0000000000726931
AUTHOR
Hélène Scornec
Functional genomics of Lactobacillus casei establishment in the gut
International audience; Although the composition of the gut microbiota and its symbiotic contribution to key host physiological functions are well established, little is known as yet about the bacterial factors that account for this symbiosis. We selected Lactobacillus casei as a model microorganism to proceed to genomewide identification of the functions required for a symbiont to establish colonization in the gut. As a result of our recent development of a transposon-mutagenesis tool that overcomes the barrier that had prevented L. casei random mutagenesis, we developed a signature-tagged mutagenesis approach combining whole-genome reverse genetics using a set of tagged transposons and in…
Study of the cwaRS-ldcA Operon Coding a Two-Component System and a Putative L,D-Carboxypeptidase in Lactobacillus paracasei
International audience; The cell surface is the primary recognition site between the bacterium and the host. An operon of three genes, LSEI_0219 (cwaR), LSEI_0220 (cwaS), and LSEI_0221 (ldcA), has been previously identified as required for the establishment of Lactobacillus paracasei in the gut. The genes cwaR and cwaS encode a predicted two-component system (TCS) and ldcA a predicted D-alanyl-D-alanine carboxypeptidase which is a peptidoglycan (PG) biosynthesis enzyme. We explored the functionality and the physiological role of these three genes, particularly their impact on the bacterial cell wall architecture and on the bacterial adaptation to environmental perturbations in the gut. The …
Rapid 96-well plates DNA extraction and sequencing procedures to identify genome-wide transposon insertion sites in a difficult to lyse bacterium: Lactobacillus casei
International audience; Random transposon mutagenesis followed by adequate screening methods is an unavoidable procedure to characterize genetics of bacterial adaptation to environmental changes. We have recently constructed a mutant library of Lactobacillus casei and we aimed to fully annotate it. However, we have observed that, for L. casei which is a difficult to lyse bacterium, methods used to identify the transposon insertion site in a few mutants (transposon rescue by restriction and recircularization or PCR-based methods) were not transposable for a larger number because they are too time-consuming and sometimes not reliable. Here, we describe a method for large-scale and reliable id…
Identification of Critical Genes for Growth in Olive Brine by Transposon Mutagenesis of Lactobacillus pentosus C11
ABSTRACT Olive brine represents a stressful environment due to the high NaCl concentration, presence of phenolic compounds known as antimicrobials, and low availability of nutrients. Thus, only a few strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are adapted to grow in and ferment table olives. To identify the mechanisms by which these few strains are able to grow in olive brine, Lactobacillus pentosus C11, a particularly resistant strain isolated from naturally fermented table olives, was mutagenized by random transposition using the P junc -TpaseIS 1223 system (H. Licandro-Seraut, S. Brinster, M. van de Guchte, H. Scornec, E. Maguin, P. Sansonetti, J. F. Cavin, and P. Serror, Appl. Environ. Microb…
New Genes Involved in Mild Stress Response Identified by Transposon Mutagenesis in Lactobacillus paracasei
International audience; Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are associated with various plant, animal, and human niches and are also present in many fermented foods and beverages. Thus, they are subjected to several stress conditions and have developed advanced response mechanisms to resist, adapt, and grow. This work aimed to identify the genes involved in some stress adaptation mechanisms in LAB. For this purpose, global reverse genetics was applied by screening a library of 1287 Lactobacillus paracasei transposon mutants for mild monofactorial stresses. This library was submitted independently to heat (52 degrees C, 30 min), ethanol (170 g.L-1, 30 min), salt (NaCl 0.8 M, 24 h), acid (pH 4.5, 24 h…
Development of an Efficient In Vivo System (P-junc-TpaseIS(1223)) for Random Transposon Mutagenesis of Lactobacillus casei
ABSTRACT The random transposon mutagenesis system P junc -TpaseIS 1223 is composed of plasmids pVI129, expressing IS 1223 transposase, and pVI110, a suicide transposon plasmid carrying the P junc sequence, the substrate of the IS 1223 transposase. This system is particularly efficient in Lactobacillus casei , as more than 10,000 stable, random mutants were routinely obtained via electroporation.