The first focus is on enterobacterial strains that turn on biosynthetic genes for the siderophore enterobactin in microenvironments where iron is limiting, including vertebrate hosts. Enterobactin binds ferric iron avidly and is subjected to specific uptake by the producing bacteria. Some pathogenic gram negatives further elaborate the enterobactin scaffold to make C-glucosylated forms, also known as salmochelins from their discovery in iron-scavenging salmonella typhi strains. Salmochelin-producing bacteria tailor the Ent scaffold under direction of the Iro gene cluster IroBCDEN. We will study the enzymatic mechanism for C- glucosylation by IroB and determine to what extent the glucosylation of the dihydroxybenzene rings of the Ent scaffold interfere with sequestration of the siderophore by the mammalian host protein siderocalin. Failure to sequester the modified enterobactins should correlate with increased pathogenicity of the bacteria. The second focus is on the productuiion of the siderophore acinteobactin by the gram negative respiratory pathogen Acinetobacter baumanii. Siderophore production correlates with increased virulence. Acinetobactin has all three known-iron chelating groups, catechol, thiazoline, and hydroxamate, built into its skeleon by a nonribosomal peptide synthetase assembly line. The six genes BasABCDEF encode the siderophore synthetase assembly line. We plan to overproduce each protein and evaluate the following unusual featiures predicted for assembly line ooperations: action of two free standing adenylation and thiiolation domains, cyclodehdration by tandem condensation domains, hydroxamate formation during chain termination in siderophore maturation. Characterization of the salrnochelin and acinetobactin biosynthesizing enzymes will be the foundation for subsequent evaluation of enzyme inhibitors that might block siderophore production.
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