The Bep gene cluster in Burkholderia cenocepacia H111 codes for a water-insoluble exopolysaccharide essential for biofilm formation

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

  • Barbara Bellich
  • Lucrecia C. Terán
  • Magnus M. Fazli
  • Francesco Berti
  • Roberto Rizzo
  • Tolker-Nielsen, Tim
  • Paola Cescutti

Burkholderia cenocepacia is an opportunistic pathogen isolated from cystic fibrosis patients where it causes infections that are extremely difficult to treat with antibiotics, and sometimes have a fatal outcome. Biofilm is a virulence trait of B. cenocepacia, and is associated with infection persistence and increased tolerance to antibiotics. In biofilms exopolysaccharides have an important role, conferring mechanical stability and antibiotic tolerance. Two different exopolysaccharides were isolated from B. cenocepacia H111 biofilms: a water-soluble polysaccharide rich in rhamnose and containing an L-Man residue, and a water-insoluble polymer made of glucose, galactose and mannose. In the present work, the product encoded by B. cenocepacia H111 bepA-L gene cluster was identified as the water-insoluble exopolysaccharide, using mutant strains and NMR spectroscopy of the purified polysaccharides. It was also demonstrated that the B. cenocepacia H111 wild type strain produces the water-insoluble exopolysaccharide in pellicles, thus underlining its potential importance in in vivo infections.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer120318
TidsskriftCarbohydrate Polymers
Vol/bind301
ISSN0144-8617
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
The authors thank Bernard Henrissat, Director of Research CNRS, Creator of the CAZy database, for helping in the assignment of the glycosyltransferases family. This work was supported in part by an agreement with Cornell University , under Prime Agreement [ R01GM123283 ] from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health .

Funding Information:
The authors thank Bernard Henrissat, Director of Research CNRS, Creator of the CAZy database, for helping in the assignment of the glycosyltransferases family. This work was supported in part by an agreement with Cornell University, under Prime Agreement [R01GM123283] from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd

ID: 330895722