Article
Microbiology
Ashok R. Nayak, Pradip K. Singh, Jinlei Zhao, Montserrat Samso, Michael S. Donnenberg
Summary: Type 4 pili are important surface appendages on bacteria and archaea that can extend and retract with great force. This study presents the detailed structure of an enzyme that converts chemical energy to mechanical energy in a human pathogen, revealing a mechanism of action not previously seen in enzymes that power type 4 pilus extension.
Article
Microbiology
Heather J. McDonald, HoJun Kweon, Shadi Kurnfuli, Douglas D. Risser
Summary: A DnaK-type chaperone system is identified to coordinate the activity of type IV pili (T4P) motors with the production of motility-associated polysaccharides in bacteria, providing a mechanism for the regulation of these processes.
Review
Microbiology
Courtney K. Ellison, Gregory B. Whitfield, Yves Brun
Summary: This review discusses recent progress in understanding the function, regulation, and mechanisms of T4P dynamics.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hannah Q. Hughes, Kyle A. Floyd, Sajjad Hossain, Sweta Anantharaman, David T. Kysela, Mikls Zoldi, Laszl Barna, Yuanchen Yu, Michael P. Kappler, Triana N. Dalia, Ram C. Podicheti, Douglas B. Rusch, Meng Zhuang, Cassandra L. Fraser, Yves Brun, Stephen C. Jacobson, James B. McKinlay, Fitnat H. Yildiz, Elizabeth M. Boon, Ankur B. Dalia
Summary: This research uncovers a regulatory pathway in Vibrio cholerae that allows rapid termination of biofilm formation, dependent on the phosphodiesterase CdpA and the signaling molecule nitric oxide. This sheds light on how bacterial species integrate environmental cues to regulate pilus dynamics and attachment.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Jizhen Cao, Chun Liu, Qing Wang, Defeng Zhang, Ouqin Chang, Yingying Wang, Cunbin Shi, Linchuan Wang
Summary: Aeromonas schubertii is associated with a disease causing multi-organ necrosis in cultured snakehead fish. The Tap pili formation mediated by tapM/N/O/P/Q gene cluster is essential for pathogenicity, affecting oxidative stress resistance, pH tolerance, and adhesion ability of the bacterium. In infected fish, expression of immune response markers was similar between mutant and wild-type strains.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bingliang Xie, Jian Wang, Yong Nie, Jing Tian, Zerui Wang, Dongwei Chen, Beiyu Hu, Xiao-Lei Wu, Wenbin Du
Summary: Recent studies have identified a novel microbial community called TM7, which is an obligate symbiont that binds to its host through twitching-like motility mediated by type IV pili (T4P). This research provides insights into the lifestyle of TM7 and the diversity of CPR bacteria.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Review
Microbiology
Michael J. Sheedlo, Melanie D. Ohi, D. Borden Lacy, Timothy L. Coverid
Summary: Bacterial type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) are versatile nanomachines that can transfer DNA and deliver proteins into various target cells. Cryo-electron tomography has revealed the structures of T4SSs, allowing for comparison of their molecular architectures and core complex structures. Structural variation among T4SSs may confer specialized functional properties.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Thomas Harwood, Esthefani G. Zuniga, HoJun Kweon, Douglas D. Risser
Summary: Motility in prokaryotic organisms, such as cyanobacteria, is common and can be regulated by chemotaxis-like systems that sense light indirectly, possibly through alterations in proton motive force. This study demonstrates that cyanobacteria have a GAF-independent means of sensing light to regulate motility and provides insight into how a chemotaxis-like system regulates the T4P motors. The conservation of this system in cyanobacteria suggests it is a ubiquitous means of regulating motility in response to light.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Kimberly A. Coggan, Matthew G. Higgs, Evan D. Brutinel, Jeremiah N. Marden, Peter J. Intile, Hanne C. Winther-Larsen, Michael Koomey, Timothy L. Yahr, Matthew C. Wolfgang
Summary: This study unveils two linked but independent regulatory systems governing Tfp biogenesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We also demonstrate the importance of different phosphorylation states of the AlgZ/AlgR two-component system in Tfp biogenesis. Overall, this study furthers our understanding of the complex regulatory mechanisms that govern the production of a critical and multifaceted virulence factor.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Matthias D. Koch, Matthew E. Black, Endao Han, Joshua W. Shaevitz, Zemer Gitai
Summary: This study demonstrates that the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa actively senses surface stiffness using type IV pili (TFP). Stiffness sensing is shown to be nonlinear and plays an important role in the induction of virulence factor regulator within a specific physiological range. Traction force measurements and pilus retraction experiments reveal that TFP is capable of deforming stiff substrates. A quantitative biomechanical model is developed to explain the transcriptional response to stiffness, and it is validated by manipulating the ATPase activity of TFP motors.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jiankai Wei, Penghui Liu, Fuyun Liu, An Jiang, Jinghan Qiao, Zhongqi Pu, Bingrou Wang, Jin Zhang, Dongning Jia, Yuli Li, Shi Wang, Bo Dong
Summary: Evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) is an interdisciplinary field that aims to understand the origin and evolution of developmental processes in different animals. EDomics is a comparative multi-omics database that provides comprehensive genomic, transcriptomic, and single-cell data for 40 representative species. It offers valuable resources and customized datasets for evo-devo research, allowing researchers to decipher the history of developmental evolution across the tree of life.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Keane J. Dye, Nancy J. Vogelaar, Pablo Sobrado, Zhaomin Yang
Summary: The study presents a high-throughput screening (HTS) method for identifying inhibitors specifically targeting the T4P assembly ATPase PilB. Quercetin was identified as a PilB inhibitor in vitro and demonstrated to reduce T4P-dependent motility and assembly in a model bacterium in vivo. This screening assay could be valuable in the development of antivirulence chemotherapeutics targeting PilB in bacterial T4P systems.
Article
Microbiology
Nam Vo, Benjamin S. Sidner, Yafan Yu, Kurt H. Piepenbrink
Summary: Infections caused by pathogenic Acinetobacter species are a significant burden on healthcare systems due to their resistance to oral antibiotics. This resistance is attributed to various molecular mechanisms, including efflux pumps, carbapenemase enzymes, and biofilm formation. Phenothiazine compounds have been found to inhibit biofilm formation in multiple Acinetobacter species, suggesting their potential as lead compounds for the development of biofilm dispersal agents.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Pratick Khara, Liqiang Song, Peter J. Christie, Bo Hu
Summary: The study reveals the central roles of bacterial type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) in antibiotic resistance spread and virulence. By using CryoET, the structure of the plasmid pKM101-encoded T4SS in its native context was solved. The findings highlight the importance of comparative in vitro and in vivo analyses of T4SS nanomachines and support targeting the VirB4 ATPases as potential strategies for suppressing the action of T4SS nanomachines.
Review
Microbiology
Pradip Kumar Singh, Janay Little, Michael S. Donnenberg
Summary: This article introduces the importance of type IV pili (T4P) and their impact on microbiology, and reviews the important discoveries and research milestones in this field. It also points out some important discoveries that are often overlooked in current reports.
MICROBIOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tomohiro Suzuki, Nagisa Akiyama, Ayako Yoshida, Takeo Tomita, Kerstin Lassak, Maria Florencia Haurat, Takuya Okada, Kento Takahashi, Sonja-Verena Albers, Tomohisa Kuzuyama, Makoto Nishiyama
Article
Microbiology
Chi-Lin Tsai, Patrick Tripp, Shamphavi Sivabalasarma, Changyi Zhang, Marta Rodriguez-Franco, Rebecca L. Wipfler, Paushali Chaudhury, Ankan Banerjee, Morgan Beeby, Rachel J. Whitaker, John A. Tainer, Sonja-Verena Albers
NATURE MICROBIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Zhengqun Li, Marta Rodriguez-Franco, Sonja-Verena Albers, Tessa E. F. Quax
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Microbiology
Marleen van Wolferen, Asif Shajahan, Kristina Heinrich, Susanne Brenzinger, Ian M. Black, Alexander Wagner, Ariane Briegel, Parastoo Azadi, Sonja-Verena Albers
Article
Microbiology
Nienke van der Kolk, Alexander Wagner, Michaela Wagner, Bianca Wassmer, Bettina Siebers, Sonja-Verena Albers
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Christina Stracke, Benjamin H. Meyer, Anna Hagemann, Eunhye Jo, Areum Lee, Sonja-Verena Albers, Jaeho Cha, Christopher Braesen, Bettina Siebers
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yoshiaki Kinosita, Nagisa Mikami, Zhengqun Li, Frank Braun, Tessa E. F. Quax, Chris van der Does, Robert Ishmukhametov, Sonja-Verena Albers, Richard M. Berry
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Phillip Nubaum, Solenne Ithurbide, James C. Walsh, Megha Patro, Floriane Delpech, Marta Rodriguez-Franco, Paul M. G. Curmi, Iain G. Duggin, Tessa E. F. Quax, Sonja-Verena Albers
Article
Microbiology
Shamphavi Sivabalasarma, Hanna Wetzel, Phillip Nussbaum, Chris van der Does, Morgan Beeby, Sonja-Verena Albers
Summary: Through electron cryo-tomography and fluorescence microscopy, it has been observed that halophilic archaea form cell-cell bridges during mating, which can facilitate exchange of cellular components.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marian S. Vogt, Roi R. Ngouoko Nguepbeu, Michael K. F. Mohr, Sonja-Verena Albers, Lars-Oliver Essen, Ankan Banerjee
Summary: The study characterized a CYTH ortholog from the crenarchaeote Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, showing its inability to produce cyclic nucleotides and displaying classical triphosphatase activity. Structural analysis revealed conformational dynamics and feedback inhibition in SaTTM, providing a molecular basis for distinguishing CYTH orthologs with phosphatase activities from class IV adenylyl cyclases.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
J. Nuno de Sousa Machado, Leonie Vollmar, Julia Schimpf, Paushali Chaudhury, Rashmi Kumariya, Chris van der Does, Thorsten Hugel, Sonja-Verena Albers
Summary: This study found that the ArlH protein in motile archaea has autophosphorylation activity and exists in a hexameric state when bound to hexameric ArlI. Mutagenesis of the putative catalytic residue in ArlH led to decreased autophosphorylation activity and impaired archaellation and motility in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, indicating the crucial role of optimal phosphorylation activity of ArlH in archaellation and motility.
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sabrina Oeser, Thomas Wallner, Nils Schuergers, Lenka Bucinska, Shamphavi Sivabalasarma, Heike Baehre, Sonja-Verena Albers, Annegret Wilde
Summary: This study demonstrates that the minor pilin PilA5 is crucial for natural transformation in Synechocystis, while a set of minor pilins encoded by the pilA9-slr2019 transcriptional unit are necessary for motility. The results also show that different minor pilins facilitate distinct pilus functions in cyanobacteria, with some gene products having a function in flocculation. Additionally, changes in transcription levels of minor pilin genes in response to surface contact were observed, indicating a dynamic regulation of pilus assembly and function.
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Phillip Nussbaum, Maren Gerstner, Marie Dingethal, Celine Erb, Sonja-Verena Albers
Summary: Cell division in most bacteria and many archaea relies on the proteins FtsZ and SepF, but a homolog of SepF in archaea, such as Haloferax volcanii, also plays a crucial role in cell division by interacting with FtsZ1 and FtsZ2. The archaeal SepF lacks a conserved glycine residue important for polymerization in bacteria, suggesting a different mechanism of action in archaea.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michael Agne, Sebastian Estelmann, Carola S. Seelmann, Johannes Kung, Dennis Wilkens, Hans-Georg Koch, Chris van der Does, Sonja Albers, Christoph von Ballmoos, Joerg Simon, Matthias Boll
Summary: Microbial production of methane from organic matter is crucial for the global carbon cycle and renewable energy sources. The study identified a new membrane-bound oxidoreductase involved in the reduction of CO2 and fatty acid oxidation, shedding light on the mechanisms of methane formation.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Robert Knueppel, Christian Trahan, Michael Kern, Alexander Wagner, Felix Gruenberger, Winfried Hausner, Tessa E. F. Quax, Sonja-Verena Albers, Marlene Oeffinger, Sebastien Ferreira-Cerca
Summary: The study explored the ribosome biogenesis pathway in archaea, finding that KsgA/Dim1-dependent 16S rRNA dimethylation is dispensable for cell growth, but does have an impact on protein expression and cellular fitness. Additionally, it revealed variability in rRNA modifications within the archaeal phylum, and provided insights into how rRNA structure sequence variability influences rRNA modification status.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2021)