ABSTRACT
The activity of RNA helicase csdA (cbo2802) after temperature downshift was compared to its activity at optimal growth temperature, and the effect of sense and antisense oriented insertional inactivation of cbo2802 on the growth of ATCC 3502 at suboptimal temperature was evaluated. The relative cbo2802 transcript level was significantly induced for 30min to 5h after cold shock. In contrast, a significant decrease in the relative transcript level of cbo2802 was observed within the same time frame at 37°C. Inactivation of cbo2802 led to an extensive delay in initiation of exponential growth at 20°C but not at 37°C. In addition, the mean minimum growth temperatures of the mutant strains were higher than those of the wild-type strain. During a 24-hour incubation at 37°C, all strains were motile, whereas at 20°C the mutant strains showed severely impaired motility compared to the wild-type strain. This study shows that a functional csdA is needed for effective adaptation and initiation of growth and motility of Clostridium botulinum ATCC 3502 at suboptimal temperature.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Physiological/genetics , Clostridium botulinum/growth & development , Clostridium botulinum/genetics , Cold Temperature , RNA Helicases/genetics , RNA Helicases/metabolism , Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial , Mutagenesis, InsertionalABSTRACT
Clostridium botulinum is a notable food pathogen and responsible for botulism due to production of botulinum neurotoxin. Strains of C. botulinum can adapt to and survive in stress conditions and food processing. The cold shock protein coding genes (csp) are involved in growth at low temperature, but they may also possess other functions. In this mutational analysis we show that cspB and cspC, but not cspA, are important for NaCl, pH and ethanol stress responses and for motility of C. botulinum ATCC 3502. In all NaCl concentrations tested, the cspB mutant had lower maximum growth rate and, together with the cspC mutant, a longer lag phase compared to the wild-type strain. At low pH, the cspB and cspC mutants showed either lower maximum growth rates or longer lag phases compared to the wild type. In all ethanol concentrations tested, the cspB mutant had lower maximum growth rates and the cspC mutant had a longer lag phase than the wild-type strain. Motility was reduced in cspA and cspC mutants, and flagella formation was affected. The results suggest that cspB plays a universal role in stress response and cspC aids C. botulinum in NaCl, pH and ethanol stress in C. botulinum ATCC 3502.
Subject(s)
Bacterial Proteins/metabolism , Carrier Proteins/metabolism , Clostridium botulinum/cytology , Clostridium botulinum/physiology , Ethanol/metabolism , Heat-Shock Proteins/metabolism , Sodium Chloride/metabolism , Bacterial Proteins/genetics , Carrier Proteins/genetics , Clostridium botulinum/genetics , Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial , Heat-Shock Proteins/genetics , Hydrogen-Ion Concentration , Stress, PhysiologicalABSTRACT
The role of the two-component system (TCS) CBO0366/CBO0365 in the cold shock response and growth of the mesophilic Clostridium botulinum ATCC 3502 at 15°C was demonstrated by induced expression of the TCS genes upon cold shock and impaired growth of the TCS mutants at 15°C.
Subject(s)
Acclimatization/physiology , Bacterial Proteins/metabolism , Clostridium botulinum/growth & development , Cold Temperature , Cold-Shock Response/physiology , Signal Transduction/physiology , DNA Primers/genetics , Histidine Kinase , Phosphorylation , Protein Kinases/metabolism , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
In this study, a total of 94 lactic acid bacterial (LAB) isolates of porcine small intestinal and fecal origin were screened for their probiotic properties. The aim was to evaluate whether their isolation site and putative species identity play a role in these characteristics and whether either of these can be used as a predictive factor for the probiotic potential of bacterial isolates. The isolates were preliminarily identified by partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and characterized in vitro for their pH and bile tolerance, adhesion capacity towards porcine enterocytes isolated from five intestinal sites and for antimicrobial activity towards five indicator pathogens. The interdependence of these characteristics was statistically evaluated. The isolates tolerated low pH and bile well. Adherence to the enterocytes of different origins did not correlate with the strain isolation site. In general, higher adherence was observed to colon cells in comparison to the small intestinal enterocytes. Culture filtrates of the isolates caused a decrease of up to three orders of magnitude in the intestinal pathogen cell numbers. The inhibition was mostly due to lactic and other organic acids. The predominating phylotypes identified were Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus salivarius, of which the former generally had the best adhesion capacity, whereas the latter appeared to be the best inhibitor. Based on the results, several strains of the pig Lactobacillus isolates tested may function as promising candidates for use in probiotic products. However, it was not possible to use the isolation site or the species identity of the isolates as reliable preliminary screening factors.
