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National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS)

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  • A conserved biosynthetic gene cluster is regulated by quorum sensing in a shipworm symbiont
    Robes, Jose Miguel D.; Altamia, Marvin A.; Murdock, Ethan G.; Concepcion, Gisela; Haygood, Margo G.; Puri, Aaron W. (American Society for Microbiology, 2022-06-14)
    Bacterial symbionts often provide critical functions for their hosts. For example, wood-boring bivalves called shipworms rely on cellulolytic endosymbionts for wood digestion. However, how the relationship between shipworms and their bacterial symbionts is formed and maintained remains unknown. Quorum sensing (QS) often plays an important role in regulating symbiotic relationships. We identified and characterized a QS system found in Teredinibacter sp. strain 2052S, a gill isolate of the wood-boring shipworm Bactronophorus cf. thoracites. We determined that 2052S produces the signal N-decanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C10-HSL) and that this signal controls the activation of a biosynthetic gene cluster colocated in the symbiont genome that is conserved among all symbiotic Teredinibacter isolates. We subsequently identified extracellular metabolites associated with the QS regulon, including ones linked to the conserved biosynthetic gene cluster, using mass spectrometry-based molecular networking. Our results demonstrate that QS plays an important role in regulating secondary metabolism in this shipworm symbiont. This information provides a step toward deciphering the molecular details of the relationship between these symbionts and their hosts. Furthermore, because shipworm symbionts harbor vast yet underexplored biosynthetic potential, understanding how their secondary metabolism is regulated may aid future drug discovery efforts using these organisms.
  • Cloning and characterization of a nuclear gene encoding a starch-branching enzyme from the marine red alga Gracilaria gracilis
    Lluisma, A. O.; Ragan, M. A. (Springer, 1998-08-27)
    The biosynthesis of starch in red algae occurs in the cytosol, in contrast to green plants where it takes place in the plastid. We have cloned a nuclear gene from the red alga Gracilaria gracilis that encodes a homolog of starch-branching enzymes (SBEs); this gene, which is apparently intron-free, was designated as GgSBE1. A potential TATA box, CAAT boxes, and other potential regulatory elements were observed in its 5′ flanking region. The encoded 766-aa peptide shares significant sequence similarity with SBEs from green plants (at least 40%), and with glycogen-branching enzymes (GBEs) from human (46%) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (45%). Southern-hybridization analysis indicates that the gene is single-copy, although weaker signals suggest that related genes exist in the genome of G. gracilis. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that GgSBE1 groups within the eukaryote branching enzymes (BEs) and not with eubacterial GBEs, suggesting that its gene has not been derived directly from an endosymbiotic cyanobacterium, but instead is ancestrally eukaryotic.