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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2009, p. 2613-2621, Vol. 191, No. 8
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01235-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Identification of the Polyketide Synthase Involved in the Biosynthesis of the Surface-Exposed Lipooligosaccharides in Mycobacteria {triangledown} ,{dagger}

Gilles Etienne,1,2* Wladimir Malaga,1,2 Françoise Laval,1,2 Anne Lemassu,1,2 Christophe Guilhot,1,2 and Mamadou Daffé1,2

CNRS, Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale, Département Mécanismes Moléculaires des Infections Mycobactériennes, 205 route de Narbonne, F-31077 Toulouse, France,1 Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier (Toulouse III), Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale, F-31077 Toulouse, France2

Received 4 September 2008/ Accepted 26 January 2009

Lipooligosaccharides (LOS) are highly antigenic glycolipids produced by a number of Mycobacterium species, which include "M. canettii," a member of the M. tuberculosis complex, and the opportunistic pathogens M. marinum and M. kansasii. The various LOS share a core composed of trehalose esterified by at least 1 mole of polymethyl-branched fatty acid (PMB-FA) and differ from one another by their oligosaccharide extensions. In this study, we identified a cluster of genes, MSMEG_4727 through MSMEG_4741, likely involved in the synthesis of LOS in M. smegmatis. Disruption of MSMEG_4727 (the ortholog of pks5 of M. tuberculosis), which encodes a putative polyketide synthase, resulted in the concomitant abrogation of the production of both PMB-FA and LOS in the mutant strain. Complementation of the mutant with the wild-type gene fully restored the phenotype. We also showed that, in contrast to the case for "M. canettii" and M. marinum, LOS are located in deeper compartments of the cell envelope of M. smegmatis. The availability of two mycobacterial strains differing only in LOS production should help in defining the biological role(s) of this important glycolipid.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: CNRS, Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale, Département Mécanismes Moléculaires des Infections Mycobactériennes, 205 route de Narbonne, F-31077 Toulouse, France. Phone: 33 (0)5 61 17 55 71. Fax: 33 (0)5 61 17 55 80. E-mail: gilles.etienne{at}ipbs.fr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 30 January 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.

Journal of Bacteriology, April 2009, p. 2613-2621, Vol. 191, No. 8
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01235-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Rombouts, Y., Burguiere, A., Maes, E., Coddeville, B., Elass, E., Guerardel, Y., Kremer, L. (2009). Mycobacterium marinum Lipooligosaccharides Are Unique Caryophyllose-containing Cell Wall Glycolipids That Inhibit Tumor Necrosis Factor-{alpha} Secretion in Macrophages. J. Biol. Chem. 284: 20975-20988 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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