IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v15y2024i1d10.1038_s41467-024-54501-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An evolutionarily conserved metabolite inhibits biofilm formation in Escherichia coli K-12

Author

Listed:
  • Jingzhe Guo

    (University of California, Riverside)

  • Wilhelmina T Van De Ven

    (University of California, Riverside)

  • Aleksandra Skirycz

    (Boyce Thompson Institute
    Cornell University
    Michigan State University)

  • Venkatesh P. Thirumalaikumar

    (Boyce Thompson Institute
    Purdue University; West Lafayette)

  • Liping Zeng

    (University of California, Riverside)

  • Quanqing Zhang

    (Riverside)

  • Gerd Ulrich Balcke

    (Department of Cell and Metabolic Biology; Weinberg 3)

  • Alain Tissier

    (Department of Cell and Metabolic Biology; Weinberg 3)

  • Katayoon Dehesh

    (University of California, Riverside)

Abstract

Methylerythritol cyclodiphosphate (MEcPP) is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of isoprenoids in plant plastids and in bacteria, and acts as a stress signal in plants. Here, we show that MEcPP regulates biofilm formation in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655. Increased MEcPP levels, triggered by genetic manipulation or oxidative stress, inhibit biofilm development and production of fimbriae. Deletion of fimE, encoding a protein known to downregulate production of adhesive fimbriae, restores biofilm formation in cells with elevated MEcPP levels. Limited proteolysis-coupled mass spectrometry (LiP-MS) reveals that MEcPP interacts with the global regulatory protein H-NS, which is known to repress transcription of fimE. MEcPP prevents the binding of H-NS to the fimE promoter. Therefore, our results indicate that MEcPP can regulate biofilm formation by modulating H-NS activity and thus reducing fimbriae production. Further research is needed to test whether MEcPP plays similar regulatory roles in other bacteria.

Suggested Citation

  • Jingzhe Guo & Wilhelmina T Van De Ven & Aleksandra Skirycz & Venkatesh P. Thirumalaikumar & Liping Zeng & Quanqing Zhang & Gerd Ulrich Balcke & Alain Tissier & Katayoon Dehesh, 2024. "An evolutionarily conserved metabolite inhibits biofilm formation in Escherichia coli K-12," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-54501-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54501-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54501-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-54501-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-54501-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.