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Alkyl hydroperoxide reductase (Ahp), comprised of four different subunits AhpC, AhpD, AhpE, and AhpF, is a thiol-based antioxidative enzyme with the ability to protect bacteria against oxidative stress. Functionally, AhpC and AhpE considered as peroxidases directly detoxify peroxides, while AhpD and AhpF as oxidoreductases restore oxidized peroxidases to their reduced form. Corynebacterium glutamicum ncgl0877 encodes a putative Ahp with a unique Cys-Pro-Phe-Cys (C-P-G-C) active-site motif, similar with those of the thiol-disulfide oxidoreductases such as thioredoxin (Trx), mycoredoxin-1 (Mrx1) and AhpD. However, its physiological and biochemical functions remain unknown in C. glutamicum. Here, we report that NCgl0877, designated CgAhp, is involved in the protection against organic peroxide (OP) stress. The cgahp-deleted strain is notably more sensitive to OP stress. The cgahp expression is controlled by a MarR-type transcriptional repressor OasR (organic peroxide- and antibiotic-sensing regulator). The physiological role of CgAhp in resistance to OP stresses is corroborated by its induced expression under stresses. Although CgAhp has a weak peroxidase activity toward OP, it mainly supports the OP-scavenging activity of the thiol-dependent peroxidase preferentially linked to the dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (Lpd)/dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase (SucB)/NADH system. The C-P-G-C motif of CgAhp is essential to maintain the reductase activity. In conclusion, our study identifies CgAhp, behaving like AhpD, as a key disulfide oxidoreductase involved in the oxidative stress tolerance and the functional electron donor for peroxidase.

A novel method for the preparation of antitumor drug vehicles has been optimized. Biological materials of chitosan oligosaccharide (CO) and γ‐polyglutamic acid (γ‐PGA) have previously been employed as modifiers to covalently modify graphene oxide (GO), which in turn loaded doxorubicin (DOX) to obtain a nano drug delivery systems of graphene oxide based composites (GO‐CO‐γ‐PGA‐DOX). The system was not equipped with the ability of initiative targeting, thus resulting into toxicity and side effects on normal tissues or organs. In order to further improve the targeting property of the system, the nucleic acid aptamer NH2‐AS1411 (APT) of targeted nucleolin (C23) was used to conjugate on GO‐CO‐γ‐PGA to yield the targeted nano drug delivery system APT‐GO‐CO‐γ‐PGA. The structure, composition, dispersion, particle size and morphology properties of the synthesized complex have been studied using multiple characterization methods. Drug loading and release profile data showed that APT‐GO‐CO‐γ‐PGA is provided with high drug loading capacity and is capable of controlled and sustained release of DOX. Cell experimental results indicated that since C23 was overexpressed on the surface of Hela cells but not on the surface of Beas‐2B cells, APT‐GO‐CO‐γ‐PGA‐DOX can target Hela cells and make increase toxicity to Hela cells than Beas‐2B cells, and the IC50 value of APT‐GO‐CO‐γ‐PGA‐DOX was 3.23±0.04 μg/mL. All results proved that APT‐GO‐CO‐γ‐PGA can deliver antitumor drugs in a targeted manner, and achieve the effect of reducing poison, which indicated that the targeted carrier exhibits a broad application prospect in the field of biomedicine., A nano drug delivery system able to enhance active targeting and therapeutic efficacy has been reported. Nucleic acid aptamer NH2‐AS1411 (APT) of targeted nucleolin (C23) was used to conjugate on GO‐CO‐γ‐PGA to yield the targeted nano drug delivery system APT‐GO‐CO‐γ‐PGA. The structure, composition, dispersion, particle size and morphology properties of the synthesized complex were analyzed via multiple characterization methods to find high drug loading capacity, the ability of controlled and sustained release of drugs, and the targeting to Hela cells.

Corynebacterium glutamicum is an important industrial strain for amino acids and a key model organism for human pathogens. The study of C. glutamicum oxidoreductases, such as mycoredoxin 1 (Mrx1), dithiol-disulfide isomerase DsbA, and DsbA-like Mrx1, is helpful for understanding the survival, pathogenic infection, and stress resistance of its homologous species. However, the action mode and enzymatic function of C. glutamicum NCgl0018 preserving the Cys-Pro-Phe-Cys motif, annotated as a putative DsbA, have remained enigmatic. Here, we report that the NCgl0018-deleted strain increased sensitivity to various oxidative stresses. The ncgl0018 expression was induced in the stress-responsive extracytoplasmic function-sigma (ECF-σ) factor SigH- and organic peroxide- and antibiotic-sensing regulator (OasR)-dependent manner by stress. NCgl0018 reduced S-mycothiolated mixed disulfides and intramolecular disulfides via a monothiol-disulfide mechanism preferentially linking the mycothiol/mycothione reductase/NADPH electron pathway. Site-directed mutagenesis confirmed Cys107 was the resolving Cys residue, while Cys104 was the nucleophilic cysteine that was oxidized to a sulfenic acid and then could form an intramolecular disulfide bond with Cys107 or a mixed disulfide with mycothiol under stress. Biochemical analyses indicated that NCgl0018 lacked oxidase properties like the classical DsbA. Further, enzymatic rates and substrate preferences of NCgl0018 were highly similar to those of DsbA-like Mrx1. Collectively, our study presented the first evidence that NCgl0018 protected against stresses by functioning as a novel DsbA-like Mrx1 but not DsbA and Mrx1.

Glutaredoxins (Grxs) with Cys-Pro-Phe (Tyr)-Cys motif and a thioredoxin fold structure play an important role in the anti-oxidant system of bacteria by catalyzing a variety of thiol-disulfide exchange reactions with a 2-Cys mechanism or a 1-Cys mechanism. However, the catalytic and physiological mechanism of Corynebacterium glutamicum Mycoredoxin 1 (Mrx1) that shares a high amino acid sequence similarity to Grxs has not been fully elucidated. Here, we report that Mrx1 has a protective function against various adverse conditions, and the decrease of cell viability to various stress conditions by deletion of the Mrx1 in C. glutamicum was confirmed in the mrx1 mutant. The physiological roles of Mrx1 in defence to oxidative stress were corroborated by its induced expression under various stresses, regulated directly by the stress-responsive extracytoplasmic function-sigma (ECF-σ) factor SigH. As well as reducing mycothiol (MSH) mixed disulfide bonds via a 1-Cys mechanism, C. glutamicum Mrx1 catalytically reduced the disulfides in the Ib RNR, insulin and 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) by exclusively linking the MSH/Mtr (mycothiol disulfide reductase)/NADPH electron pathway via a 2-Cys mechanism. Thus, we present the first evidence that the Mrx1 is able to protect against the damaging effects of various exogenous stresses by acting as a disulfide oxidoreductase, thereby giving a new insight in how C. glutamicum survives oxidative stressful conditions.

Corynebacterium glutamicum, an important industrial and model microorganism, inevitably encountered stress environment during fermentative process. Therefore, the ability of C. glutamicum to withstand stress and maintain the cellular redox balance was vital for cell survival and enhancing fermentation efficiency. To robustly survive, C. glutamicum has been equipped with many types of redox sensors. Although cysteine oxidation-based peroxide-sensing regulators have been well described in C. glutamicum, redox sensors involving in multiple environmental stress response remained elusive. Here, we reported an organic peroxide- and antibiotic-sensing MarR (multiple antibiotics resistance regulators)-type regulator, called OasR (organic peroxide- and antibiotic-sensing regulator). The OasR regulator used Cys95 oxidation to sense oxidative stress to form S-mycothiolated monomer or inter-molecular disulfide-containing dimer, resulting in its dissociation from the target DNA promoter. Transcriptomics uncovered the strong up-regulation of many multidrug efflux pump genes and organic peroxide stress-involving genes in oasR mutant, consistent with the phenomenon that oasR mutant showed a reduction in sensitivity to antibiotic and organic peroxide. Importantly, the addition of stress-associated ligands such as cumene hydroperoxide and streptomycin induced oasR and multidrug efflux pump protein NCgl1020 expression in vivo. We speculated that cell resistance to antibiotics and organic peroxide correlated with stress response-induced up-regulation of genes expression. Together, the results revealed that OasR was a key MarR-type redox stress-responsive transcriptional repressor, and sensed oxidative stress generated through hydroxyl radical formation to mediate antibiotic resistance in C. glutamicum.

The aim of this study is to design a novel pH and photothermal dual-responsive nanodrug delivery system with high biocompatibility and tumor targeting. Based on the high loading rate and good photothermal properties of graphene oxide (GO), we selected GO modified with chitosan (CO) and γ-polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) as nanocarriers. CO and γ-PGA increased the dispersion of GO and improved the solubility of GO-CO-γ-PGA (G-C-P) in solution. To further improve the targeting of the system, the nucleic acid aptamer NH2-AS1411 (APT), which targets the nucleolin (C23), was attached to G-C-P and the targeted nano-delivery system APT-GO-CO-γ-PGA (A-G-C-P) was prepared by amidation. The synthesized samples were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Zeta potential, and their good biocompatibility and stable photothermal conversion properties were demonstrated experimentally. The nanocarrier can act as a photothermal agent, generating high temperatures to induce cell damage. The lower hemolysis rate reflects the good biocompatibility of the carrier. Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) was selected as the model drug with a nanocarrier loading of 37.0 ± 0.74%, showing dual response drug release characteristics of pH and NIR light. The cytotoxicity and photothermal toxicity of the nanocarrier A-G-C-P and the drug delivery system APT-GO-CO-γ-PGA-DOX (A-G-C-P-D) on HeLa cells were investigated in cellular experiments. It was found that A-G-C-P had almost no toxic side effects on the cells, and the killing effect of A-G-C-P-D with the application of near-infrared light irradiation was more obvious, proving its good photothermal therapeutic effect, and further demonstrating that the combined effect of chemotherapy and photothermal treatment is significant than that of single treatment. Confocal microscopy and flow cytometry determined the distribution of DOX in the cells to different degrees after cell internalization. In vivo anti-tumor experiments were conducted to further investigate the therapeutic effects and safety of the targeted nano-drug delivery system in concert with photothermal. Compared with the weight loss and heart tissue damage caused by free DOX, A-G-C-P-D and NIR light irradiation did not cause any tissue damage and toxic side effects in nude mice, and have good biosafety; A-G-C-P-D and NIR light irradiation can inhibit tumor growth, cause damage to tumor tissue, significantly reduce Ki67 expression and increase Caspase-3 expression, all of which prove their good anti-tumor effects. This relatively non-invasive approach may provide a good direction for targeted drug delivery and chemotherapeutic photothermal treatment of tumors, greatly reducing the side effects of chemotherapy. The therapeutic effect of this nano-drug delivery system provides new ideas for clinical treatment strategies with potential applications and reference values, offering a broad prospect for biological applications.

Graphene oxide has covalently modified by chito oligosaccharides and γ-polyglutamic acid to form GO-CO-γ-PGA, which exhibits excellent performance as a drug delivery carrier, but this carrier did not have the ability to actively target. In this study, the targeting property of breast cancer tumor cell exosomes was exploited to give GO-CO-γ-PGA the ability to target breast tumor cells (MDA-MB-231), and the drug mitoxantrone (MIT) was loaded to finally form EXO-GO-CO-γ-PGA-MIT with an encapsulation efficiency of 73.02%. The pH response of EXO-GO-CO-γ-PGA showed a maximum cumulative release rate of 56.59% (pH 5.0, 120 h) and 6.73% (pH 7.4, 120 h) for MIT at different pH conditions. In vitro cellular assays showed that EXO-GO-CO-γ-PGA-MIT was more potent in killing MDA-MB-231 cells due to its targeting ability and had a significantly higher pro-apoptotic capacity compared to GO-CO-γ-PGA-MIT. The results showed that this bionic nano-intelligent drug delivery system has good drug slow release function and it can increase the local drug concentration of tumor and enhance the pro-apoptotic ability of MIT, so this newly synthesized bionic drug delivery carriers (EXO-GO-CO-γ-PGA-MIT) has potential application in breast cancer treatment.

Morchella is a kind of important edible and medicinal fungi, which is rich in polysaccharides, enzymes, fatty acids, amino acids and other active components. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have a typical membrane structure, and the vesicles contain some specific lipids, miRNAs and proteins, and their can deliver the contents to different cells to change their functions. The present study investigated whether Morchella produce extracellular vesicles and its anti-inflammatory effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW246.7 macrophages. The experimental results showed that Morchella produced extracellular vesicles and significantly reduced the production of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a model of LPS-induced inflammation. In addition, the expression of inflammatory factor-related genes such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) showed dose-dependent inhibition. Morchella extracellular vesicles also can inhibit the inflammatory response induced by LPS by inhibiting the production of ROS and reducing the phosphorylation levels of the p38 MAPK signaling pathway. These results indicate that the Morchella extracellular vesicles can be used as a potential anti-inflammatory substance in the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

ncgl2478 gene from Corynebacterium glutamicum encodes a thiol–disulfide oxidoreductase enzyme annotated as dithiol–disulfide isomerase DsbA. It preserves a Cys–Pro–Phe–Cys active-site motif, which is presumed to be an exclusive characteristic of the novel DsbA–mycoredoxin 1 (Mrx1) cluster. However, the real mode of action, the nature of the electron donor pathway and biological functions of NCgl2478 in C. glutamicum have remained enigmatic so far. Herein, we report that NCgl2478 plays an important role in stress resistance. Deletion of the ncgl2478 gene increases the size of growth inhibition zones. The ncgl2478 expression is induced in the stress-responsive extra-cytoplasmic function-sigma (ECF-σ) factor SigH-dependent manner by stress. It receives electrons preferentially from the mycothiol (MSH)/mycothione reductase (Mtr)/NADPH pathway. Further, NCgl2478 reduces S-mycothiolated mixed disulfides and intramolecular disulfides via a monothiol–disulfide and a dithiol–disulfide exchange mechanism, respectively. NCgl2478 lacks oxidase activity; kinetic properties of its demycothiolation are different from those of Mrx1. Site-directed mutagenesis confirms Cys24 is the resolving Cys residue, while Cys21 is the nucleophilic cysteine that is oxidized to a sulfenic acid and then forms an intramolecular disulfide bond with Cys24 or a mixed disulfide with MSH under oxidative stress. In conclusion, our study presents the first evidence that NCgl2478 protects against various stresses by acting as an MSH-dependent thiol–disulfide reductase, belonging to a novel DsbA–Mrx1 cluster.

MarR (multiple antibiotic resistance regulator) proteins are a family of transcriptional regulators that is prevalent in Corynebacterium glutamicum. Understanding the physiological and biochemical function of MarR homologs in C. glutamicum has focused on cysteine oxidation-based redox-sensing and substrate metabolism-involving regulators. In this study, we characterized the stress-related ligand-binding functions of the C. glutamicum MarR-type regulator CarR (C. glutamicum antibiotic-responding regulator). We demonstrate that CarR negatively regulates the expression of the carR (ncgl2886)–uspA (ncgl2887) operon and the adjacent, oppositely oriented gene ncgl2885, encoding the hypothetical deacylase DecE. We also show that CarR directly activates transcription of the ncgl2882–ncgl2884 operon, encoding the peptidoglycan synthesis operon (PSO) located upstream of carR in the opposite orientation. The addition of stress-associated ligands such as penicillin and streptomycin induced carR, uspA, decE, and PSO expression in vivo, as well as attenuated binding of CarR to operator DNA in vitro. Importantly, stress response-induced up-regulation of carR, uspA, and PSO gene expression correlated with cell resistance to β-lactam antibiotics and aromatic compounds. Six highly conserved residues in CarR were found to strongly influence its ligand binding and transcriptional regulatory properties. Collectively, the results indicate that the ligand binding of CarR induces its dissociation from the carR–uspA promoter to derepress carR and uspA transcription. Ligand-free CarR also activates PSO expression, which in turn contributes to C. glutamicum stress resistance. The outcomes indicate that the stress response mechanism of CarR in C. glutamicum occurs via ligand-induced conformational changes to the protein, not via cysteine oxidation-based thiol modifications.

Alkyl hydroperoxidase reductase AhpD, which is functionally equivalent to the bacterial flavin-containing disulfide reductase AhpF, acts as a proton donor for the organic peroxide-scavenging alkyl hydroperoxidase AhpC. Although AhpD has long been demonstrated in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, its physiological and biochemical functions remain largely unknown in other actinobacteria, including Corynebacterium glutamicum, Streptomyces, and Mycobacterium smegmatis. Here, we report that C. glutamicum AhpD contributed to regenerate a variety of thiol-dependent peroxidase in the decomposition of peroxide by linking a dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (Lpd)/dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase (SucB)/NADH system through the cyclization of their own active site dithiol to the oxidized disulphide. The CXXC motif of AhpD was essential to maintain the peroxides reduction activity of thiol-dependent peroxidase. ΔahpD1ΔahpD2 mutants exhibited significantly decreased resistance to adverse stress conditions and obviously increased the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The physiological roles of AhpD in resistance to adverse stresses, were corroborated by their induced expression under various stresses and their direct regulation under the stress-responsive ECF-sigma factor SigH. C. glutamicum AhpDs were disulfide oxidoreductases behaving like thioredoxin (Trx) in regenerating thiol-dependent peroxidase for stress response, which provides the theoretical basis for an in-depth study of the reduction system in ahpC-lacking bacteria.

The MarR family is unique to both bacteria and archaea. The members of this family, one of the most prevalent families of transcriptional regulators in bacteria, enable bacteria to adapt to changing environmental conditions, such as the presence of antibiotics, toxic chemicals, or reactive oxygen species (ROS), mainly by thiol-disulfide switches. Although the genome of Corynebacterium glutamicum encodes a large number of the putative MarR-type transcriptional regulators, their physiological and biochemical functions have so far been limited to only two proteins, regulator of oxidative stress response RosR and quinone oxidoreductase regulator QosR. Here, we report that the ncgl2617 gene (cosR) of C. glutamicum encoding an MarR-type transcriptional regulator plays an important role in oxidative stress resistance. The cosR null mutant is found to be more resistant to various oxidants and antibiotics, accompanied by a decrease in ROS production and protein carbonylation levels under various stresses. Protein biochemical function analysis shows that two Cys residues presenting at 49 and 62 sites in CosR are redox-active. They form intermolecular disulfide bonds in CosR under oxidative stress. This CosR oxidation leads to its dissociation from promoter DNA, depression of the target DNA, and increased oxidative stress resistance of C. glutamicum. Together, the results reveal that CosR is a redox-sensitive regulator that senses peroxide stress to mediate oxidative stress resistance in C. glutamicum.

Background CssR, the product of the Corynebacterium glutamicum ncgl1578 gene cotranscribed with ncgl1579, is a TetR (tetracycline regulator) family repressor. Although many TetR-type regulators in C. glutamicum have been extensively described, members of the TetR family involved in the stress response remain unidentified. Results In this study, we found that CssR regulated the transcription of its own gene and the ncgl1576-ncgl1577 operon. The ncgl1576-ncgl1577 operon, which is located upstream of cssR in the orientation opposite that of the cssR operon, encodes an ATP-binding cassette (ABC), some of which are involved in the export of a wide range of antimicrobial compounds. The cssR-deletion (ΔcssR) mutant displayed increased resistance to various stresses. An imperfect palindromic motif (5′-TAA(G)TGN13CA(G)TTA-3′; 25 bp) located at the intergenic region between cssR and ncgl1577 was identified as the sole binding site for CssR. Expression of cssR and ncgl1577 was induced by antibiotics and heavy metals but not H2O2 or diamide, and the DNA-binding activity of CssR was impaired by antibiotics and heavy metals but not H2O2. Antibiotics and heavy metals caused CssR dissociation from target gene promoters, thus derepressing their transcription. Oxidant treatment neither altered the conformation of CssR nor modified its cysteine residues, indicating that the cysteine residues in CssR have no redox activity. In the ΔcssR mutant strain, genes involved in redox homeostasis also showed increased transcription levels, and the NADPH/NADP+ ratio was higher than that of the parental strain. Conclusion The stress response mechanism of CssR in C. glutamicum is realized via ligand-induced conformational changes of the protein, not via cysteine oxidation-based thiol modification. Moreover, the crucial role of CssR in the stress response was demonstrated by negatively controlling the expression of the ncgl1576-ncgl1577 operon, its structural gene, and/or redox homeostasis-related genes.

ncgl2478 gene from Corynebacterium glutamicum encodes a thiol–disulfide oxidoreductase enzyme annotated as dithiol–disulfide isomerase DsbA. It preserves a Cys–Pro–Phe–Cys active-site motif, which is presumed to be an exclusive characteristic of the novel DsbA–mycoredoxin 1 (Mrx1) cluster. However, the real mode of action, the nature of the electron donor pathway and biological functions of NCgl2478 in C. glutamicum have remained enigmatic so far. Herein, we report that NCgl2478 plays an important role in stress resistance. Deletion of the ncgl2478 gene increases the size of growth inhibition zones. The ncgl2478 expression is induced in the stress-responsive extra-cytoplasmic function-sigma (ECF-σ) factor SigH-dependent manner by stress. It receives electrons preferentially from the mycothiol (MSH)/mycothione reductase (Mtr)/NADPH pathway. Further, NCgl2478 reduces S-mycothiolated mixed disulfides and intramolecular disulfides via a monothiol–disulfide and a dithiol–disulfide exchange mechanism, respectively. NCgl2478 lacks oxidase activity; kinetic properties of its demycothiolation are different from those of Mrx1. Site-directed mutagenesis confirms Cys24 is the resolving Cys residue, while Cys21 is the nucleophilic cysteine that is oxidized to a sulfenic acid and then forms an intramolecular disulfide bond with Cys24 or a mixed disulfide with MSH under oxidative stress. In conclusion, our study presents the first evidence that NCgl2478 protects against various stresses by acting as an MSH-dependent thiol–disulfide reductase, belonging to a novel DsbA–Mrx1 cluster.

Glutaredoxins (Grxs) with Cys-Pro-Phe (Tyr)-Cys motif and a thioredoxin fold structure play an important role in the anti-oxidant system of bacteria by catalyzing a variety of thiol-disulfide exchange reactions with a 2-Cys mechanism or a 1-Cys mechanism. However, the catalytic and physiological mechanism of Corynebacterium glutamicum Mycoredoxin 1 (Mrx1) that shares a high amino acid sequence similarity to Grxs has not been fully elucidated. Here, we report that Mrx1 has a protective function against various adverse conditions, and the decrease of cell viability to various stress conditions by deletion of the Mrx1 in C. glutamicum was confirmed in the mrx1 mutant. The physiological roles of Mrx1 in defence to oxidative stress were corroborated by its induced expression under various stresses, regulated directly by the stress-responsive extracytoplasmic function-sigma (ECF-σ) factor SigH. As well as reducing mycothiol (MSH) mixed disulfide bonds via a 1-Cys mechanism, C. glutamicum Mrx1 catalytically reduced the disulfides in the Ib RNR, insulin and 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) by exclusively linking the MSH/Mtr (mycothiol disulfide reductase)/NADPH electron pathway via a 2-Cys mechanism. Thus, we present the first evidence that the Mrx1 is able to protect against the damaging effects of various exogenous stresses by acting as a disulfide oxidoreductase, thereby giving a new insight in how C. glutamicum survives oxidative stressful conditions.

Background Corynebacterium glutamicum thrives under oxidative stress caused by the inevitably extreme environment during fermentation as it harbors antioxidative stress genes. Antioxidant genes are controlled by pathway-specific sensors that act in response to growth conditions. Although many families of oxidation-sensing regulators in C. glutamicum have been well described, members of the xenobiotic-response element (XRE) family, involved in oxidative stress, remain elusive. Results In this study, we report a novel redox-sensitive member of the XER family, MsrR (multiple stress resistance regulator). MsrR is encoded as part of the msrR-3-mst (3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase) operon; msrR-3-mst is divergent from multidrug efflux protein MFS. MsrR was demonstrated to bind to the intergenic region between msrR-3-mst and mfs. This binding was prevented by an MsrR oxidation-mediated increase in MsrR dimerization. MsrR was shown to use Cys62 oxidation to sense oxidative stress, resulting in its dissociation from the promoter. Elevated expression of msrR-3-mst and mfs was observed under stress. Furthermore, a ΔmsrR mutant strain displayed significantly enhanced growth, while the growth of strains lacking either 3-mst or mfs was significantly inhibited under stress. Conclusion This report is the first to demonstrate the critical role of MsrR-3-MST-MFS in bacterial stress resistance.

The commercial applications of rhamnolipids have seriously been impeded by the high cost of production caused by severe foaming. Effective low-foaming fermentation and mechanism study have become the most urgent requirement for the larger-scale rhamnolipids production. In this study, the low-foaming fermentation of rhamnolipids is realized by controlling fermentation at pH 5.5. Further, the rhamnolipids production is enhanced 0.9-fold by ultraviolet and ethyl methanesulfonate composite mutagenesis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to enhance production of rhamnolipids by strain improvement under weakly acidic conditions. The mechanism exploration tests indicated that increasing surface tension and decreasing viscosity are conducive to reducing foaming ability of rhamnolipids fermentation. The decrease of negatively charged ions may weaken the electrostatic repulsion between charged substances adsorbed on membranes of bubbles such as rhamnolipids and cells, making liquid membranes prone to rupture. In addition, the vesicle or lamellar structures of rhamnolipids are formed under pH 5.0-6.0, weakening the foaming ability of rhamnolipids. The work reveals promising potentiality by genetic modification to enhance rhamnolipids production and is conducive to understanding the pH-associated foaming behavior as well as developing the more effective pH-associated control strategies for large-scale rhamnolipids production under weakly acidic conditions.

Rhamnolipids have recently attracted considerable attentions because of their excellent biosurfactant performance and potential applications in agriculture, environment, biomedicine, etc., but severe foaming causes the high cost of production, restraining their commercial production and applications. To reduce or eliminate the foaming, numerous explorations have been focused on foaming factors and fermentation strategies, but a systematic summary and discussion are still lacking. Additionally, although these studies have not broken through the bottleneck of foaming, they are conducive to understanding the foaming mechanism and developing more effective rhamnolipids production strategies. Therefore, this review focuses on the effects of fermentation components and control conditions on foaming behavior and fermentation strategies responded to the severe foaming in rhamnolipids fermentation and systematically summarizes 6 impact factors and 9 fermentation strategies. Furthermore, the potentialities of 9 fermentation strategies for large-scale production are discussed and some further strategies are suggested. We hope this review can further facilitate the understanding of foaming factors and fermentation strategies as well as conducive to developing the more effective large-scale production strategies to accelerate the commercial production process of rhamnolipids.

Methionine sulphoxide reductases (Msr) are able to reduce methionine sulfoxide to methionine and protect bacteria against reactive oxygen species (ROS). Many organisms express both methionine sulphoxide reductase A (MsrA), specific for methionine-S-sulfoxide and methionine sulphoxide reductase B (MsrB), active against methionine-R-sulfoxide. Corynebacterium glutamicum expresses MsrA, the function of which has been well defined; however, the function of MsrB has not been studied. Whether MsrB and MsrA play an equally important role in the antioxidant process is also poorly understood. In this study, we identified MsrB encoded by ncgl1823 in C. glutamicum, investigated its function and made a comparison with MsrA. The msrB gene showed a slight effect on utilizing methionine sulfoxide (MetO) as the sole Met source; however, the survival rates showed no sensitivity to oxidants. MsrB showed catalytic activity using thioredoxin/thioredoxin reductase (Trx/TrxR) reducing system as electron donors, but independent from the mycoredoxin 1/mycothione reductase/mycothiol (Mrx1/Mtr/MSH) system. Therefore, MsrB plays a limited role in resisting oxidative stress and it could reduce MetO to Met by the Trx/TrxR reducing system, which is useful for expanding the understanding of the functions of Msr in this important industrial microbe.

BackgroundOxidative stress caused by inevitable hostile conditions during fermentative process was the most serious threat to the survival of the well-known industrial microorganismCorynebacterium glutamicum.To survive,C. glutamicumdeveloped several antioxidant defenses including millimolar concentrations of mycothiol (MSH) and protective enzymes. Glutathione (GSH) S-transferases (GSTs) with essentially defensive role in oxidative stress have been well defined in numerous microorganisms, while their physiological and biochemical functions remained elusive inC. glutamicumthus far.ResultsIn the present study, we described protein NCgl1216 belonging to a novel MSH S-transferase Xi class (MstX), considered as the equivalent of GST Xi class (GSTX). MstX had a characteristic conserved catalytic motif (Cys-Pro-Trp-Ala, C-P-W-A). MstX was active as thiol transferase, dehydroascorbate reductase, mycothiolyl-hydroquinone reductase and MSH peroxidase, while it showed null activity toward canonical GSTs substrate as 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) and GST Omega’s specific substance glutathionyl-acetophenones, indicating MstX had some biochemical characteristics related with mycoredoxin (Mrx). Site-directed mutagenesis showed that, among the two cysteine residues of the molecule, only the residue at position 67 was required for the activity. Moreover, the residues adjacent to the active Cys67 were also important for activity. These results indicated that the thiol transferase of MstX operated through a monothiol mechanism. In addition, we found MstX played important role in various stress resistance. The lack ofC. glutamicum mstXgene resulted in significant growth inhibition and increased sensitivity under adverse stress condition. ThemstXexpression was induced by stress.ConclusionCorynebacterium glutamicumMstX might be critically involved in response to oxidative conditions, thereby giving new insight in howC. glutamicumsurvived oxidative stressful conditions.

Bacterial antioxidants play a vital role in the detoxification of exogenous peroxides. Several antioxidant defenses including low-molecular-weight thiols (LMWTs) and protective enzymes were developed to help the bacterium withstand the adverse stress. Although osmotically induced bacterial protein C (OsmC), classified as the organic hydroperoxide reductase (Ohr)/OsmC superfamily, has been demonstrated in some mycobacterial species, including M. tuberculosis and M. smegmatis, its physiological and biochemical functions in C. glutamicum remained elusive. Here we found the lack of C. glutamicum osmC gene resulted in decreased cell viability and increased intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulation under organic hydroperoxides (OHPs) stress conditions. The osmC expression was induced in the multiple antibiotic resistance regulator MarR-dependent manner by OHPs, and not by other oxidants or osmotic stress. Peroxide reductase activity showed that OsmC had a narrow range of substrates-only degrading OHPs, and detoxified OHPs mainly by linking the alkyl hydroperoxide reductase (AhpD) system (AhpD/dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (Lpd)/dihydrolipoamide acyltransferase (SucB)). Site-directed mutagenesis confirmed Cys48 was the peroxidatic cysteine, while Cys114 was the resolving Cys residue that formed an intramolecular disulfide bond with oxidized Cys48. Therefore, C. glutamicum OsmC was a thiol-dependent OHP reductase and played important role of protection against OHPs together with Ohr.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study. Table S2. Primers used in this study. Table S3. Activity of recombinant MstX of C. glutamicum with CDNB, mBBr, HED, and DHA. Table S4. Activity of recombinant MstX of C. glutamicum with MS-MEN and MS-PAP. Figure S1. Multiple sequences alignment of C. glutamicum NCgl1216 with representative Archaea and Gram-positive GST Xi class from H. lacusprofundi (YP_002565306), N. magadii (YP_003479316), Str. agalactiae (NP_687815), and E. coli YqjG (NP_417573) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae glutathione transferase 2 Omega-like Gto2 (YKR076Â W). Figure S2. Redox response of MstX in vitro. Figure S3. Oxidized MstX:C262S-SSM was mainly reduced via the Mtr/MSH/NADPH pathway.

In order to improve manganese-SOD stability, three mutations were constructed via site-directed mutagenesis, and the root mean square fluctuation (RMSF) and root mean square deviation (RMSD) were used as stability assessment indexes. The amino acids of V140, E155 and E215 from wild-type mouse Mn-SOD was replaced to L140, W155 and W215, and a recombinant plasmid containing DNA segment coding wild-type and mutant Mn-SOD protein was transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 for expression. The highest enzyme activity of the mutations-MnSOD was 2050 U/mg. In addition, the recombinant protein, TM-MnSODV140L, E155W, E215W exhibited higher working temperature and improved stability compared with the wild-type Mn-SOD. Furthermore, CD spectrum analysis of the improved mutants and wild-type enzyme showed that there was no significant change in their secondary structures. This study not only expands the scope of the application of enzymes, but also helps us understand the relationship between protein structure and function.

A purified polysaccharide was acquired from a newly collected wild Morchella. The strain identification initially showed that the strain was Morchella sextelata. This study aimed to investigate the structural features and immunomodulating activities of the polysaccharide. Polysaccharide extracted from mycelia was purified by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and Sephadex G-25 size-exclusion chromatography in sequence. The main fraction of polysaccharide (MSP-II) was obtained during purification process. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed that MSP-II was composed of Glc, Ara, Gal, Man, Rha, Fuc, GalUA and GluUA in ratio of 34.95:8.7:9.55:4.55:5.0:1.45:12.7:7.65. The structure of MSP-II was furtherly analyzed by FT-IR spectrum and 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, the results showed that MSP contained β-glycosidic bonds as well as α-glycosidic linkages. In vitro tests proved that MSP-II could not only promote the proliferation and phagocytosis of RAW264.7 cells, but also induce the section of nitric oxide (NO) of macrophages. Consequently, the polysaccharide has a potent immunomodulatory activity by stimulating macrophages and can be considered as a novel potential immunopotentiator in medical and food industries.

Mycothiol (MSH) plays a major role in protecting cells against oxidative stress and detoxification from a broad range of exogenous toxic agents. In the present study, we reveal that intracellular MSH contributes significantly to the adaptation to acidic conditions in the model organism Corynebacterium glutamicum. We present evidence that MSH confers C. glutamicum with the ability to adapt to acidic conditions by maintaining pHi homeostasis, scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), and protecting methionine synthesis by the S-mycothiolation modification of methionine synthase (MetE). The role of MSH in acid adaptation was further confirmed by improving the acid tolerance of C. glutamicum by overexpressing the key MSH synthesis gene mshA. Hence, our work provides insights into a previously unknown, but important, aspect of the C. glutamicum cellular response to acid stress. The results reported here may help to understand acid tolerance mechanisms in acid sensitive bacteria and may open a new avenue for improving acid resistance in industry strains for the production of bio-based chemicals from renewable biomass.

N-heterocyclic carbenes-modified half-sandwich iridium(III) complex [(η5-C5Me4C6H4C6H5)Ir(C^C)Cl]PF6 (C1) (where C^C is a N-heterocyclic carbene ligand) can effectively prevent the proliferation of human cervical cancer cells. Here, this study aims to investigate the in-deep anticancer effects of this complex on non-small cell lung cancer cells and explore the underlying molecular mechanism. MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay showed that iridium(III) complex had potent cytotoxicity studies towards non-small cell lung cancer cells (A549), human lung squamous cells (L78), human cervical cancer cells (Hela) and human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). Colocalization and cellular uptake studies were analyzed by confocal microscopy. Notably, C1 targeted lysosomes and entered the cancer cells partially through an energy-dependent pathway, inducing the release of cathepsins and other proteins. These proteins regulated lysosomal-mitochondrial dysfunction, thus leading to the release of cytochrome c (cyt c), which amplified apoptotic signals by activating many downstream pathways such as caspase pathways to promote cell apoptosis. The results showed that the inhibitory mechanism of this organometallic iridium(III) complex may involve caspase-associated apoptosis initiated by the lysosomal-mitochondrial pathway.

Alkyl hydroperoxidase reductase AhpD, which is functionally equivalent to the bacterial flavin-containing disulfide reductase AhpF, acts as a proton donor for the organic peroxide-scavenging alkyl hydroperoxidase AhpC. Although AhpD has long been demonstrated in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, its physiological and biochemical functions remain largely unknown in other actinobacteria, including Corynebacterium glutamicum, Streptomyces, and Mycobacterium smegmatis. Here, we report that C. glutamicum AhpD contributed to regenerate a variety of thiol-dependent peroxidase in the decomposition of peroxide by linking a dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (Lpd)/dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase (SucB)/NADH system through the cyclization of their own active site dithiol to the oxidized disulphide. The CXXC motif of AhpD was essential to maintain the peroxides reduction activity of thiol-dependent peroxidase. ΔahpD1ΔahpD2 mutants exhibited significantly decreased resistance to adverse stress conditions and obviously increased the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The physiological roles of AhpD in resistance to adverse stresses, were corroborated by their induced expression under various stresses and their direct regulation under the stress-responsive ECF-sigma factor SigH. C. glutamicum AhpDs were disulfide oxidoreductases behaving like thioredoxin (Trx) in regenerating thiol-dependent peroxidase for stress response, which provides the theoretical basis for an in-depth study of the reduction system in ahpC-lacking bacteria.

Background Corynebacterium glutamicum is a well-known producer of various l-amino acids in industry. During the fermenting process, C. glutamicum unavoidably encounters oxidative stress due to a specific reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by consistent adverse conditions. To combat the ROS, C. glutamicum has developed many common disulfide bond-based regulatory devices to control a specific set of antioxidant genes. However, nothing is known about the mixed disulfide between the protein thiol groups and the mycothiol (MSH) (S-mycothiolation)-based sensor. In addition, no OhrR (organic hydroperoxide resistance regulator) homologs and none of the organic hydroperoxide reductase (Ohr) sensors have been described in the alkyl hydroperoxide reductase CF-missing C. glutamicum, while organic hydroperoxides (OHPs)-specific Ohr was a core detoxification system. Results In this study, we showed that the C. glutamicum OhsR acted as an OHPs sensor that activated ohr expression. OhsR conferred resistance to cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) and t-butyl hydroperoxide but not H2O2, hypochlorous acid, and diamide; this outcome was substantiated by the fact that the ohsR-deficient mutant was sensitive to OHPs but not inorganic peroxides. The DNA binding activity of OhsR was specifically activated by CHP. Mutational analysis of the two cysteines (Cys125 and Cys261) showed that Cys125 was primarily responsible for the activation of DNA binding. The oxidation of Cys125 produced a sulfenic acid (C125-SOH) that subsequently reacted with MSH to generate S-mycothiolation that was required to activate the ohr expression. Therefore, OhsR regulated the ohr expression using an S-mycothiolation mechanism in vivo. Conclusion This is the first report demonstrating that the regulatory OhsR specifically sensed OHPs stress and responded to it by activating a specific ohr gene under its control using an S-mycothiolated mechanism. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-018-1048-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The MarR family is unique to both bacteria and archaea. The members of this family, one of the most prevalent families of transcriptional regulators in bacteria, enable bacteria to adapt to changing environmental conditions, such as the presence of antibiotics, toxic chemicals, or reactive oxygen species (ROS), mainly by thiol-disulfide switches. Although the genome of

Additional file 1: Table S1. Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study. Table S2. Primers used in this study. Figure S1 Multiple sequence alignment of OhsR with the OhrR in other organisms. Figure S2 Non-reducing SDS-PAGE analysis of proteins expressed in E. coli containing pET28a-ohsR plasmid. Figure S3 Growth curves of C. glutamicum in response to sub-lethal concentrations of toxins. Figure S4 The OhsR and Ohr was examined in C. glutamicum. Figure S5 Regulation of ohr by OxyR, QorR, and RosR. Figure S6 Role of OhsR in scavenging peroxides. Figure S7 Survival rates of the relevant C. glutamicum in response to the different concentrations of CHP.

Previous studies have identified a putative mycothiol peroxidase (MPx) in Corynebacterium glutamicum that shared high sequence similarity to sulfur-containing Gpx (glutathione peroxidase; CysGPx). In the present study, we investigated the MPx function by examining its potential peroxidase activity using different proton donors. The MPx degrades hydrogen peroxide and alkyl hydroperoxides in the presence of either the thioredoxin/Trx reductase (Trx/TrxR) or the mycoredoxin 1/mycothione reductase/mycothiol (Mrx1/Mtr/MSH) regeneration system. Mrx1 and Trx employ different mechanisms in reducing MPx. For the Mrx1 system, the catalytic cycle of MPx involves mycothiolation/demycothiolation on the Cys36 sulfenic acid via the monothiol reaction mechanism. For the Trx system, the catalytic cycle of MPx involves formation of an intramolecular disulfide bond between Cys36 and Cys79 that is pivotal to the interaction with Trx. Both the Mrx1 pathway and the Trx pathway are operative in reducing MPx under stress conditions. Expression of mpx markedly enhanced the resistance to various peroxides and decreased protein carbonylation and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. The expression of mpx was directly activated by the stress-responsive extracytoplasmic function-σ (ECF-σ) factor [SigH]. Based on these findings, we propose that the C. glutamicum MPx represents a new type of GPx that uses both mycoredoxin and Trx systems for oxidative stress response. * AMS, : 4-acetamido-4′-maleimidyldystilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid; Cumene-OOH, : cumene hydroperoxide; CysGPx, : sulfur-containing peroxidase; DCFH-DA, : 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate; DTNB, : 5,5′-dithio bis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid); ECF-σ, : extracytoplasmic function-σ; FOX, : ferrous Xylenol Orange; GPx, : glutathione peroxidase; Grx, : glutaredoxin; IAM, : iodoacetamide; LA-OOH, : linoleic acid hydroperoxide; LMWT, : low-molecular-mass thiol; MPx, : mycothiol peroxidase; Mrx1, : mycoredoxin 1; MSH, : mycothiol; Mtr, : mycothione reductase; NBD-Cl, : 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan; PCdili-OOH, : L-α-phosphatidylcholine dilinoleoyl hydroperoxide; ROS, : reactive oxygen species; SecGPx, : selenoperoxidase; SigH, : stress-responsive ECF-σ factor; t-butyl-OOH, : t-butyl hydroperoxide; TCA, : trichloroacetic acid; Trx, : thioredoxin; TrxR, : thioredoxin reductase; WT, : wild-type

A yellowish-pigmented bacterium, designated strain PLGR-1T, was isolated from the root of Bergenia scopulosa collected from Taibai Mountain in Shaanxi Province, north-west China, and was subjected to a taxonomic study by using a polyphasic approach. Cells of strain PLGR-1T were Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming and motile with a single polar flagellum. Growth occurred at 7–33 °C (optimum, 25–28 °C), at pH 5.0–10.0 (optimum, pH 6.0–7.0) and with 0–0.5 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0 %). The predominant respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8 (Q-8) and the major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), C16 : 0 and summed feature 8 (comprising C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c). The major polyamines were putrescine and 2-hydroxyputrescine and the major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. The DNA G+C content was 69.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain PLGR-1T belonged to the class Betaproteobacteria and formed a tight phyletic lineage with members of the genus Rhizobacter . Strain PLGR-1T was most closely related to Rhizobacter dauci DSM 11587T and Rhizobacter fulvus DSM 19916T, with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 98.5 and 98.0 %, respectively. The DNA–DNA relatedness values between strain PLGR-1T and the type strains of Rhizobacter dauci and Rhizobacter fulvus were 46.3 and 14.7 %, respectively. Based on the phenotypic, phylogenetic and genotypic data, strain PLGR-1T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Rhizobacter , for which the name Rhizobacter bergeniae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is PLGR-1T ( = CCTCC AB 2013018T = KCTC 32299T = LMG 27607T).

This study focuses on the genetic and biochemical characterization of phenol hydroxylase (Phe, NCgl2588) from Corynebacterium glutamicum that shares 31% identity in amino acids with phenol hydroxylase from yeast Trichosporon cutaneum but less similarity with that from bacteria. The phe deletion mutant significantly reduced its ability to grow with phenol as the sole carbon and energy source. Expression of the phe gene was strongly induced with phenol and also subject to the control of carbon catabolite repression (CCR). The molecular weight of purified Phe protein determined by gel filtration chromatography was 70 kDa, indicating that Phe exists as a monomer in the purification condition. However, Phe protein pre-incubated with phenol showed a molecular weight of 140 kDa, suggesting that Phe is likely active as a dimer. In addition to phenol, the Phe protein could utilize various other phenolic compounds as substrates. Site-directed mutagenesis revealed that D75, P261, R262, R269, C349 and C476 are key amino acid residues closely related to the enzyme activity of Phe.