The Lmb protein of Streptococcus agalactiae is described as an adhesin that binds laminin, a component of the human extracellular matrix. In this study, we revealed a new role for this protein in zinc uptake. We also identified two Lmb homologs, AdcA and AdcAII, redundant binding proteins that combine with the AdcCB translocon to form a zinc-ABC transporter. Expression of this transporter is controlled by the zinc concentration in the medium through the zinc-dependent regulator AdcR. Triple deletion of lmb, adcA, and adcAII, or that of the adcCB genes, impaired growth and cell separation in a zinc-restricted environment. Moreover, we found that this Adc zinc-ABC transporter promotes S. agalactiae growth and survival in some human biological fluids, suggesting that it contributes to the infection process. These results indicated that zinc has biologically vital functions in S. agalactiae and that, under the conditions tested, the Adc/Lmb transporter constitutes the main zinc acquisition system of the bacterium. IMPORTANCEA zinc transporter, composed of three redundant binding proteins (Lmb, AdcA, and AdcAII), was characterized in Streptococcus agalactiae. This system was shown to be essential for bacterial growth and morphology in zinc-restricted environments, including human biological fluids. S treptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus [GBS]) is aGram-positive commensal bacterium of the human gastrointestinal and uro-genital tracts. GBS carriage is mostly asymptomatic in healthy adults, and this bacterium is detected in the vagina of approximatively 30% of pregnant women. Maternal carriage is the main source of transmission to neonates, in which S. agalactiae can cause invasive infections (pneumonia, septicemia, and meningitis), with an overall mortality rate of approximately 10% (1, 2). GBS is also an emergent pathogen among the elderly and in adults with underlying diseases (1, 3).The ability of GBS to colonize different niches and cause infection is multifactorial, and many virulence-associated proteins have been identified (4, 5). Binding of GBS adhesins to components of the extracellular matrix constitutes a crucial first step in the process of infection (6-9). Among them, the Lmb protein has been identified as a GBS receptor for laminin, a glycosylated multidomain protein found in all human tissues (10). The gene encoding Lmb is located on a transposon with the scpB and sht genes, which encode a C5a peptidase and a histidine triad protein, respectively (11, 12). The lmb promoter region is a hot spot for the integration of two mobile genetic elements. One of them is associated with increased expression of lmb, resulting in increased binding of strains harboring the transposon to laminin (13). It has also been shown that Lmb may promote bacterial invasion in human brain microvascular endothelial cell lines (14).Lmb is clustered by sequence homology as a metal-binding receptor. Indeed, Lmb has strong homology with the zinc-binding proteins AdcA and Lbp of other streptococcal species (15, 16). Th...

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The fru metabolic operon of Streptococcus agalactiae encodes the phosphoenolpyruvate:carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS) enzyme II complex Fru (EIIB , EIIA , and EIIC ); Fru R, a transcriptional activator with PTS regulatory domains (PRDs); a d-allulose-6-phosphate 3-epimerase; a transaldolase; and a transketolase. We showed that the transcription of fru is induced during the stationary phase of growth in complex media and during incubation in human cerebrospinal or amniotic fluids. d-allose and d-ribose are environmental signals governing this induction. PTS is involved in the activation of the fru promoter, and the histidine-67 of EIIA and the cysteine-9 of EIIB are important for this function. The activation of fru is also controlled by Fru R. The histidine-243 in the PRD domain, the histidine-323 in the PRD domain, the cysteine-400 in the EIIB-like domain, and the histidine-549 in the EIIA-like domain are important for the function of Fru R. Fru R binds to a DNA region containing palindromic sequences upstream of the identified transcriptional start site. EIIB interacts physically with the C-terminal part of Fru R (expressing the EIIB-like and EIIA-like motifs) and with EIIA . We propose a model of regulation of fru depending on the presence of an activatory carbohydrate in the growth medium.

Proteins from halophilic archaea, which live in extreme saline conditions, have evolved to remain folded, active and stable at very high ionic strengths. Understanding the mechanism of haloadaptation is the first step toward engineering of halostable biomolecules. Amylases are one of the main enzymes used in industry. Yet, no three-dimensional structure has been experimentally resolved for α-amylases from halophilic archaea. In this study, homology structure modeling of α-amylases from the halophilic archaea Haloarcula marismortui, Haloarcula hispanica, and Halalkalicoccus jeotgali were performed. The resulting models were subjected to energy minimization, evaluation, and structural analysis. Calculations of the amino acid composition, salt bridges and hydrophobic interactions were also performed and compared to a set of non-halophilic counterparts. It clearly appeared that haloarchaeal α-amylases exhibited lower propensities for helix formation and higher propensities for coil-forming regions. Furthermore, they could maintain a folded and stable conformation in high salt concentration through highly negative charged surface with over representation of acidic residues, especially Asp, and low hydrophobicity with increase of salt bridges and decrease in hydrophobic interactions on the protein surface. This study sheds some light on the stability of α-amylases from halophilic archaea and provides strong basis not only to understand haloadaptation mechanisms of proteins in microorganisms from hypersalines environments but also for biotechnological applications.

Two whole-genome screening approaches are described for studying the mode of action and the mechanisms of resistance to trimethoprim (TMP) in the Gram-positive Streptococcus pneumoniae. The gain-of-function approach (Int-Seq) relies on a genomic library of DNA fragments integrated into a fucose-inducible cassette. The second approach, leading to both gain-and loss-of-function mutation, is based on chemical mutagenesis coupled to next-generation sequencing (Mut-Seq). Both approaches pointed at the drug target dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) as a major resistance mechanism to TMP. Resistance was achieved by dhfr overexpression either through the addition of fucose (Int-Seq) or by mutations upstream of the gene (Mut-Seq). Three types of mutations increased expression by disrupting a predicted Rho-independent terminator upstream of dhfr. Known and novel DHFR mutations were also detected by Mut-Seq, and these were functionally validated for TMP resistance. The two approaches also suggested that an increase in the metabolic flux from purine synthesis to GTP and then to folate can modulate the susceptibility to TMP. Finally, we provide evidence for a novel role of the ABC transporter PatAB in TMP susceptibility. Our genomic screens highlighted novel aspects on the mode of action and mechanisms of resistance to antibiotics.