3 research outputs found
Oxidative stress and starvation in Dinoroseobacter shibae: The role of extrachromosomal elements
No full textAerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (AAP) are abundant in the photic zone of the marine environment. Dinoroseobacter shibae, a representative of the Roseobacter group, converts light into additional energy that enhances its survival especially under starvation. However, light exposure results in the production of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species in AAPs. Here we investigated the response of D. shibae to starvation and oxidative stress, focusing on the role of extrachromosomal elements (ECRs). D. shibae possessing five ECRs (three plasmids and two chromids) was starved for four weeks either in the dark or under light/dark cycles and the survival was monitored. Transcriptomics showed that on the chromosome genes with a role in oxidative stress response and photosynthesis were differentially expressed during the light period. Most extrachromosomal genes in contrast showed a general loss of transcriptional activity, especially in dark-starved cells. The observed decrease of gene expression was not due to plasmid loss, as all five ECRs were maintained in the cells. Interestingly, the genes on the 72-kb chromid were the least downregulated, and one region with genes of the oxygen stress response and a light-dependent protochlorophyllide reductase of cyanobacterial origin was strongly activated under the light/dark cycle. A Δ72-kb curing mutant lost the ability to survive under starvation in a light/dark cycle demonstrating the essential role of this chromid for adaptation to starvation and oxidative stress. Our data moreover suggest that the other four ECRs of D. shibae have no vital function under the investigated conditions and therefore were transcriptionally silenced
Gene flow across genus barriers – Conjugation of Dinoroseobacter shibae´s 191-kb killer plasmid into Phaeobacter inhibens and AHL-mediated expression of type IV secretion systems
No full textRhodobacteraceae harbor a conspicuous wealth of extrachromosomal replicons (ECRs) and therefore the exchange of genetic material via horizontal transfer has been supposed to be a major evolutionary driving force. Many plasmids in the roseobacter group encode type IV secretion systems (T4SS) that generally mediate transfer of proteins and/or DNA into host cells, but no experimental evidence of either has yet been provided. Dinoroseobacter shibae contains five ECRs that are crucial for anaerobic growth, survival under starvation and the pathogenicity of this model organism. Here we tagged two syntenous but compatible RepABC-type plasmids of 191 kb and 126-kb size, each harboring a T4SS, with antibiotic resistance genes and demonstrated their conjugational transfer into a distantly related roseo-bacter species, namely Phaeobacter inhibens. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis showed transfer of those replicons into the recipient both individually but also together documenting the efficiency of conjugation. We then studied the influence of externally added quorum sensing (QS) signals on the expression of the T4SS located on the sister plasmids. A QS deficient D. shibae null mutant (ΔluxI1) lacking synthesis of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) was cultivated with a wide spectrum of chemically diverse long-chain AHLs. All AHLs with lengths of the acid side-chain >14 reverted the ΔluxI1 phenotype to wild-type. Expression of the T4SS was induced above wild-type level. We hypothesize that conjugation in roseobacters is QS-controlled and that the QS system may detect a wide array of long-chain AHLs at the cell surface
Identification of genetic modules mediating the Jekyll and Hyde interaction of Dinoroseobacter shibae with the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum
No full textThe co-cultivation of the alphaproteobacterium Dinoroseobacter shibae with the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum is characterized by a mutualistic phase followed by a pathogenic phase in which the bacterium kills aging algae. Thus it resembles the Jekyll-and-Hyde interaction that has been proposed for other algae and Roseobacter. Here we identified key genetic components of this interaction. Analysis of the transcriptome of D. shibae in co-culture with P. minimum revealed growth phase dependent changes in the expression of quorum sensing (QS), the CtrA phosphorelay, and flagella biosynthesis genes. Deletion of the histidine kinase gene cckA which is part of the CtrA phosphorelay or the flagella genes fliC or flgK resulted in complete lack of growth stimulation of P. minimum in co-culture with the D. shibae mutants. By contrast, pathogenicity was entirely dependent on one of the extrachromosomal elements of D. shibae, the 191 kb plasmid. The data show that flagella and the CtrA phosphorelay are required for establishing mutualism and prove a cell density dependent killing effect of D. shibae on P. minimum which is mediated by an unknown factor encoded on the 191 kb plasmid
