O-antigen protects gram-negative bacteria from histone killing.
Beyond their traditional role of wrapping DNA, histones display antibacterial activity to Gram-negative and -positive bacteria. To identify bacterial components that allow survival to a histone challenge, we selected resistant bacteria from homologous Escherichia coli libraries that harbor plasmids carrying pieces of the chromosome in different sizes. We identified genes required for exopolysaccharide production and for the synthesis of the polysaccharide domain of the lipopolysaccharide, called O-antigen. Indeed, O-antigen and exopolysaccharide conferred further resistance to histones. Notably, O-antigen also conferred resistance to histones in the pathogens Shigella flexneri and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
Department of Cellular Microbiology, Max-Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany. catherine.chaput@charite.de
Catherine
C
Chaput
Eileen
E
Spindler
Ryan T
RT
Gill
Arturo
A
Zychlinsky
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000502:physiology*; D019081:O Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012763:Shigella flexneri / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006657:Histones; D019081:O Antigens; D011134:Polysaccharides; C004275:colanic acid