Role of RpoS in stress resistance, biofilm formation and quorum sensing of Shewanella baltica.

Shewanella baltica is one of the most important bacterial species contributing to spoilage of seafood. Principally, RpoS has been recognized as the central regulator of stress resistance in many bacterial species. However, little is known about the role of RpoS in S. baltica. In this study, an rpoS mutant of S. baltica was constructed and analysed for its functions. The results showed that the survival rate of rpoS mutant decreased when treated with heat, ethanol and H2 O2, while increased the resistance to NaCl. Moreover RpoS promoted the biofilm formation of S. baltica at 30°C, while declined at 4°C. Interestingly, the rpoS-deficient mutant showed increased swimming motility. Furthermore, the results revealed that the production of quorum-sensing (QS) signals such as cyclo-(l-Pro-l-Leu) and cyclo-(l-Pro-l-Phe) reduced in rpoS mutant. Mainly, rpoS positively regulated QS response regulators, as the expression of all luxR genes in rpoS mutant significantly decreased relative to wild type. This study reveals that RpoS is a major regulator involved in stress responses, biofilm formation and quorum sensing system in S. baltica. The present work provides significant information for the control of microbiological spoilage of seafood.

Characterization of co-culture of Aeromonas and Pseudomonas bacterial biofilm and spoilage potential on refrigerated grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus).

Aeromonas and Pseudomonas are important bacterial species involved in spoilage of refrigerated freshwater fish. In this study, 10 Aeromonas and seven Pseudomonas bacterial strains were isolated from spoiled grass carp and identified. Twelve of seventeen bacterial strains showed high potential of biofilm formation and 14 of 17 can produce extracellular protease. In order to explore the spoilage capacity of dual-species, the sterile grass carp fillets were inoculated with mono- and dual-species of Aeromonas salmonicida and Pseudomonas azotoformans strains. The results revealed significantly higher levels of the total viable count and total volatile basic nitrogen in dual-species as compared to mono-species from day 6. The higher contents of histamine, cadaverine and serious degradation in muscles tissue were also observed in dual-species after 10 days of storage. Results of in vitro experiments showed that the co-culture of A. salmonicida and P. azotoformans significantly increased the bacterial maximum growth rate, promoted the biofilm formation and improved the spoilage capacity of bacterial strains. This study has revealed that the co-culture of Aeromonas and Pseudomonas bacterial strains accelerated spoilage process of grass carp and increased biofilm formation. It indicates that the mixed-cultures of spoilage micro-organisms pose a huge threat to food industry.

Proteomic assessment of the role of N-acyl homoserine lactone in Shewanella putrefaciens spoilage.

Shewanella spp. are the common spoilage organisms found in aquatic food products stored at low temperature and their spoilage mechanism has been reported to be mediated by quorum sensing (QS). However, the specifically expressed proteins responding to N-acyl homoserine-lactone (AHLs) were seldom reported. This study aims to evaluate the effects of different AHL signal molecules on Shewanella putrefaciens Z4 isolated from refrigerated turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) at the proteome level. The results revealed that exogenous AHLs were utilized as QS signal molecules by S. putrefaciens Z4, and AHLs were not degraded by intracellular or extracellular enzymes secreted by S. putrefaciens Z4. Twenty-three differently expressed spots upon the addition of AHLs were selected and identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The results indicated that proteins involving in growth and metabolism (i.e. citrate synthase, succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase), environment adaptation and regulators (i.e. polysaccharide deacetylases, transaldolase) were down-regulated upon three kinds of AHLs (C4-HSL, C6-HSL and O-C6-HSL), whereas the abundance of stress response protein and DNA ligase were elevated by the addition of exogenous AHLs. Moreover, the effects of exogenous C6-HSL and O-C6-HSLwere prominent. These results provide evidence that AHL-based QS signal molecules affected some important metabolic properties of S. putrefaciens. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHLs)-based quorum sensing signal molecules involving in the behavior regulation in most of the Gram-negative bacteria have widely been reported. This study aims to evaluate the effect of AHLs on Shewanella putrefaciens Z4 at the proteome level. It provides the theoretic basis for elucidating the spoilage mechanism of Shewanella spp., the common spoilage micro-organism in refrigerated marine aquatic food products.