Tao Wei, Caimeng Zhao, Mussa Quareshy, Nan Wu, Shen Huang, Yuezhe Zhao, Pengfei Yang, Duobin Mao and Yin Chen

In this study, we biochemically characterized a glycolipid glycosyltransferase (GT_cp) from the marine bacterium “Candidatus Pelagibacter sp.” strain HTCC7211, a member of the SAR11 clade. Our results showed that GT_cp is able to act as a multifunctional enzyme by synthesizing different glycoglycerolipids with UDP-glucose, UDP-galactose, or UDP-glucuronic acid as sugar donors and diacylglycerol (DAG) as the acceptor. Analyses of enzyme kinetic parameters demonstrated that Mg²⁺ notably changes the enzyme’s affinity for UDP-glucose, which improves its catalytic efficiency. Homology modeling and mutational analyses revealed binding sites for the sugar donor and the diacylglycerol lipid acceptor, which provided insights into the retaining mechanism of GT_cp with its GT-B fold. A phylogenetic analysis showed that GT_cp and its homologs form a group in the GT4 glycosyltransferase family. These results not only provide new insights into the glycoglycerolipid synthesis mechanism in lipid remodeling but also describe an efficient enzymatic tool for the future synthesis of bioactive molecules

Applied and Environmental Microbiology. July 2021

Christian P Schwall, Torkel E Loman, Bruno C Martins, Sandra Cortijo, Casandra Villava, Vassili Kusmartsev, Toby Liesey, Teresa Saez, James CW Locke

Genetically identical individuals in bacterial populations can display significant phenotypic variability. This variability can be functional, for example by allowing a fraction of stress prepared cells to survive an otherwise lethal stress. How bacterial populations modulate their level of phenotypic variability remains unclear. Here we show that the alternative sigma factor σ^V circuit in Bacillus subtilis generates functional phenotypic variability that can be tuned by stress level, environmental history and genetic perturbations. Using single-cell time-lapse microscopy and microfluidics, we find the fraction of cells that immediately activate σ^V under lysozyme stress depends on stress level and on a transcriptional memory of previous stress. Iteration between model and experiment reveals that this tunability can be explained by the autoregulatory feedback structure of the sigV operon.

Molecular Systems Biology. July 2021

Andrea Parisi, Samuel PC Brand, Joe Hilton, Rabia Aziza, Matt J.Keeling, D James Nokes

Using data from Spain and Italy, we estimate an age dependent infection fatality ratio for SARS-CoV-2, as well as risks of hospitalization and intensive care admission. We use them in a model that simulates the dynamics of the virus using an age structured, spatially detailed agent based approach, that explicitly incorporates governmental interventions and changes in mobility and contact patterns occurred during the COVID-19 outbreak in each country. Our simulations show that containment measures combined with high density are responsible for the containment of cases within densely populated areas, and that spread to less densely populated areas occurred during the late stages of the first wave. The capability to reproduce observed features of the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 makes this model a potential candidate for forecasting the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in other settings, and we recommend its application in low and lower-middle income countries which remain understudied.

PLoS Computational Biology. July 2021

Christopher Quince, Sergey Nurk, Sebastien Raguideau, Robert James, Orkun S. Soyer, J. Kimberly Summers, Antoine Limasset, A. Murat Eren, Rayan Chikhi & Aaron E. Darling

We introduce STrain Resolution ON assembly Graphs (STRONG), which identifies strains de novo, from multiple metagenome samples. STRONG performs coassembly, and binning into metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs), and stores the coassembly graph prior to variant simplification. This enables the subgraphs and their unitig per-sample coverages, for individual single-copy core genes (SCGs) in each MAG, to be extracted. A Bayesian algorithm, BayesPaths, determines the number of strains present, their haplotypes or sequences on the SCGs, and abundances. STRONG is validated using synthetic communities and for a real anaerobic digestor time series generates haplotypes that match those observed from long Nanopore reads.

Genome Biology. July 2021

Andrew R. J. Murphy, David J. Scanlan, Yin Chen, Nathan B. P. Adams, William A. Cadman, Andrew Bottrill, Gary Bending, John P. Hammond, Andrew Hitchcock, Elizabeth M. H. Wellington & Ian D. E. A. Lidbury

The planktonic synthesis of reduced organophosphorus molecules, such as alkylphosphonates and aminophosphonates, represents one half of a vast global oceanic phosphorus redox cycle. Whilst alkylphosphonates tend to accumulate in recalcitrant dissolved organic matter, aminophosphonates do not. Here, we identify three bacterial 2-aminoethylphosphonate (2AEP) transporters, named AepXVW, AepP and AepSTU, whose synthesis is independent of phosphate concentrations. Collectively, our data identifies a mechanism responsible for a major oxidation process in the marine phosphorus redox cycle and suggests 2AEP may be an important source of regenerated phosphate and ammonium, which are required for oceanic primary production.

Nature Communications. July 2021

Yin Ho Vong, Lavanya Sivashanmugam, Rebecca Leech, Andreas Zaucker, Alex Jones, Karuna Sampath

The ability to reproduce is essential in all branches of life. In metazoans, this process is initiated by formation of the germline, a group of cells that are destined to form the future gonads, the tissue that will produce the gametes. The molecular mechanisms underlying germline formation differs between species. In zebrafish, development of the germline is dependent on the specification, migration and proliferation of progenitors called the primordial germ cells (PGCs). PGC specification is dependent on a maternally provided cytoplasmic complex of ribonucleoproteins (RNPs), the germplasm. s. Our findings suggest that Igf2bp3 is essential for normal embryonic and germline development, and acts as a key regulator of sexual development

PLoS Genetics. July 2021