TY - JOUR
T1 - Polyamine-independent growth and biofilm formation, and functional spermidine/spermine N-acetyltransferases in Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis
AU - Li, Bin
AU - Maezato, Yukari
AU - Kim, Sok Ho
AU - Kurihara, Shin
AU - Liang, Jue
AU - Michael, Anthony J
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Simon Foster, University of Sheffield, UK for the S. aureus SH1000 strain and advice, and Breck Duerkop, University of Colorado for generous help with growth of E. faecalis. Funding was provided by a High Risk, High Impact grant (AJM) from UT Southwestern Medical Center.
PY - 2019/1
Y1 - 2019/1
N2 - Polyamines such as spermidine and spermine are primordial polycations that are ubiquitously present in the three domains of life. We have found that Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis have lost either all or most polyamine biosynthetic genes, respectively, and are devoid of any polyamine when grown in polyamine-free media. In contrast to bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Campylobacter jejuni and Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which absolutely require polyamines for growth, S. aureus and E. faecalis grow normally over multiple subcultures in the absence of polyamines. Furthermore, S. aureus and E. faecalis form biofilms normally without polyamines, and exogenous polyamines do not stimulate growth or biofilm formation. High levels of external polyamines, including norspermidine, eventually inhibit biofilm formation through inhibition of planktonic growth. We show that spermidine/spermine N-acetyltransferase (SSAT) homologues encoded by S. aureus USA300 and E. faecalis acetylate spermidine, spermine and norspermidine, that spermine is the more preferred substrate, and that E. faecalis SSAT is almost as efficient as human SSAT with spermine as substrate. The polyamine auxotrophy, polyamine-independent growth and biofilm formation, and presence of functional polyamine N-acetyltransferases in S. aureus and E. faecalis represent a new paradigm for bacterial polyamine biology.
AB - Polyamines such as spermidine and spermine are primordial polycations that are ubiquitously present in the three domains of life. We have found that Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis have lost either all or most polyamine biosynthetic genes, respectively, and are devoid of any polyamine when grown in polyamine-free media. In contrast to bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Campylobacter jejuni and Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which absolutely require polyamines for growth, S. aureus and E. faecalis grow normally over multiple subcultures in the absence of polyamines. Furthermore, S. aureus and E. faecalis form biofilms normally without polyamines, and exogenous polyamines do not stimulate growth or biofilm formation. High levels of external polyamines, including norspermidine, eventually inhibit biofilm formation through inhibition of planktonic growth. We show that spermidine/spermine N-acetyltransferase (SSAT) homologues encoded by S. aureus USA300 and E. faecalis acetylate spermidine, spermine and norspermidine, that spermine is the more preferred substrate, and that E. faecalis SSAT is almost as efficient as human SSAT with spermine as substrate. The polyamine auxotrophy, polyamine-independent growth and biofilm formation, and presence of functional polyamine N-acetyltransferases in S. aureus and E. faecalis represent a new paradigm for bacterial polyamine biology.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056124064&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85056124064&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/mmi.14145
DO - 10.1111/mmi.14145
M3 - Article
C2 - 30281855
AN - SCOPUS:85056124064
SN - 0950-382X
VL - 111
SP - 159
EP - 175
JO - Molecular Microbiology
JF - Molecular Microbiology
IS - 1
ER -