Volume 25, No 12, Dec 2015
ISSN: 1001-0602
EISSN: 1748-7838 2018
impact factor 17.848*
(Clarivate Analytics, 2019)
Volume 25 Issue 12, December 2015: 1352-1367
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
PslG, a self-produced glycosyl hydrolase, triggers biofilm disassembly by disrupting exopolysaccharide matrix
Shan Yu1,3,*, Tiantian Su2,*, Huijun Wu1,3, Shiheng Liu2, Di Wang1, Tianhu Zhao1,3, Zengjun Jin1,3, Wenbin Du1, Mei-Jun Zhu4, Song Lin Chua5, Liang Yang5, Deyu Zhu2, Lichuan Gu2 and Luyan Z Ma1
1State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China
3University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
4School of Food Science, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6120, USA
5Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637551
Correspondence: Luyan Z Ma, E-mail: luyanma27@im.ac.cn; Lichuan Gu,(lcgu@sdu.edu.cn)
Biofilms are surface-associated communities of microorganism embedded in extracellular matrix. Exopolysaccharide is a critical component in the extracellular matrix that maintains biofilm architecture and protects resident biofilm bacteria from antimicrobials and host immune attack. However, self-produced factors that target the matrix exopolysaccharides, are still poorly understood. Here, we show that PslG, a protein involved in the synthesis of a key biofilm matrix exopolysaccharide Psl in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, prevents biofilm formation and disassembles existing biofilms within minutes at nanomolar concentrations when supplied exogenously. The crystal structure of PslG indicates the typical features of an endoglycosidase. PslG mainly disrupts the Psl matrix to disperse bacteria from biofilms. PslG treatment markedly enhances biofilm sensitivity to antibiotics and macrophage cells, resulting in improved biofilm clearance in a mouse implant infection model. Furthermore, PslG shows biofilm inhibition and disassembly activity against a wide range of Pseudomonas species, indicating its great potential in combating biofilm-related complications.
doi:10.1038/cr.2015.129
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