• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제20권12호
• /
• pp.1624-1629
• /
• 2010

Bacterial cell-to-cell communication, termed quorum sensing (QS), leads to coordinated group behavior in a cell-density-dependent fashion and controls a variety of physiological processes including virulence gene expression. The repressor of the lsr operon, LsrR, is the only known regulator of LuxS/AI-2-mediated QS in Salmonella. Although lack of lsrR did not result in noticeable differences in Salmonella survival, the down-regulation of QS as a result of lsrR overexpression decreased Salmonella survival within macrophages. We found that impaired growth of Salmonella overexpressing lsrR within macrophages was due largely to its hypersensitivity to NADPH-dependent oxidative stress. This, in turn, was a result of decreased expression of genes involved in the oxidative stress response, such as sodA, sodCI, and sodCII, when lsrR was overexpressed. These results suggest that down-regulation of QS by excess LsrR can lower Salmonella virulence by hampering Salmonella evasion from oxidative killing within macrophages.

• 생명과학회지
• /
• 제16권1호
• /
• pp.131-135
• /
• 2006

미생물이 이용할 수 있는 nitrogen source는 di-, tri-, oli- go-peptide 또는 amino acid의 형태로 세포내로 uptake되어 대사과정에 사용되고 있다. 이와같은 peptide는 특이한 transport system에 의해서 이동되고 있는데 oligo peptide(Opp) transport system에는 binding protein, permease protein, energy 생성을 위한 ATP 분해에 관여하는 protein 이 관여하고 있으며 염색체 상에서 이들 단백질들은 operon 형태의 유전자로부터 발현되고 있다. 본 연구는 gram 음성 세균이며 수해양 서식 세균인 V, fluvialis로부터 얻어진 Opp operon 유전자 가운데 oligopeptide binding protein을 coding하고 있는 oppA 유전자가 deletion된 mutant를 사용하여 여러 환경변화에 따른 생육을 wild type과 비교한 연구 결과 이다. 생육을 위한 완전배지인 brain heart infusion (BHI) 배지와 최소배지인 M9 minimal 배지를 사용한 결과 OppA protein의 생성 결핍에 따라 초기 및 대수증식기 과정 중에는 mutant의 생육이 늦어지고 있으나 Opp system이 아닌 다른 peptide전달 경로로 추정되는 system을 이용하여 대수 증식기 후반에서는 wild type과 거의 같은 생육 형태를 보여 주고 있었다. pH의 변화에 따른 생육은 pH 7에서는 생육정도가 비슷하였으나 약알칼리 부근에서는 oppA mutant의 생육이 wild type에 비하여 낮아지고 있었다. 또한 5 mM $H_2O_2$를 사용하여 $OD_{600}=1.2$농도의 세포들에 대한 영향을 검토한 결과 두 균 모두 높은 생존율을 보여 주었으며 이는 대수증식기 세포들을 사용한 결과와는 매우 다른 형태를 보여 주고 있었다. 항생제 내성에 대한 연구에서는 mutant가 streptomycin과 tetracycline 에 대해서는 wild type과는 다르게 매우 낮은 농도에서도 생육이 되고 있지 않으나 polymyxin B에 대해서는 wild type과 같이 $10{\mu}g/ml$의 농도에서도 잘 자라고 있었다.

• 한국식품과학회지
• /
• 제50권4호
• /
• pp.414-419
• /
• 2018

병원성 대장균 O157:H7은 식중독 사고를 일으키는 주된 원인균으로서 항생제 내성 문제를 극복하기 위해서는 병원성 대장균 O157:H7을 제어하기 위한 새로운 방법이 개발되어야 한다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 식물화학물질을 스크리닝하여 병원성 대장균 O157:H7의 부착에 주된 역할을 하는 LEE 오페론의 발현을 감소시키는 물질을 찾고자 하였다. 스크리닝을 통해 선발된 식물화학물질 중 다이오스민은 사람 결장 상피세포 부착능을 3.62배 감소시킴으로써(p<0.01) 양성대조군으로 사용된 미리세틴과 유사한 정도의 효과를 나타냈다. 생물막 형성에 있어서는 다이오스민 처리 시 표현형이 25.6% 감소하여 유의적 차이가 확인되었고(p<0.05), curli 유전자의 발현 역시 미리세틴 처리 때보다 1.57-2.60배 더 유의미하게 감소하는 것으로 나타나 양성대조군보다 더 좋은 효과를 보였다. 한편 다이오스민은 병원성 대장균 O157:H7의 생장에는 아무런 영향을 미치지 않는 것으로 나타나 내성 발생률이 저감화된 새로운 항미생물제재로서 사용 가능하리라 판단된다.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• 제28권4호
• /
• pp.389-395
• /
• 2009

We previously observed that the transcription of some flagellar genes decreased in Salmonella Typhimurium tdcA mutant, which is a gene encoding the transcriptional activator of the tdc operon. Since flagella-mediated bacterial motility accelerates the invasion of Salmonella, we have examined the effect of tdcA mutation on the invasive ability as well as the flagellar biosynthesis in S. Typhimurium. A tdcA mutation caused defects in motility and formation of flagellin protein, FliC in S. Typhimurium. Invasion assays in the presence of a centrifugal force confirmed that the defect of flagellum synthesis decreases the ability of Salmonella to invade into cultured epithelial cells. In addition, we also found that the expression of Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI1) genes required for Salmonella invasion was down-regulated in the tdcA mutant because of the decreased expression of fliZ, a positive regulator of SPI1 transcriptional activator, hilA. Finally, the virulence of a S. Typhimurium tdcA mutant was attenuated compared to a wild type when administered orally. This study implies the role of tdcA in the invasion process of S. Typhimurium.

• 미생물학회지
• /
• 제36권1호
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2000

발광 박테리아인 Photobacterium 종들의 lux 오페론 하부 영역에서 riboflavin 생합성에 관여하는 유전자들(ribⅠ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳ)이 발견되었다. Photobacterium phosphoreum의 lux 유전자와 rib 유전자를 포함하는 intergenic 영역의 단일사슬 DNA가 P. phosphoreum의 mRNA에 의하여 S1 nuclease digestion에서 손상받지 않았으며, ribⅠ에 의하여 암호화되는 P. phosphoreum의 riboflavin synthase의 활성도가 lux-specific한 효소들인 luciferase 혹은 fatty acid reductase 활성도와 같이 bioluminescence intensity의 발현과 함께 대수기 말기에서 증가하는 박테리아 발광반응의 특이한 조절 체계인 'autoinduction' 양상을 보였다. 또한 P. leiognathi의 luxB로부터 ribⅡ까지 포함하는 DNA를 강력한 lux 프로모터와 reporter(chloramphenicol acetyl transferase, CAT) 유전자 사이에 삽입하고 접합(conjugation)의 방법으로 P. leiognathi에 유전자 전이(gene transfer)시켜 CAT reporter 유전자의 발현을 P. leiognathi에서 조사한 바, 그 유전자의 발현 정도에 큰 차이가 없었을 뿐만 아니라 이 구조에서 lux 프로모터를 제거하게 되면 CAT reporter 유전자의 발현이 전혀 나타나지 않았다. 이들 실험 결과들은 lux 유전자와 rib 유전자의 intergenic영역에 lux 오페론의 전사 종결 구조(transcriptional terminator)가 존재하지 않으며 ribflavin 생합성 유전자들이 그들 고유의 프로모터에 의하여 전사되는 것이 아니라 lux 오페론의 프로모터에 의하여 발현됨을 나타내는 것으로, 이는 Photobacterium 종들에서 lux 유전자와 rib 유전자들은 공동의 발현 조절 체계를 갖는 것으로 요약된다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제22권6호
• /
• pp.742-753
• /
• 2012

Copper-containing compounds are introduced into the environment through agricultural chemicals, mining, and metal industries and cause severe detrimental effects on ecosystems. Certain microorganisms exposed to these stressors exhibit molecular mechanisms to maintain intracellular copper homeostasis and avoid toxicity. We have previously reported that the soil bacterial isolate Achromobacter sp. AO22 is multi-heavy metal tolerant and exhibits a mer operon associated with a Tn21 type transposon. The present study reports that AO22 also hosts a unique cop locus encoding copper homeostasis determinants. The putative cop genes were amplified from the strain AO22 using degenerate primers based on reported cop and pco sequences, and a constructed 10,552 base pair contig (GenBank Accession No. GU929214). BLAST analyses of the sequence revealed a unique cop locus of 10 complete open reading frames, designated copSRABGOFCDK, with unusual separation of copCD from copAB. The promoter areas exhibit two putative cop boxes, and copRS appear to be transcribed divergently from other genes. The putative protein CopA may be a copper oxidase involved in export to the periplasm, CopB is likely extracytoplasmic, CopC may be periplasmic, CopD is cytoplasmic/inner membrane, CopF is a P-type ATPase, and CopG, CopO, and CopK are likely copper chaperones. CopA, B, C, and D exhibit several potential copper ligands and CopS and CopR exhibit features of two-component regulatory systems. Sequences flanking indicate the AO22 cop locus may be present within a genomic island. Achromobacter sp. strain AO22 is thus an ideal candidate for understanding copper homeostasis mechanisms and exploiting them for copper biosensor or biosorption systems.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제29권8호
• /
• pp.1288-1298
• /
• 2019

Bacterial ATP synthases drive ATP synthesis by a rotary mechanism, and play a vital role in physiology and cell metabolism. Corynebacterium glutamicum is well known as an industrial workhorse for amino acid production, and its ATP synthase operon contains eight structural genes and two adjacent genes, cg1360 and cg1361. So far, the physiological functions of Cg1360 (GenBank CAF19908) and Cg1361 (GenBank CAF19909) remain unclear. Here, we showed that Cg1360 was a hydrophobic protein with four transmembrane helices (TMHs), while no TMH was found in Cg1361. Deletion of cg1360, but not cg1361, led to significantly reduced cell growth using glucose and acetic acid as carbon sources, reduced F1 portions in the membrane, reduced ATP-driven proton-pumping activity and ATPase activity, suggesting that Cg1360 plays an important role in ATP synthase function. The intracellular ATP concentration in the ${\Delta}cg1360$ mutant was decreased to 72% of the wild type, while the NADH and NADPH levels in the ${\Delta}cg1360$ mutant were increased by 29% and 26%, respectively. However, the ${\Delta}cg1361$ mutant exhibited comparable intracellular ATP, NADH and NADPH levels with the wild-type strain. Moreover, the effect of cg1360 deletion on L-valine production was examined in the L-valine-producing V-10 strain. The final production of L-valine in the $V-10-{\Delta}cg1360$ mutant reached $9.2{\pm}0.3g/l$ in shake flasks, which was 14% higher than that of the V-10 strain. Thus, Cg1360 can be used as an effective engineering target by altering energy metabolism for the enhancement of amino acid production in C. glutamicum.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제31권7호
• /
• pp.912-920
• /
• 2021

SOS response is a conserved response to DNA damage in prokaryotes and is negatively regulated by LexA protein, which recognizes specifically an "SOS-box" motif present in the promoter region of SOS genes. Myxococcus xanthus DK1622 possesses a lexA gene, and while the deletion of lexA had no significant effect on either bacterial morphology, UV-C resistance, or sporulation, it did delay growth. UV-C radiation resulted in 651 upregulated genes in M. xanthus, including the typical SOS genes lexA, recA, uvrA, recN and so on, mostly enriched in the pathways of DNA replication and repair, secondary metabolism, and signal transduction. The UV-irradiated lexA mutant also showed the induced expression of SOS genes and these SOS genes enriched into a similar pathway profile to that of wild-type strain. Without irradiation treatment, the absence of LexA enhanced the expression of 122 genes that were not enriched in any pathway. Further analysis of the promoter sequence revealed that in the 122 genes, only the promoters of recA2, lexA and an operon composed of three genes (pafB, pafC and cyaA) had SOS box sequence to which the LexA protein is bound directly. These results update our current understanding of SOS response in M. xanthus and show that UV induces more genes involved in secondary metabolism and signal transduction in addition to DNA replication and repair; and while the canonical LexA-dependent regulation on SOS response has shrunk, only 5 SOS genes are directly repressed by LexA.