Early evolutionary loss of the lipid A modifying enzyme PagP resulting in innate immune evasion in Yersinia pestis.

Immune evasion through membrane remodeling is a hallmark of Yersinia pestis pathogenesis. Yersinia remodels its membrane during its life cycle as it alternates between mammalian hosts (37 °C) and ambient (21 °C to 26 °C) temperatures of the arthropod transmission vector or external environment. This shift in growth temperature induces changes in number and length of acyl groups on the lipid A portion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for the enteric pathogens Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Ypt) and Yersinia enterocolitica (Ye), as well as the causative agent of plague, Yersinia pestis (Yp). Addition of a C16 fatty acid (palmitate) to lipid A by the outer membrane acyltransferase enzyme PagP occurs in immunostimulatory Ypt and Ye strains, but not in immune-evasive Yp Analysis of Yp pagP gene sequences identified a single-nucleotide polymorphism that results in a premature stop in translation, yielding a truncated, nonfunctional enzyme. Upon repair of this polymorphism to the sequence present in Ypt and Ye, lipid A isolated from a Yp pagP+ strain synthesized two structures with the C16 fatty acids located in acyloxyacyl linkage at the 2' and 3' positions of the diglucosamine backbone. Structural modifications were confirmed by mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. With the genotypic restoration of PagP enzymatic activity in Yp, a significant increase in lipid A endotoxicity mediated through the MyD88 and TRIF/TRAM arms of the TLR4-signaling pathway was observed. Discovery and repair of an evolutionarily lost lipid A modifying enzyme provides evidence of lipid A as a crucial determinant in Yp infectivity, pathogenesis, and host innate immune evasion.

Analysis of the contribution of MTP and the predicted Flp pilus genes to Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogenesis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is one of the world's most successful pathogens. Millions of new cases of tuberculosis occur each year, emphasizing the need for better methods of treatment. The design of novel therapeutics is dependent on our understanding of factors that are essential for pathogenesis. Many bacterial pathogens use pili and other adhesins to mediate pathogenesis. The recently identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis pilus (MTP) and the hypothetical, widely conserved Flp pilus have been speculated to be important for Mtb virulence based on in vitro studies and homology to other pili, respectively. However, the roles for these pili during infection have yet to be tested. We addressed this gap in knowledge and found that neither MTP nor the hypothetical Flp pilus is required for Mtb survival in mouse models of infection, although MTP can contribute to biofilm formation and subsequent isoniazid tolerance. However, differences in mtp expression did affect lesion architecture in infected lungs. Deletion of mtp did not correlate with loss of cell-associated extracellular structures as visualized by transmission electron microscopy in Mtb Erdman and HN878 strains, suggesting that the phenotypes of the mtp mutants were not due to defects in production of extracellular structures. These findings highlight the importance of testing the virulence of adhesion mutants in animal models to assess the contribution of the adhesin to infection. This study also underscores the need for further investigation into additional strategies that Mtb may use to adhere to its host so that we may understand how this pathogen invades, colonizes and disseminates.

Characterization of the Vibrio cholerae VolA surface-exposed lipoprotein lysophospholipase.

Bacterial lipases play important roles in bacterial metabolism and environmental response. Our laboratory recently discovered that a novel lipoprotein lysophospholipase, VolA, localizes on the surface of the Gram-negative aquatic pathogen Vibrio cholerae. VolA functions to cleave exogenous lysophosphatidylcholine, freeing the fatty acid moiety for use by V. cholerae. This fatty acid is transported into the cell and can be used as a nutrient and, more importantly, as a way to alter the membrane architecture via incorporation into the phospholipid biosynthesis pathway. There are few examples of Gram-negative, surface-exposed lipoproteins, and VolA is unique, as it has a previously undercharacterized function in V. cholerae membrane remodeling. Herein, we report the biochemical characterization of VolA. We show that VolA is a canonical lipoprotein via mass spectrometry analysis and demonstrate the in vitro activity of VolA under a variety of conditions. Additionally, we show that VolA contains a conserved Gly-Xaa-Ser-Xaa-Gly motif typical of lipases. Interestingly, we report the observation of VolA homologs in other aquatic pathogens. An Aeromonas hydrophila VolA homolog complements a V. cholerae VolA mutant in growth on lysophosphatidylcholine as the sole carbon source and in enzymatic assays. These results support the idea that the lipase activity of surface-exposed VolA likely contributes to the success of V. cholerae, improving the overall adaptation and survival of the organism in different environments.

The outer surface lipoprotein VolA mediates utilization of exogenous lipids by Vibrio cholerae.

UNLABELLED: Previous work from our laboratory showed that the Gram-negative aquatic pathogen Vibrio cholerae can take up a much wider repertoire of fatty acids than other Gram-negative organisms. The current work elaborated on the ability of V. cholerae to exploit an even more diverse pool of lipid nutrients from its environment. We have demonstrated that the bacterium can use lysophosphatidylcholine as a metabolite for growth. Using a combination of thin-layer chromatography and mass spectrometry, we also showed that lysophosphatidylcholine-derived fatty acid moieties can be used for remodeling the V. cholerae membrane architecture. Furthermore, we have identified a lysophospholipase, VolA (Vibrio outer membrane lysophospholipase A), required for these activities. The enzyme is well conserved in Vibrio species, is coexpressed with the outer membrane fatty acid transporter FadL, is one of very few surface-exposed lipoprotein enzymes to be identified in Gram-negative bacteria and the first instance of a surface lipoprotein phospholipase. We propose a model whereby the bacterium efficiently couples the liberation of fatty acid from lysophosphatidylcholine to its subsequent metabolic uptake. An expanded ability to scavenge diverse environmental lipids at the bacterial surface increases overall bacterial fitness and promotes homeoviscous adaptation through membrane remodeling. IMPORTANCE: Our understanding of how bacteria utilize environmental lipid sources has been limited to lipids such as fatty acids and cholesterol. This narrow scope may be attributed to both the intricate nature of lipid uptake mechanisms and the diversity of lipid substrates encountered within an ecological niche. By examining the ability of the pathogen Vibrio cholerae to utilize exogenous lipids, we uncovered a surface-exposed lipoprotein (VolA) that is required for processing the prevalent host lipid lysophosphatidylcholine. VolA functions as a lipase liberating a fatty acid from exogenous lysophospholipids. The freed fatty acid is then transported into the cell, serving as a carbon source, or shunted into phospholipid synthesis for membrane assembly. A limited number of surface-exposed lipoproteins have been found in Gram-negative organisms, and few have enzymatic function. This work highlights the ability of bacteria to exploit exogenous lipids for both maintenance of the membrane and carbon source acquisition.