Journal of Microbiology

Journal Articles

Relaxed Cleavage Specificity of Hyperactive Variants of Escherichia coli RNase E on RNA I: Dayeong Bae , Hana Hyeon , Eunkyoung Shin , Ji&# , Kangseok Lee; J. Microbiol. 2023;61(2):211-220. Published online February 22, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-023-00013-z

Abstract: RNase E is an essential enzyme in Escherichia coli. The cleavage site of this single-stranded specific endoribonuclease is well-characterized in many RNA substrates. Here, we report that the upregulation of RNase E cleavage activity by a mutation that affects either RNA binding (Q36R) or enzyme multimerization (E429G) was accompanied by relaxed cleavage specificity. Both mutations led to enhanced RNase E cleavage in RNA I, an antisense RNA of ColE1-type plasmid replication, at a major site and other cryptic sites. Expression of a truncated RNA I with a major RNase E cleavage site deletion at the 5′-end (RNA I- 5) resulted in an approximately twofold increase in the steady-state levels of RNA I- 5 and the copy number of ColE1-type plasmid in E. coli cells expressing wild-type or variant RNase E compared to those expressing RNA I. These
results
indicate that RNA I- 5 does not efficiently function as an antisense RNA despite having a triphosphate group at the 5′-end, which protects the RNA from ribonuclease attack. Our study suggests that increased cleavage rates of RNase E lead to relaxed cleavage specificity on RNA I and the inability of the cleavage product of RNA I as an antisense regulator in vivo does not stem from its instability by having 5′-monophosphorylated end.

The novel antifungal agent AB-22 displays in vitro activity against hyphal growth and biofilm formation in Candida albicans and potency for treating systemic candidiasis: Kyung-Tae Lee , Dong-Gi Lee , Ji Won Choi , Jong-Hyun Park , Ki Duk Park , Jong-Seung Lee , Yong-Sun Bahn; J. Microbiol. 2022;60(4):438-443. Published online March 14, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-022-2016-0

Abstract: Systemic candidiasis, which is mainly caused by Candida albicans, is a serious acute fungal infection in the clinical setting. In a previous study, we reported that compound 22h (designated as AB-22 in this study), a vinyl sulfate compound, is a fast-acting fungicidal agent against a broad spectrum of fungal pathogens. In this study, we aimed to further analyze the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of AB-22 against filamentation, biofilm formation, and virulence of C. albicans. Under in vitro hyphal growth-inducing condition, AB-22 effectively inhibited germ tube formation and hyphal growth, which are required for the initiation of biofilm formation. Indeed, AB-22 significantly suppressed C. albicans biofilm formation in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, AB-22 treatment inhibited the normal induction of ALS3, HWP1, and ECE1, which are all required for hyphal transition in C. albicans. Furthermore, AB-22 treatment increased the survival of mice systemically infected with C. albicans. In conclusion, in addition to its fungicidal activity, AB-22 inhibits filamentation and biofilm formation in C. albicans, which could collectively contribute to its potent in vivo efficacy against systemic candidiasis.

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