is a conserved feature of the Vibrio cholerae mobilome.

Vibrio cholerae-specific bacteriophages are common features of the microbial community during cholera infection in humans. Phages impose strong selective pressure that favors the expansion of phage-resistant strains over their vulnerable counterparts. The mechanisms allowing virulent V. cholerae strains to defend against the ubiquitous threat of predatory phages have not been established. Here, we show that V. cholerae PLEs (phage-inducible chromosomal island-like elements) are widespread genomic islands dedicated to phage defense. Analysis of V. cholerae isolates spanning a 60-year collection period identified five unique PLEs. Remarkably, we found that all PLEs (regardless of geographic or temporal origin) respond to infection by a myovirus called ICP1, the most prominent V. cholerae phage found in cholera patient stool samples from Bangladesh. We found that PLE activity reduces phage genome replication and accelerates cell lysis following ICP1 infection, killing infected host cells and preventing the production of progeny phage. PLEs are mobilized by ICP1 infection and can spread to neighboring cells such that protection from phage predation can be horizontally acquired. Our results reveal that PLEs are a persistent feature of the V. cholerae mobilome that are adapted to providing protection from a single predatory phage and advance our understanding of how phages influence pathogen evolution.

Functional Analysis of Bacteriophage Immunity through a Type I-E CRISPR-Cas System in Vibrio cholerae and Its Application in Bacteriophage Genome Engineering.

UNLABELLED: The classical and El Tor biotypes of Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1, the etiological agent of cholera, are responsible for the sixth and seventh (current) pandemics, respectively. A genomic island (GI), GI-24, previously identified in a classical biotype strain of V. cholerae, is predicted to encode clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-associated proteins (Cas proteins); however, experimental evidence in support of CRISPR activity in V. cholerae has not been documented. Here, we show that CRISPR-Cas is ubiquitous in strains of the classical biotype but excluded from strains of the El Tor biotype. We also provide in silico evidence to suggest that CRISPR-Cas actively contributes to phage resistance in classical strains. We demonstrate that transfer of GI-24 to V. cholerae El Tor via natural transformation enables CRISPR-Cas-mediated resistance to bacteriophage CP-T1 under laboratory conditions. To elucidate the sequence requirements of this type I-E CRISPR-Cas system, we engineered a plasmid-based system allowing the directed targeting of a region of interest. Through screening for phage mutants that escape CRISPR-Cas-mediated resistance, we show that CRISPR targets must be accompanied by a 3' TT protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM) for efficient interference. Finally, we demonstrate that efficient editing of V. cholerae lytic phage genomes can be performed by simultaneously introducing an editing template that allows homologous recombination and escape from CRISPR-Cas targeting. IMPORTANCE: Cholera, caused by the facultative pathogen Vibrio cholerae, remains a serious public health threat. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas) provide prokaryotes with sequence-specific protection from invading nucleic acids, including bacteriophages. In this work, we show that one genomic feature differentiating sixth pandemic (classical biotype) strains from seventh pandemic (El Tor biotype) strains is the presence of a CRISPR-Cas system in the classical biotype. We demonstrate that the CRISPR-Cas system from a classical biotype strain can be transferred to a V. cholerae El Tor biotype strain and that it is functional in providing resistance to phage infection. Finally, we show that this CRISPR-Cas system can be used as an efficient tool for the editing of V. cholerae lytic phage genomes.