Virulence test using nematodes to prescreen Nocardia species capable of inducing neurodegeneration and behavioral disorders.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a disorder characterized by dopaminergic neuron programmed cell death. The etiology of PD remains uncertain-some cases are due to selected genes associated with familial heredity, others are due to environmental exposure to toxic components, but over 90% of cases have a sporadic origin. Nocardia are Actinobacteria that can cause human diseases like nocardiosis. This illness can lead to lung infection or central nervous system (CNS) invasion in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent individuals. The main species involved in CNS are N. farcinica, N. nova, N. brasiliensis and N. cyriacigeorgica. Some studies have highlighted the ability of N. cyriacigeorgica to induce Parkinson's disease-like symptoms in animals. Actinobacteria are known to produce a large variety of secondary metabolites, some of which can be neurotoxic. We hypothesized that neurotoxic secondary metabolite production and the onset of PD-like symptoms in animals could be linked. METHODS: Here we used a method to screen bacteria that could induce dopaminergic neurodegeneration before performing mouse experiments. RESULTS: The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans allowed us to demonstrate that Nocardia strains belonging to N. cyriacigeorgica and N. farcinica species can induce dopaminergic neurodegeneration. Strains of interest involved with the nematodes in neurodegenerative disorders were then injected in mice. Infected mice had behavioral disorders that may be related to neuronal damage, thus confirming the ability of Nocardia strains to induce neurodegeneration. These behavioral disorders were induced by N. cyriacigeorgica species (N. cyriacigeorgica GUH-2 and N. cyriacigeorgica 44484) and N. farcinica 10152. DISCUSSION: We conclude that C. elegans is a good model for detecting Nocardia strains involved in neurodegeneration. This model allowed us to detect bacteria with high neurodegenerative effects and which should be studied in mice to characterize the induced behavioral disorders and bacterial dissemination.

The Nocardia cyriacigeorgica GUH-2 genome shows ongoing adaptation of an environmental Actinobacteria to a pathogen's lifestyle.

BACKGROUND: Nocardia cyriacigeorgica is recognized as one of the most prevalent etiological agents of human nocardiosis. Human exposure to these Actinobacteria stems from direct contact with contaminated environmental matrices. The full genome sequence of N. cyriacigeorgica strain GUH-2 was studied to infer major trends in its evolution, including the acquisition of novel genetic elements that could explain its ability to thrive in multiple habitats. RESULTS: N. cyriacigeorgica strain GUH-2 genome size is 6.19 Mb-long, 82.7% of its CDS have homologs in at least another actinobacterial genome, and 74.5% of these are found in N. farcinica. Among N. cyriacigeorgica specific CDS, some are likely implicated in niche specialization such as those involved in denitrification and RuBisCO production, and are found in regions of genomic plasticity (RGP). Overall, 22 RGP were identified in this genome, representing 11.4% of its content. Some of these RGP encode a recombinase and IS elements which are indicative of genomic instability. CDS playing part in virulence were identified in this genome such as those involved in mammalian cell entry or encoding a superoxide dismutase. CDS encoding non ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) and polyketide synthases (PKS) were identified, with some being likely involved in the synthesis of siderophores and toxins. COG analyses showed this genome to have an organization similar to environmental Actinobacteria. CONCLUSION: N. cyriacigeorgica GUH-2 genome shows features suggesting a diversification from an ancestral saprophytic state. GUH-2 ability at acquiring foreign DNA was found significant and to have led to functional changes likely beneficial for its environmental cycle and opportunistic colonization of a human host.

Genome sequence of the human- and animal-pathogenic strain Nocardia cyriacigeorgica GUH-2.

The pathogenic strain Nocardia cyriacigeorgica GUH-2 was isolated from a fatal human nocardiosis case, and its genome was sequenced. The complete genomic sequence of this strain contains 6,194,645 bp, an average G+C content of 68.37%, and no plasmids. We also identified several protein-coding genes to which N. cyriacigeorgica's virulence can potentially be attributed.

CzcE from Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 is a copper-binding protein.

CzcE is encoded by the most distal gene of the czc determinant that allows Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 to modulate its internal concentrations of cobalt, zinc and cadmium by regulation of the expression of the efflux pump CzcCBA. We have overproduced and purified CzcE. CzcE is a periplasm-located dimeric protein able to bind specifically 4 Cu-equivalent per dimer. Spectrophotometry and EPR are indicative of type II copper with typical d-d transitions. Re-oxidation of fully reduced CzcE led to the formation of an air stable semi-reduced form binding both 2 Cu(I) and 2 Cu(II) ions. The spectroscopic characteristics of the semi-reduced form are different of those of the oxidized one, suggesting a change in the environment of Cu(II).

Overproduction, purification and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of CzcE from Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34.

CzcE is encoded by the czc determinant that allows Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 to modulate its internal concentrations of cobalt, zinc and cadmium. This periplasmic protein was overproduced in its mature form in Escherichia coli and purified in two steps. After preliminary screening of crystallization conditions using a robot, well diffracting crystals were obtained using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystals diffracted to 1.96 A using synchrotron radiation. They belonged to the monoclinic space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 105.54, b = 29.68, c = 71.10 A. The asymmetric unit is expected to contain a dimer, in agreement with the quaternary structure deduced from gel-filtration experiments.