Intracellular glycosyl hydrolase PslG shapes bacterial cell fate, signaling, and the biofilm development of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

• Published in: eLife 2022-04, Vol.11
• Main Authors: Zhang, Jingchao, Wu, Huijun, Wang, Di, Wang, Lanxin, Cui, Yifan, Zhang, Chenxi, Zhao, Kun, Ma, Luyan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Bacteria; biofilm; Biofilms; Cell division; Cell fate; cyclic-di-GMP; Cystic fibrosis; Exopolysaccharides; Gene clusters; Genes; Glycosyl hydrolase; Hydrolase; Intracellular; Intracellular signalling; Localization; Microbiology and Infectious Disease; Morphology; Motility; Opportunist infection; Pathogens; polysaccharide; Polysaccharides; Pseudomonas aeruginos; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; PslG
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/eLife.72778

Biofilm formation is one of most important causes leading to persistent infections. Exopolysaccharides are usually a main component of biofilm matrix. Genes encoding glycosyl hydrolases are often found in gene clusters that are involved in the exopolysaccharide synthesis. It remains elusive about the functions of intracellular glycosyl hydrolase and why a polysaccharide synthesis gene cluster requires a glycosyl hydrolase-encoding gene. Here, we systematically studied the physiologically relevant role of intracellular PslG, a glycosyl hydrolase whose encoding gene is co-transcribed with 15 genes, which is responsible for the synthesis of exopolysaccharide PSL, a key biofilm matrix polysaccharide in opportunistic pathogen . We showed that lack of PslG or its hydrolytic activity in this opportunistic pathogen enhances the signaling function of PSL, changes the relative level of cyclic-di-GMP within daughter cells during cell division and shapes the localization of PSL on bacterial periphery, thus results in long chains of bacterial cells, fast-forming biofilm microcolonies. Our results reveal the important roles of intracellular PslG on the cell fate and biofilm development.