A mannose-sensitive haemagglutinin (MSHA)-like pilus promotes attachment of Pseudoalteromonas tunicata cells to the surface of the green alga Ulva australis.
This study demonstrates that attachment of the marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas tunicata to the cellulose-containing surface of the green alga Ulva australis is mediated by a mannose-sensitive haemagglutinin (MSHA-like) pilus. We have identified an MSHA pilus biogenesis gene locus in P. tunicata, termed msh/1/2JKLMNEGFBACDOPQ, which shows significant homology, with respect to its genetic characteristics and organization, to the MSHA pilus biogenesis gene locus of Vibrio cholerae. Electron microscopy studies revealed that P. tunicata wild-type cells express flexible pili peritrichously arranged on the cell surface. A P. tunicata mutant (SM5) with a transposon insertion in the mshJ region displayed a non-piliated phenotype. Using SM5, it has been demonstrated that the MSHA pilus promotes attachment of P. tunicata wild-type cells in polystyrene microtitre plates, as well as to microcrystalline cellulose and to the living surface of U. australis. P. tunicata also demonstrated increased pilus production in response to cellulose and its monomer constituent cellobiose. The MSHA pilus thus functions as a determinant of attachment in P. tunicata, and it is proposed that an understanding of surface sensing mechanisms displayed by P. tunicata will provide insight into specific ecological interactions that occur between this bacterium and higher marine organisms.
Dalisay
Doralyn S
DS
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Webb
Jeremy S
JS
Centre for Marine Biofouling and Bio-innovation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.|School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Scheffel
André
A
Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstraße 1 28359, Bremen, Germany.
Svenson
Charles
C
School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
James
Sally
S
Centre for Marine Biofouling and Bio-innovation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.|School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Holmström
Carola
C
Centre for Marine Biofouling and Bio-innovation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.|School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Egan
Suhelen
S
Centre for Marine Biofouling and Bio-innovation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.|School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Kjelleberg
Staffan
S
Centre for Marine Biofouling and Bio-innovation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.|School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008358:Mannose / Q000378:metabolism*; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000378:metabolism; D031161:Pseudoalteromonas / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D044445:Ulva / Q000382:microbiology*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin; C101032:MshA protein, Vibrio cholerae; D011137:Polystyrenes; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins; D002482:Cellulose; D008358:Mannose