Dual membrane-spanning anti-sigma factors regulate vesiculation in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron.

Bacteroidota are abundant members of the human gut microbiota that shape the enteric landscape by modulating host immunity and degrading dietary- and host-derived glycans. These processes are mediated in part by Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs). Here, we developed a high-throughput screen to identify genes required for OMV biogenesis and its regulation in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt). We identified a family of Dual membrane-spanning anti-sigma factors (Dma) that control OMV biogenesis. We conducted molecular and multiomic analyses to demonstrate that deletion of Dma1, the founding member of the Dma family, modulates OMV production by controlling the activity of the ECF21 family sigma factor, Das1, and its downstream regulon. Dma1 has a previously uncharacterized domain organization that enables Dma1 to span both the inner and outer membrane of Bt. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that this common feature of the Dma family is restricted to the phylum Bacteroidota. This study provides mechanistic insights into the regulation of OMV biogenesis in human gut bacteria.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles: From Discovery to Applications.

Secretion of cellular components across the plasma membrane is an essential process that enables organisms to interact with their environments. Production of extracellular vesicles in bacteria is a well-documented but poorly understood process. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are produced in gram-negative bacteria by blebbing of the outer membrane. In addition to their roles in pathogenesis, cell-to-cell communication, and stress responses, OMVs play important roles in immunomodulation and the establishment and balance of the gut microbiota. In this review, we discuss the multiple roles of OMVs and the current knowledge of OMV biogenesis. We also discuss the growing and promising biotechnological applications of OMV.

Human gut bacteria tailor extracellular vesicle cargo for the breakdown of diet- and host-derived glycans.

Extracellular vesicles are produced in all three domains of life, and their biogenesis has common ancient origins in eukaryotes and archaea. Although bacterial vesicles were discovered several decades ago and multiple roles have been attributed to them, no mechanism has been established for vesicles biogenesis in bacteria. For this reason, there is a significant level of skepticism about the biological relevance of bacterial vesicles. Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt), a prominent member of the human intestinal microbiota, produces significant amounts of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) which have been proposed to play key physiological roles. Here, we employed a dual marker system, consisting of outer membrane- and OMV-specific markers fused to fluorescent proteins to visualize OMV biogenesis by time-lapse microscopy. Furthermore, we performed comparative proteomic analyses to show that, in Bt, the OMV cargo is adapted for the optimal utilization of different polysaccharides. We also show that a negatively charged N-terminal motif acts as a signal for protein sorting into OMVs irrespective of the nutrient availability. Our results demonstrate that OMV production is the result of a highly regulated process in Bt.

Lipidome of the Bacteroides Genus Containing New Peptidolipid and Sphingolipid Families Revealed by Multiple-Stage Mass Spectrometry.

The anaerobic bacteria of the Bacteroides fragilis group including Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, B. fragilis, Bacteroides vulgatus, and Bacteroides ovatus in genus Bacteroides are among the most commonly found human gut microbiota. They are generally commensal but are also opportunistic pathogens. Both the inner and outer membranes of the Bacteroides cell envelope contain abundant lipids with diversified structures, and dissection of the lipid composition of the inner and outer membrane fractions is important for understanding the biogenesis of this multilaminate wall structure. Here, we describe mass spectrometry-based approaches to delineate in detail the lipidome of the membrane and the outer membrane vesicle of the bacteria cells. We identified 15 lipid class/subclasses (>100 molecular species), including sphingolipid families [dihydroceramide (DHC), glycylseryl (GS) DHC, DHC-phosphoinositolphosphoryl-DHC (DHC-PIP-DHC), ethanolamine phosphorylceramide, inositol phosphorylceramide (IPC), serine phosphorylceramide, ceramide-1-phosphate, and glycosyl ceramide], phospholipids [phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol (PI), and phosphatidylserine], peptide lipids (GS-, S-, and G-lipids) and cholesterol sulfate, of which several have not been reported previously, or have similar structures to those found in Porphyromonas gingivalis, the periodontopathic bacterium in oral microbiota. The new DHC-PIPs-DHC lipid family is found only in B. vulgatus, which, however, lacks the PI lipid family. The galactosyl ceramide family is exclusively present in B. fragilis, which nevertheless lacks IPC and PI lipids. The lipidomes as revealed in this study demonstrate the lipid diversity among the various strains and the utility of multiple-stage mass spectrometry (MSn) with high-resolution mass spectrometry in the structural elucidation of complex lipids.

Modern Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates replicate inside spacious vacuoles and egress from macrophages.

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections are increasing at alarming rates. Therefore, novel antibiotic-sparing treatments to combat these A. baumannii infections are urgently needed. The development of these interventions would benefit from a better understanding of this bacterium's pathobiology, which remains poorly understood. A. baumannii is regarded as an extracellular opportunistic pathogen. However, research on Acinetobacter has largely focused on common lab strains, such as ATCC 19606, that have been isolated several decades ago. These strains exhibit reduced virulence when compared to recently isolated clinical strains. In this work, we demonstrate that, unlike ATCC 19606, several modern A. baumannii clinical isolates, including the recent clinical urinary isolate UPAB1, persist and replicate inside macrophages within spacious vacuoles. We show that intracellular replication of UPAB1 is dependent on a functional type I secretion system (T1SS) and pAB5, a large conjugative plasmid that controls the expression of several chromosomally-encoded genes. Finally, we show that UPAB1 escapes from the infected macrophages by a lytic process. To our knowledge, this is the first report of intracellular growth and replication of A. baumannii. We suggest that intracellular replication within macrophages may contribute to evasion of the immune response, dissemination, and antibiotic tolerance of A. baumannii.

Identification and Characterization of the Lipoprotein N-acyltransferase in Bacteroides.

Members of the Bacteroidota compose a large portion of the human gut microbiota, contributing to overall gut health via the degradation of various polysaccharides. This process is facilitated by lipoproteins, globular proteins anchored to the cell surface by a lipidated N-terminal cysteine. Despite their importance, lipoprotein synthesis by these bacteria is understudied. In E. coli, the α-amino linked lipid of lipoproteins is added by the lipoprotein N-acyltransferase Lnt. Herein, we have identified a protein distinct from Lnt responsible for the same process in Bacteroides, named lipoprotein N-acyltransferase in Bacteroides (Lnb). Deletion of Lnb yields cells that synthesize diacylated lipoproteins, with impacts on cell viability and morphology, growth on polysaccharides, and protein composition of membranes and outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). Our results not only challenge the accepted paradigms of lipoprotein biosynthesis in Gram-negative bacteria, but also support the establishment of a new family of lipoprotein N-acyltransferases.

Human gut bacteria tailor extracellular vesicle cargo for the breakdown of diet- and host-derived glycans.

Extracellular vesicles (EV) are produced in all three domains of life, and their biogenesis have common ancient origins in eukaryotes and archaea. Although bacterial vesicles were discovered several decades ago and multiple roles have been attributed to them, no mechanism has been established for vesicles biogenesis in bacteria. For this reason, there is a significant level of skepticism about the biological relevance of bacterial vesicles. In Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron ( Bt ), a prominent member of the human intestinal microbiota, outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) have been proposed to play key physiological roles. By employing outer membrane- and OMV-specific markers fused to fluorescent proteins we visualized OMV biogenesis in live-cells. We performed comparative proteomic analyses to demonstrate that Bt actively tailors its vesicle cargo to optimize the breakdown of diet- and host-derived complex glycans. Surprisingly, our data suggests that OMV are not employed for mucin degradation. We also show that, in Bt , a negatively-charged N-terminal motif acts as a signal for protein sorting into OMVs irrespective of the nutrient availability. We conclude that OMVs are the result of an exquisitely orchestrated mechanism. This work lays the foundation for further investigations into the physiological relevance of OMVs and their roles in gut homeostasis. Furthermore, our work constitutes a roadmap to guide EV biogenesis research in other bacteria.

Dual Membrane-spanning Anti-Sigma Factors Regulate Vesiculation in Gut Bacteroidota.

Bacteroidota are abundant members of the human gut microbiota that shape the enteric landscape by modulating host immunity and degrading dietary- and host-derived glycans. These processes are at least partially mediated by O uter M embrane V esicles (OMVs). In this work, we developed a high-throughput screen to identify genes required for OMV biogenesis and its regulation in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron ( Bt ). Our screening led us to the identification of a novel family of D ual M embrane-spanning A nti-sigma factors (Dma), which regulate OMV biogenesis in Bt . We employed molecular and multiomic analyses to demonstrate that deletion of Dma1, the founding member of the Dma family, results in hypervesiculation by modulating the expression of NigD1, which belongs to a family of uncharacterized proteins found throughout Bacteroidota. Dma1 has an unprecedented domain organization: it contains a C-terminal ß-barrel embedded in the OM; its N-terminal domain interacts with its cognate sigma factor in the cytoplasm, and both domains are tethered via an intrinsically disordered region that traverses the periplasm. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that the Dma family is a unique feature of Bacteroidota. This study provides the first mechanistic insights into the regulation of OMV biogenesis in human gut bacteria.

Lipidomics Analysis of Outer Membrane Vesicles and Elucidation of the Inositol Phosphoceramide Biosynthetic Pathway in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron.

Approximately one-third of the human colonic microbiome is formed by bacteria from the genus Bacteroides. These bacteria produce a large amount of uniformly sized outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), which are equipped with hydrolytic enzymes that play a role in the degradation of diet- and host-derived glycans. In this work, we characterize the lipid composition of membranes and OMVs from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron VPI-5482. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis indicated that OMVs carry sphingolipids, glycerophospholipids, and serine-dipeptide lipids. Sphingolipid species represent more than 50% of the total lipid content of OMVs. The most abundant sphingolipids in OMVs are ethanolamine phosphoceramide (EPC) and inositol phosphoceramide (IPC). Bioinformatics analysis allowed the identification of the BT1522-1526 operon putatively involved in IPC synthesis. Mutagenesis studies revealed that BT1522-1526 is essential for the synthesis of phosphatidylinositol (PI) and IPC, confirming the role of this operon in the biosynthesis of IPC. BT1522-1526 mutant strains lacking IPC produced OMVs that were indistinguishable from the wild-type strain, indicating that IPC sphingolipid species are not involved in OMV biogenesis. Given the known role of sphingolipids in immunomodulation, we suggest that OMVs may act as long-distance vehicles for the delivery of sphingolipids in the human gut. IMPORTANCE Sphingolipids are essential membrane lipid components found in eukaryotes that are also involved in cell signaling processes. Although rare in bacteria, sphingolipids are produced by members of the phylum Bacteroidetes, human gut commensals. Here, we determined that OMVs carry sphingolipids and other lipids of known signaling function. Our results demonstrate that the BT1522-1526 operon is required for IPC biosynthesis in B. thetaiotaomicron.

Structure and functional properties of the cold-adapted catalase from Acinetobacter sp. Ver3 native to the Atacama plateau in northern Argentina.

Heme catalases remove hydrogen peroxide by catalyzing its dismutation into water and molecular oxygen, thereby protecting the cell from oxidative damage. The Atacama plateau in northern Argentina, located 4000 m above sea level, is a desert area characterized by extreme UV radiation, high salinity and a large temperature variation between day and night. Here, the heme catalase KatE1 from an Atacama Acinetobacter sp. isolate was cloned, expressed and purified, with the aim of investigating its extremophilic properties. Kinetic and stability assays indicate that KatE1 is maximally active at 50°C in alkaline media, with a nearly unchanged specific activity between 0°C and 40°C in the pH range 5.5-11.0. In addition, its three-dimensional crystallographic structure was solved, revealing minimal structural differences compared with its mesophilic and thermophilic analogues, except for a conserved methionine residue on the distal heme side, which is proposed to comprise a molecular adaptation to oxidative damage.