Exopolysaccharide microchannels direct bacterial motility and organize multicellular behavior.

The myxobacteria are a family of soil bacteria that form biofilms of complex architecture, aligned multilayered swarms or fruiting body structures that are simple or branched aggregates containing myxospores. Here, we examined the structural role of matrix exopolysaccharide (EPS) in the organization of these surface-dwelling bacterial cells. Using time-lapse light and fluorescence microscopy, as well as transmission electron microscopy and focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM) electron microscopy, we found that Myxococcus xanthus cell organization in biofilms is dependent on the formation of EPS microchannels. Cells are highly organized within the three-dimensional structure of EPS microchannels that are required for cell alignment and advancement on surfaces. Mutants lacking EPS showed a lack of cell orientation and poor colony migration. Purified, cell-free EPS retains a channel-like structure, and can complement EPS- mutant motility defects. In addition, EPS provides the cooperative structure for fruiting body formation in both the simple mounds of M. xanthus and the complex, tree-like structures of Chondromyces crocatus. We furthermore investigated the possibility that EPS impacts community structure as a shared resource facilitating cooperative migration among closely related isolates of M. xanthus.

Electron tomography of cryo-immobilized plant tissue: a novel approach to studying 3D macromolecular architecture of mature plant cell walls in situ.

Cost-effective production of lignocellulosic biofuel requires efficient breakdown of cell walls present in plant biomass to retrieve the wall polysaccharides for fermentation. In-depth knowledge of plant cell wall composition is therefore essential for improving the fuel production process. The precise spatial three-dimensional (3D) organization of cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and lignin within plant cell walls remains unclear to date since the microscopy techniques used so far have been limited to two-dimensional, topographic or low-resolution imaging, or required isolation or chemical extraction of the cell walls. In this paper we demonstrate that by cryo-immobilizing fresh tissue, then either cryo-sectioning or freeze-substituting and resin embedding, followed by cryo- or room temperature (RT) electron tomography, respectively, we can visualize previously unseen details of plant cell wall architecture in 3D, at macromolecular resolution (∼ 2 nm), and in near-native state. Qualitative and quantitative analyses showed that wall organization of cryo-immobilized samples were preserved remarkably better than conventionally prepared samples that suffer substantial extraction. Lignin-less primary cell walls were well preserved in both self-pressurized rapidly frozen (SPRF), cryo-sectioned samples as well as high-pressure frozen, freeze-substituted and resin embedded (HPF-FS-resin) samples. Lignin-rich secondary cell walls appeared featureless in HPF-FS-resin sections presumably due to poor stain penetration, but their macromolecular features could be visualized in unprecedented details in our cryo-sections. While cryo-tomography of vitreous tissue sections is currently proving to be instrumental in developing 3D models of lignin-rich secondary cell walls, here we confirm that the technically easier method of RT-tomography of HPF-FS-resin sections could be used immediately for routine study of low-lignin cell walls. As a proof of principle, we characterized the primary cell walls of a mutant (cob-6) and wild type Arabidopsis hypocotyl parenchyma cells by RT-tomography of HPF-FS-resin sections, and detected a small but significant difference in spatial organization of cellulose microfibrils in the mutant walls.

Plant cell walls throughout evolution: towards a molecular understanding of their design principles.

Throughout their life, plants typically remain in one location utilizing sunlight for the synthesis of carbohydrates, which serve as their sole source of energy as well as building blocks of a protective extracellular matrix, called the cell wall. During the course of evolution, plants have repeatedly adapted to their respective niche, which is reflected in the changes of their body plan and the specific design of cell walls. Cell walls not only changed throughout evolution but also are constantly remodelled and reconstructed during the development of an individual plant, and in response to environmental stress or pathogen attacks. Carbohydrate-rich cell walls display complex designs, which together with the presence of phenolic polymers constitutes a barrier for microbes, fungi, and animals. Throughout evolution microbes have co-evolved strategies for efficient breakdown of cell walls. Our current understanding of cell walls and their evolutionary changes are limited as our knowledge is mainly derived from biochemical and genetic studies, complemented by a few targeted yet very informative imaging studies. Comprehensive plant cell wall models will aid in the re-design of plant cell walls for the purpose of commercially viable lignocellulosic biofuel production as well as for the timber, textile, and paper industries. Such knowledge will also be of great interest in the context of agriculture and to plant biologists in general. It is expected that detailed plant cell wall models will require integrated correlative multimodal, multiscale imaging and modelling approaches, which are currently underway.

ECTO-NOX (ENOX) proteins of the cell surface lack thioredoxin reductase activity.

This study was to determine if ENOX proteins of the cell surface act as cell surface thioredoxin reductases. To measure formation of thiols a turbimetric insulin assay was used. No turbidity was observed with insulin alone or with insulin plus DTT. However, the combination of insulin +DTT + recombinant his-tagged ENOX2 (tNOX) did result in increased turbidity. An ENOX1 (CNOX) preparation also resulted in turbidity changes. In contrast, we were unable to demonstrate ENOX2-dependent insulin reduction by high density SDS-PAGE. Inclusion of reduced serum albumin as a source of free thiols for the protein disulfide interchange activity catalyzed by ENOX2 failed to result in insulin reduction in the presence of ENOX2. A direct effect of ENOX2 on thioredoxin reduction in the presence of NADPH also was not observed. The DTNB assay for thioredoxin reductase activity also failed to reveal activity. Thus, ENOX proteins appear not to function as thioredoxin reductases at the cell surface nor do they appear to recognize reduced insulin as a substrate for protein disulfide-thiol interchange. The enhanced turbidity of insulin solutions resulting from ENOX presence was traced to ENOX-catalyzed insulin fibrillation either through nucleation enhancement or some other mechanism. Fibrillation was determined using Thioflavin T fluorescence which paralleled the turbimetric results and the formation of multimers (polymerization) observed on SDS-PAGE.

Downstream targets of altered sphingolipid metabolism in response to inhibition of ENOX2 by phenoxodiol.

Phenoxodiol, an ENOX2 inhibitor, alters cytosolic NADH levels to initiate a regulatory cascade linking sphingolipid metabolism and the PI3K/Akt pathway to programmed cell death. Specifically, the pyridine nucleotide products of plasma membrane redox, NAD+ and NADH, directly modulate in a recriprocal manner two key plasma membrane enzymes. NADH stimulation of sphingomyelinase and NADH inhibition of sphingosine kinase potentially lead to G1 arrest (increase in ceramide) and apoptosis (loss of sphingosine-1-phosphate). The findings link plasma membrane electron transport and the anticancer action of several clinically-relevant anticancer agents targeted to ENOX2 such as phenoxodiol. Growth inhibition by phenoxodiol is unaffected by inhibitors of protein or mRNA synthesis. Findings with okadiaic acid, an inhibitor of serine/threonine phosphatases, suggest that hyperphosphorylation of intracellular substrates does not affect the action of phenoxodiol on ENOX2. Our findings and those of others are consistent with operation of the FAS signaling pathway of apoptosis and its suppression by sphingosine-1-phosphate. The prevailing hypothesis is that products of Akt activation, c-FLIP and XIAP, which exhibit anticaspase activities to block FAS signaling when sphingosine-1-phospate is elevated, are down regulated to permit apoptosis when sphingosine-1-phosphate is decreased by inhibition of sphingosine kinase under conditions of elevated cytosolic NADH associated with anticancer drug inhibition of ENOX2.