Pseudovibriamides from Pseudovibrio marine sponge bacteria promote flagellar motility via transcriptional modulation

ABSTRACT Pseudovibrio α-Proteobacteria have been repeatedly isolated from marine sponges and proposed to be beneficial to the host. Bacterial motility is known to contribute to host colonization. We have previously identified pseudovibriamides A and B, produced in culture by Pseudovibrio brasiliensi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yitao Dai, Vitor Lourenzon, Laura P. Ióca, Dua Al-Smadi, Lydia Arnold, Ian McIntire, Roberto G. S. Berlinck, Alessandra S. Eustáquio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Society for Microbiology 2025-02-01
Series:mBio
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.03115-24
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832096543314804736
author Yitao Dai
Vitor Lourenzon
Laura P. Ióca
Dua Al-Smadi
Lydia Arnold
Ian McIntire
Roberto G. S. Berlinck
Alessandra S. Eustáquio
author_facet Yitao Dai
Vitor Lourenzon
Laura P. Ióca
Dua Al-Smadi
Lydia Arnold
Ian McIntire
Roberto G. S. Berlinck
Alessandra S. Eustáquio
author_sort Yitao Dai
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Pseudovibrio α-Proteobacteria have been repeatedly isolated from marine sponges and proposed to be beneficial to the host. Bacterial motility is known to contribute to host colonization. We have previously identified pseudovibriamides A and B, produced in culture by Pseudovibrio brasiliensis Ab134, and shown that pseudovibriamide A promotes flagellar motility. Pseudovibriamides are encoded in a hybrid nonribosomal peptide synthetase-polyketide synthase gene cluster that also includes several accessory genes. Pseudovibriamide A is a linear heptapeptide and pseudovibriamide B is a nonadepsipeptide derived from pseudovibriamide A. Here, we define the borders of the pseudovibriamides gene cluster, assign function to biosynthetic genes using reverse genetics, and test the hypothesis that pseudovibriamides impact motility by modulating gene transcription. RNA-sequencing transcriptomic analyses of strains having different compositions of pseudovibriamides suggested that both pseudovibriamides A and B affect genes potentially involved in motility, and that a compensatory mechanism is at play in mutants that produce only pseudovibriamide A, resulting in comparable flagellar motility as the wild type. The data gathered suggest that pseudovibriamides A and B have opposite roles in modulating a subset of genes, with pseudovibriamide B having a primary effect in gene activation, and pseudovibriamide A on inhibition. Finally, we observed many differentially expressed genes (up to 29% of the total gene number) indicating that pseudovibriamides have a global effect on transcription that goes beyond motility.IMPORTANCEMarine sponges are found throughout the oceans from tropical coral reefs to polar sea floors, playing crucial roles in marine ecosystems. Pseudovibrio bacteria have been proposed to contribute to sponge health. We have previously shown that pseudovibriamides produced by Pseudovibrio brasiliensis promote bacterial motility, a behavior that is beneficial to bacterial survival and host colonization. The gene cluster that encodes pseudovibriamide biosynthesis is found in two-thirds of Pseudovibrio genomes. This gene cluster is also present in Pseudomonas bacteria that interact with terrestrial plants and animals. Here, we first assign functions to pseudovibriamide biosynthetic genes using reverse genetics. We then show that pseudovibriamides play a major role in transcriptional regulation, affecting up to 29% of P. brasiliensis genes, including motility genes. Thus, this work gives insights into pseudovibriamide biosynthesis and provides evidence that they are signaling molecules relevant to bacterial motility and to other yet-to-be-identified phenotypes.
format Article
id doaj-art-d7bf6fc1ddb448cfaed05ba487c23a2f
institution Kabale University
issn 2150-7511
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher American Society for Microbiology
record_format Article
series mBio
spelling doaj-art-d7bf6fc1ddb448cfaed05ba487c23a2f2025-02-05T14:00:47ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologymBio2150-75112025-02-0116210.1128/mbio.03115-24Pseudovibriamides from Pseudovibrio marine sponge bacteria promote flagellar motility via transcriptional modulationYitao Dai0Vitor Lourenzon1Laura P. Ióca2Dua Al-Smadi3Lydia Arnold4Ian McIntire5Roberto G. S. Berlinck6Alessandra S. Eustáquio7Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Center for Biomolecular Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USADepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Center for Biomolecular Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USADepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Center for Biomolecular Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USADepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Center for Biomolecular Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USADepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Center for Biomolecular Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USADepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Center for Biomolecular Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USAInstituto de Química de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, BrazilDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Center for Biomolecular Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USAABSTRACT Pseudovibrio α-Proteobacteria have been repeatedly isolated from marine sponges and proposed to be beneficial to the host. Bacterial motility is known to contribute to host colonization. We have previously identified pseudovibriamides A and B, produced in culture by Pseudovibrio brasiliensis Ab134, and shown that pseudovibriamide A promotes flagellar motility. Pseudovibriamides are encoded in a hybrid nonribosomal peptide synthetase-polyketide synthase gene cluster that also includes several accessory genes. Pseudovibriamide A is a linear heptapeptide and pseudovibriamide B is a nonadepsipeptide derived from pseudovibriamide A. Here, we define the borders of the pseudovibriamides gene cluster, assign function to biosynthetic genes using reverse genetics, and test the hypothesis that pseudovibriamides impact motility by modulating gene transcription. RNA-sequencing transcriptomic analyses of strains having different compositions of pseudovibriamides suggested that both pseudovibriamides A and B affect genes potentially involved in motility, and that a compensatory mechanism is at play in mutants that produce only pseudovibriamide A, resulting in comparable flagellar motility as the wild type. The data gathered suggest that pseudovibriamides A and B have opposite roles in modulating a subset of genes, with pseudovibriamide B having a primary effect in gene activation, and pseudovibriamide A on inhibition. Finally, we observed many differentially expressed genes (up to 29% of the total gene number) indicating that pseudovibriamides have a global effect on transcription that goes beyond motility.IMPORTANCEMarine sponges are found throughout the oceans from tropical coral reefs to polar sea floors, playing crucial roles in marine ecosystems. Pseudovibrio bacteria have been proposed to contribute to sponge health. We have previously shown that pseudovibriamides produced by Pseudovibrio brasiliensis promote bacterial motility, a behavior that is beneficial to bacterial survival and host colonization. The gene cluster that encodes pseudovibriamide biosynthesis is found in two-thirds of Pseudovibrio genomes. This gene cluster is also present in Pseudomonas bacteria that interact with terrestrial plants and animals. Here, we first assign functions to pseudovibriamide biosynthetic genes using reverse genetics. We then show that pseudovibriamides play a major role in transcriptional regulation, affecting up to 29% of P. brasiliensis genes, including motility genes. Thus, this work gives insights into pseudovibriamide biosynthesis and provides evidence that they are signaling molecules relevant to bacterial motility and to other yet-to-be-identified phenotypes.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.03115-24flagellar motilityproteobacteriasecondary metabolitetranscriptomicsmarine sponge
spellingShingle Yitao Dai
Vitor Lourenzon
Laura P. Ióca
Dua Al-Smadi
Lydia Arnold
Ian McIntire
Roberto G. S. Berlinck
Alessandra S. Eustáquio
Pseudovibriamides from Pseudovibrio marine sponge bacteria promote flagellar motility via transcriptional modulation
mBio
flagellar motility
proteobacteria
secondary metabolite
transcriptomics
marine sponge
title Pseudovibriamides from Pseudovibrio marine sponge bacteria promote flagellar motility via transcriptional modulation
title_full Pseudovibriamides from Pseudovibrio marine sponge bacteria promote flagellar motility via transcriptional modulation
title_fullStr Pseudovibriamides from Pseudovibrio marine sponge bacteria promote flagellar motility via transcriptional modulation
title_full_unstemmed Pseudovibriamides from Pseudovibrio marine sponge bacteria promote flagellar motility via transcriptional modulation
title_short Pseudovibriamides from Pseudovibrio marine sponge bacteria promote flagellar motility via transcriptional modulation
title_sort pseudovibriamides from pseudovibrio marine sponge bacteria promote flagellar motility via transcriptional modulation
topic flagellar motility
proteobacteria
secondary metabolite
transcriptomics
marine sponge
url https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.03115-24
work_keys_str_mv AT yitaodai pseudovibriamidesfrompseudovibriomarinespongebacteriapromoteflagellarmotilityviatranscriptionalmodulation
AT vitorlourenzon pseudovibriamidesfrompseudovibriomarinespongebacteriapromoteflagellarmotilityviatranscriptionalmodulation
AT laurapioca pseudovibriamidesfrompseudovibriomarinespongebacteriapromoteflagellarmotilityviatranscriptionalmodulation
AT duaalsmadi pseudovibriamidesfrompseudovibriomarinespongebacteriapromoteflagellarmotilityviatranscriptionalmodulation
AT lydiaarnold pseudovibriamidesfrompseudovibriomarinespongebacteriapromoteflagellarmotilityviatranscriptionalmodulation
AT ianmcintire pseudovibriamidesfrompseudovibriomarinespongebacteriapromoteflagellarmotilityviatranscriptionalmodulation
AT robertogsberlinck pseudovibriamidesfrompseudovibriomarinespongebacteriapromoteflagellarmotilityviatranscriptionalmodulation
AT alessandraseustaquio pseudovibriamidesfrompseudovibriomarinespongebacteriapromoteflagellarmotilityviatranscriptionalmodulation