Abstract
Biofilm formation protects bacteria from stresses including antibiotics and host immune responses. Carbon sources can modulate biofilm formation and host colonization in Vibrio cholerae, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that EIIAGlc, a component of the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP):carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS), regulates the intracellular concentration of the cyclic dinucleotide c-di-GMP, and thus biofilm formation. The availability of preferred sugars such as glucose affects EIIAGlc phosphorylation state, which in turn modulates the interaction of EIIAGlc with a c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase (hereafter referred to as PdeS). In a Drosophila model of V. cholerae infection, sugars in the host diet regulate gut colonization in a manner dependent on the PdeS-EIIAGlc interaction. Our results shed light into the mechanisms by which some nutrients regulate biofilm formation and host colonization.
Highlights
Biofilm formation protects bacteria from stresses including antibiotics and host immune responses
The phosphotransferase system (PTS) consists of two general components, enzyme I (EI) and histidine phosphocarrier protein (HPr) that participate in the transport of most PTS sugars, and several sugarspecific components collectively known as enzyme IIs (EIIs)
While it was suggested that EIIAGlc participates in the regulation of biofilm formation in the presence of PTS carbohydrates in V. cholerae[9,15], no operative mechanisms were yet offered
Summary
Biofilm formation protects bacteria from stresses including antibiotics and host immune responses. We show that EIIAGlc, a component of the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP):carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS), regulates the intracellular concentration of the cyclic dinucleotide c-di-GMP, and biofilm formation. It has been shown that glucose and some other sugars in the environment induce the multilayer biofilm formation and the sugars promoting biofilm formation are substrates of the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP):carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS) in V. cholerae[7]. This multi-component system mediates the transport of various sugars including glucose in V. cholerae, and these PTS sugars are concomitantly phosphorylated during transport[8,9]. In addition to its role in carbohydrate transport and phosphorylation, the PTS acts as an efficient signal transduction system, which can sense the availability of carbohydrates in the environment and thereby regulates various cellular functions[10]
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