An RpoN-dependent PEP-CTERM gene is involved in floc formation of an Aquincola tertiaricarbonis strain

BMC Microbiology

article

Xia, Ming¹  Yu, Dianzhen³  Chen, Han³  Dai, Jingcheng⁵  Gao, Na⁶  Li, Shuyang⁵  Bi, Xuezhi⁷  Qiu, Dongru⁵ 

[1] School of Life Sciences, Hubei Engineering Research Center for Protection and Utilization of Special Biological Resources in the Hanjiang River Basin, Jianghan University;Hubei Key Laboratory of Environmental and Health Effects of Persistent Toxic Substances, Jianghan University;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences;Institute for Nutritional Sciences, SIBS, Chinese Academy of Sciences;Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences;Fisheries Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences;Bioprocessing Technology Institute, Agency for Science, Technology and Research

关键词: Bacterial floc formation;    PEP-CTERM proteins;    Flocculation;    RpoN sigma factor;    Aquincola tertiaricarbonis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12866-022-02745-1

学科分类：放射科、核医学、医学影像

来源: BioMed Central

【 摘 要 】

The floc is a characteristic of microbial aggregate growth, displaying cloudy suspensions in water. Floc formation has been demonstrated in a series of bacteria and the floc-forming bacteria play a crucial role in activated sludge (AS) process widely used for municipal sewage and industrial wastewater treatment over a century. It has been demonstrated that some exopolysaccharide biosynthesis genes and the sigma factor (sigma54 or rpoN) were required for floc forming in some bacteria. However, the mechanism underlying the floc formation stills need to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrate that a TPR (Tetratricopeptide repeats) protein-encoding gene prsT is required for floc formation of Aquincola tertiaricarbonis RN12 and an upstream PEP-CTERM gene (designated pepA), regulated by RpoN1, is involved in its floc formation but not swarming motility and biofilm formation. Overexpression of PepA could rescue the floc-forming phenotype of the rpoN1 mutant by decreasing the released soluble exopolysaccharides and increasing the bound polymers. Our results indicate that the wide-spread PEP-CTERM proteins play an important role in the self-flocculation of bacterial cells and may be a component of extracellular polymeric substances required for floc-formation.

【 授权许可】

CC BY|CC0