Structural and stereospecific requirements for the nucleoside-triggered germination of Bacillus cereus spores

Senesi, Sonia; Cercignani, Giovanni; Freer, Giulia; Batoni, Giovanna; Barnini, Simona; Ota, Fusao

doi:10.1099/00221287-137-2-399

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…However, only changes in the purine ring are tolerated. These results are consistent with previous work that showed the importance of the sugar moiety in nucleoside recognition (Preston & Douthit, 1988;Senesi et al, 1991;Shibata et al, 1986;Yousten, 1975).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…The nucleoside/alanine germination pathway can be activated by a larger variety of nucleoside analogues in the presence of L-alanine (Abel-Santos & Dodatko, 2007). These results are consistent with previous spore germination experiments in B. cereus NCIB 8122 and T strains (Preston & Douthit, 1988;Senesi et al, 1991;Shibata et al, 1986;Yousten, 1975). B. anthracis, a species closely related to B. cereus, can also germinate using this pathway (Ireland & Hanna, 2002;Weiner et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…B. anthracis, a species closely related to B. cereus, can also germinate using this pathway (Ireland & Hanna, 2002;Weiner et al, 2003). Analysis of structurally diverse nucleosides as co-germinants with L-alanine suggested that, in the nucleoside/alanine pathway, germination-inducing activity is governed by the structural properties of the sugar rather than the base moieties of the nucleosides (Senesi et al, 1991;Shibata et al, 1986). Thus, it seems that the germination receptor(s) that activate the nucleoside/alanine germination pathway do not recognize the purine ring of the nucleoside to trigger germination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dissecting interactions between nucleosides and germination receptors in Bacillus cereus 569 spores

et al. 2010

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Bacillus cereus 569 spores germinate either with inosine as a sole germinant or with a combination of nucleosides and L-alanine. Whereas the inosine-only germination pathway requires the presence of two different germination receptors (GerI and GerQ) to be activated, the nucleoside/alanine germination pathway only needs one of the two receptors. To differentiate how nucleoside recognition varies between the inosine-only germination pathway and the nucleoside/ alanine germination pathway, we tested 61 purine analogues as agonists and antagonists of the two pathways in wild-type, DgerI and DgerQ spores. The structure-activity relationships of germination agonists and antagonists suggest that the inosine-only germination pathway is restricted to recognize a single germinant (inosine), but can be inhibited in predictable patterns by structurally distinct purine nucleosides. B. cereus spores encoding GerI as the only nucleoside receptor (DgerQ mutant) showed a germination inhibition profile similar to wild-type spores treated with inosine only. Thus, GerI seems to have a well-organized binding site that recognizes inosine and inhibitors through specific substrate-protein interactions. Structure-activity analysis also showed that the nucleoside/alanine germination pathway is more promiscuous toward purine nucleoside agonists, and is only inhibited by hydrophobic analogues. B. cereus spores encoding GerQ as the only nucleoside receptor (DgerI mutant) behaved like wild-type spores treated with inosine and L-alanine. Thus, the GerQ receptor seems to recognize substrates in a more flexible binding site through non-specific interactions. We propose that the GerI receptor is responsible for germinant detection in the inosine-only germination pathway. On the other hand, supplementing inosine with L-alanine allows bypassing of the GerI receptor to activate the more flexible GerQ receptor.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dissecting interactions between nucleosides and germination receptors in Bacillus cereus 569 spores

et al. 2010

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“…These results are consistent with previous spore germination experiments in B. cereus NCIB 8122 and T strains (Preston and Douthit, 1988;Senesi et al, 1991;Shibata et al, 1986;Yousten, 1975).…”

Section: Bacillus Cereus Ger Receptorssupporting

confidence: 82%

The Ger Receptor Family from Sporulating Bacteria

Roß

Abel-Santos

2010

Current Issues in Molecular Biology

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Bacterial spores are specialized cells that are exceptionally resistant to environmental stress. Spores convert back to actively growing cells, a process called germination, upon nutrient detection. The most common, initial step in the germination process is the recognition of small molecule germinants by germination (Ger) receptors. Ger receptors are inner-membrane heterocomplexes formed by three distinct protein products, the A-, B-, and C-subunits. In this review, we discuss and contrast published reports on representative Ger receptors from different Bacilli and Clostridia. We also present evidence for unrecognized germination pathways independent of Ger receptors. We further emphasize the function of L-alanine as a universal germinant. We also comment on biochemical aspects of germinant recognition and interaction between Ger receptor proteins. We propose that there are six general strategies used by Bacilli and Clostridia to integrate multiple germination signals. The use of different germinant recognition strategies results in germination response flexibility. Consequently, sporulating bacterial species that use the same biomolecules as germination signals can have different germination profiles. Finally, we discuss future directions for understanding the function of Ger receptors.

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“…1). On the sporulation medium we use to achieve high rates of spore production (Senesi et al, 1991), the wild-type strain developed large and rough colonies (Fig. 1a), while MP01 produced small, smooth and almost perfectly round colonies (Fig.…”

Section: Swarming Motility Of Bacillus Cereus and Growth Behaviour Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Swarming motility in Bacillus cereus and characterization of a fliY mutant impaired in swarm cell differentiation The EMBL accession number for the sequence reported in this paper is Y08031.

et al. 2002

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This report describes a new behavioural response of Bacillus cereus that consists of a surface-induced differentiation of elongated and hyperflagellated swarm cells exhibiting the ability to move collectively across the surface of the medium. The discovery of swarming motility in B. cereus paralleled the isolation of a spontaneous non-swarming mutant that was found to carry a deletion of fliY, the homologue of which, in Bacillus subtilis, encodes an essential component of the flagellar motor-switch complex. However, in contrast to B. subtilis, the fliY mutant of B. cereus was flagellated and motile, thus suggesting a different role for FliY in this organism. The B. cereus mutant was completely deficient in chemotaxis and in the secretion of the L 2 component of the tripartite pore-forming necrotizing toxin, haemolysin BL, which was produced exclusively by the wild-type strain during swarm-cell differentiation. All the defects in the fliY mutant of B. cereus could be complemented by a plasmid harbouring the B. cereus fliY gene. These results demonstrate that the activity of fliY is required for swarming and chemotaxis in B. cereus, and suggest that swarm-cell differentiation is coupled with virulence in this organism.

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Structural and stereospecific requirements for the nucleoside-triggered germination of Bacillus cereus spores

Cited by 22 publications

References 18 publications

Dissecting interactions between nucleosides and germination receptors in Bacillus cereus 569 spores

Dissecting interactions between nucleosides and germination receptors in Bacillus cereus 569 spores

The Ger Receptor Family from Sporulating Bacteria

Swarming motility in Bacillus cereus and characterization of a fliY mutant impaired in swarm cell differentiation The EMBL accession number for the sequence reported in this paper is Y08031.

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