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Nematophilic bacteria as a source of novel macrocyclised antimicrobial non-ribosomal peptides
(2020)
A solution to ineffective clinical antimicrobials is the discovery of new ones from under-explored sources such as macrocyclic non-ribosomal peptides (NRP) from nematophilic bacteria. In this dissertation an antimicrobial discovery process –from soil sample to inhibitory peptide– is demonstrated through investigations on six nematophilic bacteria: Xenorhabdus griffiniae XN45, X. griffiniae VH1, Xenorhabdus sp. nov. BG5, Xenorhabdus sp. nov. BMMCB, X. ishibashii and Photorhabdus temperata. To demonstrate the first step of bacterium isolation and species delineation, endosymbionts were isolated from Steinernema sp. strains BG5 and VH1 that were isolated directly from soil samples in Western Kenya. After genome sequencing and assembly of novel Xenorhabdus isolates VH1 and BG5, species delineation was done via three overall genome relatedness indices. VH1 was identified as X. griffiniae VH1, BG5 as Xenorhabdus sp. nov. BG5 and X. griffiniae BMMCB was emended to Xenorhabdus sp. nov. BMMCB. The nematode host of X. griffiniae XN45, Steinernema sp. scarpo was highlighted as a putative novel species. To demonstrate the second step of genome mining and macrocyclic non-ribosomal peptide structure elucidation, chemosynthesis and biosynthesis, the non-ribosomal peptide whose production is encoded by the ishA-B genes in X. ishibashii was investigated. Through a combination of refactoring the ishA-B operon by a promoter exchange mechanism, isotope labelling experiments, high resolution tandem mass spectrometry analysis, bioinformatic protein domain analysis and chemoinformatic comparisons of actual to hypothetical mass spectrometry spectra, the structures of Ishipeptides were elucidated and confirmed by chemical synthesis. Ishipeptide A was a branch cyclic depsidodecapeptide macrocyclised via an ester bond between serine and the terminal glutamate. It chemosynthesis route was via a late stage macrolactamation and linearised Ishipeptide B was synthesised via solid phase iterative synthesis. Ishipeptides were not N-terminally acylated despite being biosynthesised from the IshA protein that had a C-starter domain. It was highlighted that more than restoration of the histidine active site of this domain is required to restore N-terminal acylation activity.
To demonstrate the final step of determination of antimicrobial activity, minimum inhibitory concentrations of Ishipeptides and Photoditritide from Photorhabdus temperata against fungi and bacteria were determined. None were antifungal while only the macrocyclic compounds were inhibitory, with Ishipeptide A inhibitory to Gram-positive bacteria at 37 µM. The cationic Photoditritide, a cyclic hexapeptide macrocyclised via a lactam bond between homoarginine and tryptophan, was 12 times more inhibitory (3.0 µM), even more effective than a current clinical compound, Ampicillin (4.2 µM). For both, macrocyclisation was hypothesised to contribute to antimicrobial activity. Ultimately, this dissertation demonstrated not only nematophilic bacteria as a source of novel macrocyclic antimicrobial non-ribosomal peptides but also a process of antimicrobial discovery–from soil sample to inhibitory peptide– from these useful bacteria genera. This is significant for the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
The compound class of the fabclavines was described as secondary or specialized metabolites (SM) for Xenorhabdus budapestensis and X. szentirmaii. Their corresponding structure was elucidated by NMR and further derivatives could be identified in both strains. Biochemically, fabclavines are hybrid SMs derived from two non-ribosomal-peptide-synthetases (NRPS), one type I polyketide-synthase (PKS) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) synthases. In detail, a hexapeptide is connected via partially reduced polyketide units to an unsual polyamine. Structurally, they are related to the (pre-)zeamines, described for Serratia plymuthica and Dickeya zeae. Fabclavines exhibit a broad-spectrum bioactivity against a variety of different organisms like Grampositive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, protozoa but also against eukaryotic celllines.
In this work, the fabclavine biosynthesis was elucidated and assigned to two independently working assembly lines. The NRPS-PKS-pathway is initiated by the first NRPS FclI via generation of a tetrapeptide, which is elongated by the second NRPS FclJ, leading to a hexapeptide. Alternatively, FclJ can also act as direct start of the biosynthesis, resulting in the final formation of shortened fabclavine derivatives with a diinstead of a hexapeptide. In both cases, the peptide moiety is transferred to the iterative type I PKS FclK, leading to an elongation with partially reduced polyketide units. The resulting NRPS-PKS-intermediate is still enzyme-bound. The PUFA-homologues FclC, FclD and FclE in combination with FclF, FclG and FclH belong to the polyamine-forming pathway. Briefly, repeating decarboxylative Claisen thioester condensation reactions of acyl-coenzym A building blocks lead to the generation of an acyl chain in a PKS- or fatty acid biosynthesis-like manner. The corresponding β-keto-groups are either completely reduced or transaminated in a specific and repetitive way, resulting in the concatenation of so-called amine-units. The final β-keto-group is reduced to a hydroxy-group and the intermediate is reductively released by the thioester reductase FclG. A subsequent transamination step leads to the final polyamine. The NRPS-PKS- as well as the polyamine-pathway are connected by FclL. This condensation domain-like protein catalyzes the condensation of the polyamine with the NRPS-PKS-part, which results in the release of the final fabclavine. The results are described in detail in the first publication (first author).
Fabclavine biosynthesis gene cluster (BGC) are widely spread among the genus Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus. In Xenorhabdus strains a high degree of conservation regarding the BGC synteny as well as the identity of single proteins can be observed. However, Photorhabdus strains harbor only the PUFA-homologues. While in Photorhabdus no product could be detected, our analysis revealed that the Xenorhabdus strains produce a large chemical diversity of different derivatives. Briefly, the general backbone of the fabclavines is conserved and only four chemical moieties are variable: The second and last amino acids of the NRPS-part, the number of incorporated polyketide units as well as the number of amine units in the polyamine. In combination with the elucidated biosynthesis, these variables could be assigned to single biosynthesis components as diversity mechanisms. Together with the 10 already described derivatives, a total of 32 derivatives could be detected. Interestingly, except for taxonomic closely related strains, all analyzed strains produce their own set of derivatives. Finally, we could confirm that the fabclavines are the major bioactive compound class in the analyzed strains under laboratory conditions. The results are described in detail in the second publication (first author).
Together with our collaboration partner Prof. Selcuk Hazir a potent bioactivity against Enterococcus faecalis, which is associated with endodontic infections, could be contributed to X. cabanillasii. Here, we could confirm that this bioactivity can be assigned to the fabclavines. The results are described in detail in the third publication(co-author).
Among the genus Xenorhabdus, X. bovienii represents an exception as its NRPS and PKS genes of the fabclavine BGC are missing or truncated, resulting in the exclusive production of polyamines. Furthermore, its PUFA-homologue FclC harbors an additional dehydratase (DH) domain. Upon extensive analysis a yet unknown deoxy-polyamine was identified and assigned to this additional domain. Finally, the DH domain was transferred into other polyamine pathways. Regardless of an in cis or in trans integration, the chimeric pathways produced deoxy-derivatives of its naturally occurring polyamines, suggesting that this represents another diversification mechanism. The results are described in detail in the attached manuscript (first author).
Monoterpenes and their monoterpenoid derivatives form a subclass of terpene(oid)s. They are widely used in medicines/pharmaceuticals, as flavor and fragrance compounds, or in agriculture and are also considered as future biofuels. However, for many of these substances, the extraction from natural sources poses challenges such as occurring at low concentrations in their raw material or because the natural sources are diminishing. Furthermore, many of the structurally more complex terpenoids cannot be chemically synthesized in an economic way. Therefore, microbial production provides an attractive alternative, taking advantage of the often distinct regio- and stereoselectivity of enzymatic reactions. However, monoterpenes and monoterpenoids are challenging products for industrial biotechnology processes due to their pronounced cytotoxicity, which complicates the production in microorganisms compared to longer-chain terpenes (sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, etc.).
The aim of this thesis was to generate a biotechnological complement to fossil-resources-based chemical processes for industrial monoterpenoid production. Therefore, a starting point for the further development of a microbial cell factory based on the microbe Pseudomonas putida KT2440 was aimed to be created. This production organism should be able to conduct a whole- cell biocatalysis to selectively oxyfunctionalize monoterpene hydrocarbons using renewable industrial by-products and waste streams as raw material for monoterpenoid production (Figure 1). As a model substance, the production of (-)-menthol should be addressed due to its industrial significance. (-)-Menthol is one of the world’s most widely-used flavor and fragrance compounds by volume as well as a medical component, having an annual production volume of over 30,000 tons. An approach for (-)-menthol production from renewable resources could be a biotechnological(-chemical) two-step conversion (Figure 1), starting from (+)-limonene, a by-product of the citrus fruit processing industry.
The thesis project was divided into three parts. In the first part, enzymes (limonene-3- hydroxylases) were to be identified that can convert (+)-limonene into the precursor of (-)-menthol, (+)-trans-isopiperitenol. To counteract product toxicity, in the second part, the tolerance of the intended production organism P. putida KT2440 towards monoterpenes and their monoterpenoid derivatives should be increased. Finally, in the third part, the identified hydroxylase enzymes would be expressed in the improved P. putida KT2440 strain to create a whole-cell biocatalyst for the first reaction step of a two-step (-)-menthol production, starting from (+)-limonene.
To achieve these objectives, different genetic/molecular biology and analytical methods were applied. In this way, two cytochrome P450 monooxygenase enzymes from the fungi Aureobasidium pullulans and Hormonema carpetanum could be identified and functionally expressed in Pichia pastoris, which can catalyze the intended hydroxylation reaction on (+) limonene with high stereo- and regioselectivity. A further characterization of the enzyme from A. pullulans showed that apart from (+) limonene the protein can also hydroxylate ( ) limonene, - and -pinene, as well as 3-carene.
Furthermore, within this thesis, mechanisms of microbial monoterpenoid resistance of P. putida could be identified. It was shown that the different monoterpenes and monoterpenoids tested have very different toxicity levels and that mainly the Ttg efflux pumps of P. putida GS1 are responsible for the tolerance to many of these compounds. Based on these results, a P. putida KT2440 strain with increased resistance to various monoterpenoids, including isopiperitenol, could then be generated, which can be used as a host organism for the further development of monoterpenoid-producing cell factories.
While within the scope of this work the heterologous expression of the fungal gene in prokaryotic cells in a functional form could not be realized despite different approaches, the identified enzymes, the monoterpenoid-tolerant P. putida strain and a plasmid developed for heterologous gene expression in P. putida provide a starting point for the further design of a microbial cell factory for biotechnological monoterpenoid production.
Evidence is increasingly pointing towards a significant global decline in biodiversity. The drivers of this decline are numerous, including habitat change and overexploitation, rapid deforestation, pollution, exotic species and disease, and finally climate change as an emerging driver of biodiversity change (Nakamura, et al., 2013; Hancocks, 2001; Pereira, Navarro & Martins, 2012). Raising public awareness of the need to conserve biological diversity is essential to safeguard the richness of life forms all over the world (Lindemann-Matthies, 2002). In this regard, institutions such as science museums, zoos and aquariums have the potential to play an important role (Rennie & Stocklmayer, 2003). Especially, zoos can provide a productive learning environment (Miles & Tout, 1992), facilitating the promotion of public conservation awareness and the adoption of pro-environmental behaviours that would reduce negative human impacts on biodiversity (Barongi, et al., 2015).
Based on these concepts, my study contributes to the developing field of visitor studies. Taking as reference non-zoo visitors and zoo visitors, I have focused on reviewing some aspects of conservation education, such as people's awareness of conservation, people's interest in animals and people's feelings towards animals and attitudes towards zoos. The study identified differences between non-regular and regular zoo visitors in interests in animals, as well as visitor attitudes towards conservation issues and zoos. Therefore, the present study indicated that positive emotional reactions and, in particular, a perceived sense of connection to the animal were linked and depended on the frequency of zoo visits. It was as well remarkable, that conservation awareness was influenced by the interest in animals, the interest in visiting zoos, the attitudes towards these institutions, and the age and the country of origin. All these variables had a greater effect in the conservation consciousness of the participants. Additionally interestingly, the main reason for visiting zoos in every country was to learn something about animals. This highlights the educational role of zoos and broadly supports the idea that people want to visit zoos to learn something about animals, in turn facilitating pro-conservation learning and changes in attitude. They are uniquely positioned to interact with visitors, communities, and society and to contribute by providing an informative and entertaining environment. Visiting zoos could led to contribute to promoting animal connectedness and interest in species.
Carotinoide sind Pigmente, die in Pflanzen, Algen, einigen Pilzen und Bakterien vorkommen. Sie spielen eine wichtige Rolle bei der Photosynthese durch Absorption von Licht und beim Lichtschutz. Sie sind verantwortlich für die braunen, roten, orangen und gelben Farben von Obst, Gemüse, Herbstblättern und die Farbe einiger Blumen und Algen. Tiere können keine Carotinoide synthetisieren, daher ist ihre Anwesenheit auf die Nahrungsaufnahme zurückzuführen. Carotinoide sind Tetraterpenoide (40C), die aus Isoprenoidmolekülen (5C) synthetisiert werden. Der Methylerythritol-phosphatweg ist der Carotinoid-Vorläuferweg, der die Isoprenoideinheiten bildet. Carotinoide haben aufgrund ihrer gesundheitlichen Vorteile das Interesse der Nutrazeutika-Industrie geweckt.
Fucoxanthin ist ein Carotinoid, das nur in Kieselalgen, Braunalgen, Haptophyten und einigen Dinoflagellaten vorkommt. Aufgrund seiner Vorteile zur Vorbeugung von Krebs, kognitiven Erkrankungen und Fettleibigkeit sowie seiner antioxidativen Eigenschaften ist Fucoxanthin ein sehr interessantes Molekül fur die Nutrazeutikabranche.
Fucoxanthin hat eine komplexe chemische Struktur mit einer Allenbindung und einer Epoxyketogruppe. Daher wäre seine chemische Synthese kompliziert, da es auch eine stereokontrollierte Synthese erfordert86. Aus diesem Grund ist die Extraktion aus Makroalgen oder Mikroalgen die Methode der Wahl für die kommerzielle Herstellung von Fucoxanthin.
In dieser Arbeit bestand das Ziel darin, die Fucoxanthin-Produktivität in Kieselalgen mit gentechnischen Methoden zu steigern, damit die Zellen mehr Fucoxanthin produzieren. Zu diesem Zweck wurde der Effekt der Insertion zusätzlicher Kopien von Genen in das Genom untersucht, die für geschwindigkeitsbestimmende oder Schlüsselenzyme im Carotinoid- und MEP-Weg kodieren.
Zu Beginn wurden diese Effekte bei einzelnen Mutanten beobachtet. Letztendlich ist es jedoch das Ziel, eine Mutante zu erzeugen, die mehrere geschwindigkeitsbestimmende Enzyme überexprimiert, um auf diese Weise Engpässe zu vermeiden. In früheren Studien erreichten Eilers et al.54 durch die einmalige Überexpression der psy- und dxs-Gene in der Kieselalge P. tricornutum einen 2.4- und 1.8-fachen Anstieg der Fucoxanthin-Spiegel.
In dieser Arbeit führte die Insertion zusätzlicher Kopien der Gene idi und pds2 nicht dazu, dass die Zellen mehr Fucoxanthin produzieren. Im Gegensatz dazu erreichten die Mutanten mit zusätzlichen Kopien der Gen ggpps und mit zusätzlichen Kopien sowohl von psy als auch von dxs seine um 28% bzw. 10% höhere Fucoxanthin-Produktivität pro Million Zellen. Bei diesen Mutanten ist die Gesamtproduktivität jedoch geringer als beim Wildtyp, da ihr Wachstum langsamer als beim Wildtyp ist.
Unter Berücksichtigung der besten Zielgene wurden Mutanten erzeugt, die gleichzeitig zusätzliche Kopien von psy, dxs und ggpps enthielten. Die Mutanten hatten unter sehr niedriegen Lichtbedingungen eine um bis zu 61% höhere Produktivität pro Million Zellen als der Wildtyp. Ausnahmsweise wurden diese Mutanten bei sehr schwachem Licht (10 µE m-2 s-1) gezüchtet, da sie sehr gestresst waren und als Zellklumpen wuchsen. Obwohl die Gesamt-Fucoxanthin-Spiegel in diesen Mutanten unter diesen Bedingungen höher sind als im Wildtyp, sind sie daher niedriger als die Fucoxanthin-Spiegel bei den in anderen Experimenten verwendeten Lichtbedingungen (50 µE m-2 s-1). Als Ergebnis dieser Experimente kann gesagt werden, dass die Belastung der Zellen nach den genetischen Veränderungen untersucht werden muss, da dies zu einer Abnahme der Biomasse und folglich zu einer Abnahme der Fucoxanthinproduktion führt. Alternativ könnte auch eine 2-Stufen-Kultur etabliert werden, in der in einem ersten Schritt eine hohe Biomasse erreicht wird und im zweiten Schritt die Expression der interessierenden Gene induziert wird.
Aufgrund der antioxidativen Eigenschaften von Carotinoiden besteht eine übliche Strategie zur Akkumulation von Carotinoiden darin, die Zellen unter oxidative Stressbedingungen zu setzen. Diese Strategie ist jedoch nicht wirksam für die Anreicherung von Fucoxanthin unter hohen Salzkonzentrationen oder hohen Lichtbedingungen. Bessere Versuchspläne könnten jedoch eine 2-Stufen-Kultur oder adaptive Laborbedingungen gewesen sein.
Eine andere mögliche Strategie zur Erhöhung des Fucoxanthinspiegels wäre die Durchführung einer zufälligen Mutagenese der Zellen. Auf diese Weise sind keine Vorkenntnisse über den Carotinoidsyntheseweg und seine Regulation erforderlich und es kann zu Veränderungen in Genen führen, die keine offensichtlichen Ziele sind.
Experimente mit zufälliger Mutagenese erfordern ein Hochdurchsatz-Screeningsystem, da Hunderte oder sogar Tausende von Mutanten erhalten werden. Eine mögliche Strategie, um die Kultivierung der hohen Anzahl von Mutanten zu vereinfachen, ist die Einkapselung dieser Mutanten in Alginatkügelchen. Auf diese Weise können alle Mutanten in demselben Gefäß kultiviert werden. Die eingekapselten Zellen können dann beispielsweise mit einem Durchflusszytometer auf große Partikel durch Fluoreszenz- oder Absorptionsmessungen gescreent werden.
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This work deals with the characterization of three different type II polyketide synthase systems (PKS II) from the Gram-negative bacteria Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus.
Particular attention was paid to a biochemically underexplored class of aryl polyene (APE) pigments. Bioinformatic analysis of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis and the in vitro reconstruction proved that the synthesis of APEs involves an unusual fatty acid-like elongation mechanism. Furthermore, the discovery of unexpected protein-protein interactions provided new insights into the multienzyme complex formation of this unusual PKS II system. Through collaboration with the groups from Prof. Michael Groll and junior Prof. Nina Morgner, two protein complexes were structurally solved and several native protein multimerization events were identified and allowed us to suggest a possible protein-interaction network. The results are summarized in publication ‘An Uncommon Type II PKS Catalyzes Biosynthesis of Aryl Polyene Pigments’ (first author; J. Am. Chem. Soc.).
In addition to in vitro-analysis, in vivo-studies were used to investigate the APE compound produced by X. doucetiae in more detail. The activation of the silent biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) led to the detection of the APE compound in the homologous host. Further combination of homologous expression and targeted deletions of the APE BGC revealed an APE-lipid-like structure. MS-based analyses and purification of intermediates allowed us to deduce structural building blocks of the APE-lipid, which is composed of an APE structural core, a glucosamine residue and an unusual long-chain fatty acid with unusual conjugated double bonds and a phosphoethanolamine head group. In combination with the above stated in vitro-data, we assumed a plausible biosynthetic mechanism of the APE-lipid. The results are summarized in the section ‘Additional Results: Tracing the Full-length APE’.
The biosynthesis of isopropylstilbene (IPS) has already been well-studied by the Bode laboratory and the group of Prof. Ikuro Abe. Studies with Photorhabdus laumondii TT01 by the Bode group revealed the distributed locations and functions of the genes involved in biosynthesis, which originate from two pathways. Particularly, the Bode group first demonstrated that an unusual ketosynthase/cyclase (StlD) catalyzes the condensation of 5-phenyl-2,4-pentadienoyl-ACP and isovaleryl-beta-ketoacyl-ACP via a Michael addition. Such a pathway for stilbene formation is distinct from those widespread in plants. The Abe group solved the structure and biochemical mechanism of StlD and further investigated the aromatization reaction of the aromatase StlC. However, the generation of the required cinnamoyl-precursor 5-phenyl-2,4-pentadienoyl-ACP as a Michael acceptor for this cyclization reaction remained elusive. In this work, we were able to reconstitute the synthesis of the Michael acceptor in vitro, by the action of enzymes from the fatty acid biosynthesis. With the knowledge about the crucial cross-talk from primary and specialized metabolism, we further determined the minimal endowment for stilbene production in a heterologous host. Here, the discovered AasS enzyme StlB is responsible for the generation of cinnamoyl-ACP and among others, plFabH plays a key role as gatekeeper enzyme for further processing. With this information in hand, we were able to obtain IPS production in E. coli. These results are presented in the manuscript ‘Biosynthesis of the Multifunctional Isopropylstilbene in Photorhabdus laumondii Involves Cross-talk Between Specialized and Primary Metabolism’ (co-first author, manuscript).
The biosynthesis of the orange-to-red-pigmented anthraquinones (AQs) is the best-studied type II PKS system according to preliminary results. While several investigations by Brachmann et al. discovered the BGC and the overall product spectrum of the main AQ-256 and its methylated derivatives, data of Quiqin Zhou (Bode group) performed biochemical in vitro analysis paired with in vivo heterologous expression of the ant-genes antA-I. This led to the identification of shunt products that indicated an AQ-scaffold derived from an octaketide intermediate that gets shortened to a heptaketide by the hydrolase AntI, resulting in the main anthraquinone AQ-256. This PKS-shortening mechanism was further confirmed by the protein crystal structure of AntI by the Groll group (publication, minor contributions, co-author, Chem Sci. ‘Molecular Mechanism of Polyketide Shortening in Anthraquinone Biosynthesis of Photorhabdus luminescens’). Further substrate analysis of the P. luminescens AQ-producer and mutants revealed an inhibitory effect of cinnamic acid against the hydrolase AntI. Cinnamic acid might therefore be involved in regulation of AQ biosynthesis (‘Anthraquinone Production is Influenced by Cinnamic Acid’, first author, manuscript).
Biochemical analysis from Quiqin Zhou with the minimal PKS of the AQ-synthase further revealed the exclusive activation of the AQ-ACP by the PPTase AntB. The PPTase is insoluble alone but gets stabilized by the CoA-ligase, most likely inactive, working as a chaperone. Thus, the minimal PKS endowment to produce the octaketide scaffold compromises, besides the ACP, the KS:CLF heterodimer and the MCAT, the co-occurrence of the PPTase AntB and the CoA-ligase AntG. For the first time, X-ray crystallography depicted a minimal PKS in action, by obtaining the structural data of native complexes from an ACP:KS:CLF, the KS:CLF alone and an ACP:MCAT in their non-active and active forms. It was possible to confirm a KS-bound hexaketide, which was built upon heterologous expression of the KS:CLF. Mutagenesis with amino-acids proposed to be involved in protein-protein interactions in the ACP:KS:CLF complex revealed some interesting protein-interaction sites. Additionally, an induced-fit mechanism of the MCAT with the ACP during the malonylation reaction confirmed a monodirectional transfer reaction (‘Structural Snapshots of the Minimal PKS System Responsible for Octaketide Biosynthesis’ co-author, manuscript under review).
In the past decades, the use and production of chemicals has been on the rise globally due to increasing industrialization and intensive agriculture; resulting in the occurrence and ecotoxicological risks of chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) in the aquatic compartments. Risks include changes in community structure resulting in the dominance of one species and ecosystem imbalance. When dominant disease-causing organisms are in the environment, the disease transmission is increased. For example, host snails for the schistosomiasis, a human trematode disease, are known to be tolerant to pesticide
exposure compared to the predators. This would therefore result in an increased abundance of snails which consequently increase the disease transmission in the human population.
Kenya, being a low income country faces a lot of challenges with provision of clean water, diseases and sanitation facilities, and increasing population which results in intensive agriculture coupled with pesticide use. Although a lot of research has been carried out on the environmental occurrence and risk of CECs (Chapter 1), most of these studies have been done in developed countries with limited information from Africa. Additionally, research in Africa focused on urban areas with limited number of compounds analyzed and mostly in the water phase, and inadequate information on the effects of CECs on the aquatic organisms. In order to reduce this knowledge gap, this dissertation focused on identification and quantification of CECs present in water, sediment and snails from western Kenya, and the contribution of pesticides to the transmission of schistosomiasis.
Chapter 2 gives a summary of the results and discussion of the dissertation. In Chapter 3, a comprehensive chemical analysis was carried out on 48 water samples to identify compounds, spatial patterns and associated risks for fish, crustacean and algae using toxic unit (TU) approach. A total of 78 compounds were detected with pesticides and biocides being the compounds most frequently detected. Spatial pattern analysis revealed limited compound grouping based on land use. Acute risk for crustaceans and algae were driven by one to three individual compounds. These compounds responsible for toxicity were prioritized as candidate compounds for monitoring and regulation in Kenya.
In Chapter 4, an extension of Chapter 3 was done to cover the CECs present in snails and sediment from the 48 sites. A total of 30 compounds were found in snails and 78 in sediments with 68 additional compounds being found which were not previously detected in water. Higher contaminant concentrations were found in agricultural sites than in areas without anthropogenic activities. The highest acute toxicity (TU 0.99) was determined for crustaceans based on compounds in sediment samples. The risk was driven by diazinon and pirimiphos-methyl. Acute and chronic risks to algae were driven by diuron whereas fish were found to be at low to no acute risk.
In Chapter 5, the effect of pesticide contamination on schistosomiasis transmission was evaluated by applying complimentary laboratory and field studies. In the field studies, the ecological mechanisms through which pesticides and physical chemical parameters affect host snails, predators and competitors were investigated. Pesticide data was obtained from the results in chapter 3. The overall distribution of grazers and predators was not affected by pesticide pollution. However, within the grazers, pesticide pollution increased dominance of host snails. On the contrary, the host-snail competitors were highly sensitive to pesticide exposure. For the laboratory studies, macroinvertebrates including Schistosoma-host snails, competitors and predators were exposed to 6 concentrations levels of imidacloprid and diazinon. Snails showed higher insecticide tolerance compared to competitors and predators. Finally, Chapter 6 summarizes the conclusions of this dissertation, placing it in a broader
context. In this dissertation, a comprehensive chemical characterization and risk assessment of CECs has been carried out in freshwater systems; together with the effects of pesticides on schistosomiasis transmission in rural western Kenya. Results of this dissertation showed that rural areas are contaminated posing a risk to aquatic organisms which contribute to schistosomiasis transmission. This shows the need for regular monitoring and policy formulation to reduce pollutant emissions which contributes negatively to both ecological and human health effects.
Freshwater is one of the most fundamental resources for life and is the habitat for a wide diversity of species. One of the most diverse aquatic insect taxa is Trichoptera Kirby, 1813, caddisflies. These semi-aquatic insects have aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults and are found all around the globe in freshwater habitats. Water is also one of the most important natural resources for the human population, but alarmingly, freshwaters are among the most threatened natural habitats. Thus, the monitoring and preservation of the quality of freshwater habitats should have a high priority. In order to track changes in the biota a baseline reference is necessary, but freshwater biodiversity is under-studied in many parts of the Earth such as the biodiversity hotspots of the Himalaya and the Hengduan Mountains. This thesis treats the trichopteran genus Himalopsyche Banks, 1940 (Rhyacophilidae) which has its diversity center in the Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains. Himalopsyche larvae are large and conspicuous and only occur in clean, unpolluted streams. This makes Himalopsyche potentially suited as indicator organisms for freshwater quality monitoring, but taxonomic knowledge is yet insufficient. Based on samples from a field survey in the Hengduan Mountains targeting both larvae and adults I uncovered three new Himalopsyche species which are described in this thesis (Chapter II), and with the aid of molecular data I associated larvae of Himalopsyche to adult species (Chapter I). The molecular association enabled the first comparative morphological study of Himalopsyche species in the larval stage, and the morphological study in Chapter II revealed that there are four distinct larval types of Himalopsyche. However, no diagnostic characters to identify Himalopsyche larvae to species level were found. To understand Himalopsyche larval morphology from an evolutionary perspective, I reconstructed the first molecular phylogeny of the genus (Chapter III). This demonstrated that each larval type corresponds to a deep phylogenetic split, indicating that larval types evolved early in Himalopsyche evolution and remained constant since. Based on the phylogenetic results as well as larval and adult morphology, I re-defined five species groups of Himalopsyche: H. kuldschensis Group, H. lepcha Group, H. navasi Group, H. phryganea Group, and H. tibetana Group. The species groups differ with respect to their diversity centers. The monotypic H. lepcha Group resides in the Himalayas, and the monotypic H. phryganea Group inhabits Western Nearctic. The H. kuldschensis and H. tibetana Groups are geographically overlapping with distributions in the Himalayas, but the distribution of H. kuldschensis Group stretches more to the west to include the Tian Shan, and the H. tibetana Group is more concentrated around the eastern Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains. The H. navasi Group has a more eastern distribution than most Himalopsyche including isolated areas such as Japan and Indonesia. The earliest split in Himalopsyche divides the H. navasi Group from remaining Himalopsyche, suggesting a more eastern area of origin of Himalopsyche than its current diversity center, with subsequent radiations in the Himalayas and Hengduan Mountains. In addition to the three chapters, in this thesis I discuss further aspects of Himalopsyche biology including genital evolution, species complexes, and Himalopsyche ecology.
Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus are bacterial genera that live in symbiosis with entomopathogenic nematodes of the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis, respectively. These nematodes infect insect larvae through the trachea and then enter the hemocoel. Once inside the hemocoel, the nematodes release the bacteria through their intestine. Thereafter, the bacteria become active and kill the larvae within 48 h. During this process, the immune system of the insect host is compromised by molecules produced and secreted by the bacteria. This illustrates that the bacteria possess not only a large arsenal of biological weaponry such as antibiotics and fungicides but also lipases, proteases, etc. Therefore, they are not only able to kill the insect but also protect the cadaver from other food competitors.
During the past decades, a large number of natural products have been identified from Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus. However, the targets and functions for many of these biological molecules are still unknown. Therefore, the goal of the doctoral thesis is to elucidate the modes of action of these natural products from Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus with the main focus on non-ribosomal peptides (NRPs). The work can be divided into two parts. Initially, it starts with the synthesis of natural compounds and various chemically modified derivatives. Besides that, a number of peptides were synthesized for other projects to either verify their structures or quantify the amount produced by the bacteria. Then, secondary analysis methods are applied and provide additional insight into the modes of action of these compounds.
During the thesis, I carried out peptide synthesis either manually or with an automatic synthesizer system from Biotage. Here, the Fmoc-protecting group strategy was preferred in most cases. Natural products, such as silathride, xenoautoxin, phenylethylamide, tryptamide, rhabdopeptide, 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid, and PAX, were produced during this process. Furthermore, new peptide derivatives derived from synthetic NRPS approaches using the XU concept or SYNZIP were generated as standards.
Most of these natural compounds were experimentally verified by MIC tests (broth microdilution, plate diffusion) to be biologically active. For example, silathride, phenylethylamide, and tryptamide showed quorum quenching effects when tested against Chromobacterium violaceum. Initial results from collaborators (PD Dr. Nadja Hellmann/Mainz) showed that tryptamide and phenylethylamide interact with membrane or membrane proteins.
(R)-3-hydroxyoctanoic acid was synthesized to verify the molecule structure of phototemtide A, a cyclic lipopeptide with antiprotozoal activity. The rhabdopeptides are another class, which showed remarkable antiprotozoal effects. However, their mode of action was unknown. These compounds are relatively short peptide sequences, which contain hydrophobic residues, such as valine, leucine, or phenylalanine. Moreover, they possess N methylation, resulting in a rod-shaped highly hydrophobic structure. In this work, I synthesized eight new derivatives of rhabdopeptides for photo-affinity labeling (PAL). These molecules should react covalently under UV-light irradiation with the biological target of the peptides. In addition, these derivatives can be enriched in a pull-down assay using click chemistry. Afterward, analytic methods such as mass detection (proteome analysis) can be applied to elucidate the protein targets.
The PAX peptides derivatives are well-known to have anti-microbial activities and believed to be secreted into the environment by the producing bacteria. However, I found that the majority of these peptides are located in the cell pellet fraction and not in the supernatant. This has been shown through quantification using HPLC MS. New PAX derivatives were synthesized, which carry a moiety suitable for covalent modification using click-chemistry, therefore being functionalizable with a fluorescence dye. In collaboration with Dr. Christoph Spahn (Prof. Dr. Mike Heilemann group), we used confocal, as well as super-resolution microscopy, in particular, single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) to investigate the spatial distribution of clickable PAX molecules and revealed that they localize at the bacterial membrane. Furthermore, bioactivity assays revealed that the promotor exchanged X. doucetiae PAX mutants, which do not produce PAX molecules without chemical induction (hereby termed as pax-), were more susceptible to several insect AMPs tested. Based on these findings, a new dual mechanism of action for PAX was proposed. Besides the previously shown antimicrobial activity, these molecules with a positive net charge of +5 (pH = 7) would bind to the negatively charged bacterial surface. Hereby, the surface charge (typically negative) would be inversed resulting in a protective effect for Xenorhabdus against other positively charged AMPs. Furthermore, PAX was investigated as AMP against E. coli to study its antimicrobial mechanism of action. Here, the results show that PAX can disrupt the E. coli membrane at higher concentrations (> 30 µg/ml), enter the cytosol, and lead to reorganization of subcellular structures, such as the nucleoid during this process.
Another aspect of secondary analysis is the application of proteomic analysis. Therefore, I induced X. nematophila, X. szentirmaii, and P. luminescens with insect lysate. These samples were analyzed using HPLC-MS/MS (Q Exactive) together with a database approach (Maxquant/Andromeda). The results showed that in all strains the lipid degradation and the glyoxylate pathway were induced. This is in line with the given insect lysate diet, which mostly contained lipids. Moreover, several interesting unknown peptides and proteins were also upregulated and might get into the focus of future research.
The genus Giraffa likely evolved around seven million years ago in Indo-Asia and spread over the Arabian-African land bridge into Eastern Africa. The oldest fossil of the African lineage was found in Kenya and dated to 7-5.4 Mya. Beside modern giraffe, four additional African species have likely existed (G. gracilis, G. pygmaea, G. stillei, and G. jumae). Based on their morphological similarities, G. gracilis is often considered to be the closest relative of the modern giraffe. Nevertheless, the phylogeny within the genus Giraffa is largely unresolved.
Modern giraffe (Giraffa sp.) have been neglected by the scientific community for a long time and still very little is known about their biology. Traditionally, present-day giraffe have been considered a single species (G. camelopardalis) which is divided into six to eleven subspecies, with nine subspecies being the most accepted classification. This classification was based on morphological differences and geographic ranges. However, recent genetic analyses found hidden diversity within Giraffa and proposed four genetically distinct giraffe species (G. camelopardalis, G. reticulata, G. tippelskirchi, G. giraffa) with presumably little gene flow among them.
Gene flow on a population level is the exchange of genetic information among populations facilitated by the migration of individuals between populations. Additionally, it is an important criterion to delineate species, because many species concepts, especially the Biological Species Concept, rely on the concept of reproductive isolation. Yet, new genetic methods are identifying an increasing number of species that show signs of introgressive hybridization or gene flow among them. Therefore, strict reproductive isolation cannot always be applied to delineate species, especially in young, probably still diverging, species such as giraffe.
Therefore, giraffe are ideal study organisms to investigate the level of gene flow in recently diverged species with adjacent or potentially overlapping ranges. Furthermore, their recent classification as “Vulnerable” by the IUCN and their unreliable distribution maps require the genetic evaluation of their population structure, distribution and conservation status.
In Publication 1 (Winter et al. (2018a), Ecological Genetics and Genomics, 7–8, 1–5), I studied the distribution and matrilineal population structure of Angolan giraffe (G. giraffa angolensis) using sequences from the cytochrome b gene (1,140 bp) and the mitochondrial control region for individuals from across their known range and beyond, and additionally including individuals from all known giraffe species and subspecies. The reconstruction of a phylogenetic tree and a mitochondrial haplotype network allowed to identify the most easterly known natural population of Angolan giraffe, a population that was previously assigned to their sister-subspecies South African giraffe (G. giraffa giraffa), indicating the limit of classification by morphology and geography. Furthermore, the analyses show that Namibia’s iconic desert-dwelling giraffe population is genetically distinct, even from the nearest population at Etosha National Park, suggesting very limited, if any, natural exchange of matrilines. Yet, no geographic barriers are known for this region that would prevent genetic exchange. Therefore, the two populations are likely on different evolutionary trajectories. Limited individuals with an Etosha haplotype further suggest that translocation of Etosha giraffe into the desert population had only a minor impact on the local population. Two separate haplogroups within Etosha National Park suggest an “out of Etosha” radiation of Angolan giraffe to the East followed by a later back-migration.
In Publication 2 (Winter et al. (2018b), Ecology and Evolution, 8(20), 10156–10165), I investigated the genetic population structure of giraffe across their range (n = 137) with focus on the amount of gene flow among the proposed giraffe species with a 3-fold increased set of nuclear introns (n = 21). Limited gene flow of less than one effective migrant per generation, even between the closely related northern (G. camelopardalis) and reticulated giraffe (G. reticulata) further supports the existence of four giraffe species by a different methodology, gene flow. This is significant because most species concepts build on reproductive isolation. Furthermore, this result is corroborated by four distinct major clades in a phylogenetic tree analysis, and distinct clusters in Principal Component Analysis and STRUCTURE analysis. All these analyses suggest a low level of genetic exchange among the four giraffe species and, therefore, a high degree of reproductive isolation in accordance with the Biological Species Concept (BSC). In Addition, only a single individual in 137 was identified as being potential of natural hybrid origin, which promotes the four-species concept further. ...
A novel role for mutant mRNA degradation in triggering transcriptional adaptation to mutations
(2020)
Robustness to mutations promotes organisms’ well-being and fitness. The increasing number of mutants in various model organisms, and humans, showing no obvious phenotype (Bouche and Bouchez, 2001; Chen et al., 2016b; Giaever et al., 2002; Kok et al., 2015) has renewed interest into how organisms adapt to gene loss. In the presence of deleterious mutations, genetic compensation by transcriptional upregulation of related gene(s) (also known as transcriptional adaptation) has been reported in numerous systems (El-Brolosy and Stainier, 2017; Rossi et al., 2015; Tondeleir et al., 2012); however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this response remained unclear. To investigate this phenomenon, I develop and study multiple models of transcriptional adaptation in zebrafish and mouse cell lines. I first show that transcriptional adaptation is not caused by loss of protein function, indicating that the trigger lies upstream, and find that the response involves enhanced transcription of the related gene(s). Furthermore, I observe a correlation between levels of mutant mRNA degradation and upregulation of related genes. To investigate the role of mutant mRNA degradation in triggering the response, I generate mutant alleles that do not transcribe the mutated gene and find that they fail to induce a transcriptional response and display stronger phenotypes. Transcriptome analysis of alleles displaying mutant mRNA degradation revealed upregulation of a significant proportion of genes displaying sequence similarity with the mutated gene’s mRNA, suggesting a model whereby mRNA degradation intermediates induce transcriptional adaptation via sequence similarity. Further mechanistic analyses suggested RNA-decay factors-dependent chromatin remodeling, and repression of antisense RNAs to be implicated in the response. These results identify a novel role for mutant mRNA degradation in buffering against mutations. Besides, they hold huge implications on understanding disease-causing mutations and shall help in designing mutations that lead to minimal transcriptional adaptation-induced compensation, facilitating studying gene function in model organisms.
Even one century after Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s groundbreaking contribu- tions to neuroscience, one of the most fundamental questions in the field is still largely open, namely understanding how the shape of a dendrite is adapted to its specific biological function. A systematic investigation of this problem is challenging both technically and conceptually because neurons have diverse genetic, molecular, morphological, connectional and functional properties.
In the light of the preceding, dendritic arborisation (da) neurons of the Drosophila melanogaster larva PNS have proven to be an excellent model system for the study of such growth and patterning processes. Structure and function in these cell classes are intimately intertwined, as class type-specific dendritic arbour differentiation processes are required to satisfy a given phys- iological need. Also, there is a remarkable genetic toolkit that enables one to selectively and reproducibly label, image and manipulate each one of these sensory neuron classes. In this thesis, I address the aforementioned open problem by linking single-cell patterning, information processing and wiring optimisation in sensory da neurons to behaviour in Drosophila larva.
In particular, I study Class I ventral peripherical dendritic arborisation (c1vpda) neurons. These are a class of proprioceptive neurons that relay information on the position of the larva’s body back to the CNS during crawling behaviour to assure proper locomotion. Their stereotypical comb- like shaped dendritic branches spread along the body-wall, and they get noticeably deformed during crawling behaviour. The bending of the den- dritic branches is hypothesised to be a possible mechanism to transduce the mechanosensory inputs arising from cuticle folding. Interestingly, c1vpda neurons do not necessarily satisfy optimal wiring constraints since they are required to pattern into a specific shape to fulfil their function. Therefore, I considered the da system to study how the specific functional requirements may be combined with optimal wiring constraints during development.
Although the molecular machinery of dendrite patterning in c1vpda neurons is well studied, the precise elaboration of the comb-like shaped dendrites of these cells remains elusive. Moreover, even though a lot of work has been put into the description and quantification of growth processes of the nervous system, there are still few solid and standardised models of arbour staging and patterning. Importantly, the defining parameters that determine the dendrite elaboration program that in turn is responsible for creating the final arbour morphology are still unknown. As a result, unraveling possible universal stages of dendrite elaboration shared between different model systems and cell types is challenging.
Thus, in order to understand the development of the fine regulation of branch outgrowth that leads to the observed terminal arbour morphology in the mature cell, I collected in vivo, long-term, non-invasive high temporal res- olution time-lapse recordings of dendritic trees during the differentiation process in the embryo and its maturation phase in the larva. For further analysis, I developed new algorithms that quantified the structural changes in dendrite morphology in the time-lapse videos. My approach provides a framework to analyse such developmental data, or any dataset comprising continuous morphological dynamical processes in an unbiased way. Using these newly developed methods, I examined the development of a sample of c1vpda cells and identified five stages of differentiation in these data: initial stem polarization, extension, pruning, stabilization, and isometric stretching during larval stages.
The beginning of the growth process is marked by the polarisation of the main stem. Subsequently, during the extension phase, branches emerge interstitially from the existing main stem. Later, higher-order branches sprout from pre-existing lateral branches, increasing arbour complexity. This is followed by a pruning stage where developmental intermediate dendritic branches are removed. This step leads to a spatial rearrangement of the dendritic tree. The end of the pruning step is followed by a stabilisation period where arbour morphology remains virtually unaltered in the embryo. After hatching, c1vpda dendrites experience an isometric scaling, with their branching complexity and pattern being invariant across all larval stages.
After dissecting the c1vpda dendrites spatiotemporal differentiation process, I established a link between dendritic shape and behaviour. I measured intra- cellular Ca++ activity in the dendrite branches of l1 larvae during forward locomotion, while simultaneously recording branch deformation using a dual genetic line. I reported that post-embryonic c1vpda dendrites Ca++ responses increased in freely crawling larvae. Furthermore, I showed strong correlations between Ca++ signal and deformation of the comb-like dendritic ranches during body-wall contractions.
Then, using a geometrical model, I provided evidence that the pruning stage could reorganise the dendrite morphology to maximise mechanosensory re- sponses during body wall contraction. I showed that the angle orientation of each side branch correlates with the bending curvature and thus with the me- chanical displacement of the cell membrane during locomotion. During the pruning phase, I observed a preferential reduction of less efficient branches with low bending curvature, influencing the mechanisms of dendritic sig- nal integration of c1vpda sensory neurons. I proceeded to quantify branch dynamics at single tip resolution during pruning, providing evidence that a simple random pruning mechanism is sufficient to remodel the tree structure compatible with the observed way.
I used these time-lapse data to constrain a new computational noisy growth model with random pruning based on optimal wiring principles. This model is able to generate highly realistic synthetic c1vpda morphologies. The model furthermore requires few parameters to generate highly accurate temporal development trajectories and morphologies at single-cell level. Utilising this data and model enabled me to investigate upon the hypothesis that a noisy dendrite growth and random pruning mechanism synergise to achieve den- dritic trees efficient in terms of both wiring and function. My findings show how single neurons can create functionally specialised dendrites while min- imising wiring costs, elucidating how general principles of self-organisation may be involved in the generation of these structures.
The growing number of infections with multi-resistant bacteria or the current COVID-19 pandemic put compounds with therapeutic properties into the public focus. Non-ribosomal peptides (NRPs) are natural products that are already marketed as antibiotics, cytotoxic agents or immunosuppressants. Their biological activities rely on the structural diversity including non-proteinogenic amino acids (AAs), heterocycles or modifications like methylation or acylation.
The biosynthesis of NRPs is carried out by non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). These multifunctional megaenzymes show a modular architecture like in an assembly-line. Each module is thereby responsible for the incorporation and modification of one AA and therefore contains different catalytic domains. The adenylation (A) domain recognizes and activates its specific substrate in an ATP-dependent manner which is transferred to a 4’-phosphopantetheine cofactor post-translationally attached to the thiolation (T) domain. Peptide bond formation between two T domain bound substrates catalysed by the condensation (C) domain transfers the growing peptide chain to the following module. Such a C-A-T module can be extended with optional domains to integrate structural diversity and a terminal thioesterase (TE) domain usually releases the peptide via hydrolysis or intramolecular attack of nucleophiles. Inspired by the modular architecture, NRPS engineering deals with the modification of NRPs in order to increase biological activities, circumvent bacterial resistances or create de novo peptides. This can be achieved by mutasynthesis or modification of the substrate binding pocket as well as single and multiple domain substitution. However, the few successful approaches led to impaired enzymes and did not establish a general applicable guideline. In the first publication as part of this work, the development of such a guideline comprising three rules is addressed. First, the A-T-C tridomain named exchange unit (XU) is seen as a catalytic unit instead of a module. When using them as building blocks, the C domain’s specificity for the AA of the following XU has to be considered as second rule. Third, a conserved WNATE motif within the C-A linker depicts the fusion point of the XUs. Upon heterologous expression of the cloned plasmids in E. coli and high performance liquid chromatography coupled mass spectrometry-based analysis of the extracts, the ambactin-producing NRPS from Xenorhabdus was reprogrammed with one and two XUs. This only leads to a moderate loss of production titre or an even higher one when the AA configuration was changed by introducing a dual condensation/epimerization (C/E) domain. The pentamodular GameXPeptide-producing NRPS was reconstructed using up to five XUs of four different NRPSs and even completely de novo synthetases were created. The second publication describes the exchange unit condensation domain (XUC) concept and relies on a fusion point between the two subdomains (N-terminal CDsub and C-terminal CAsub) of the C domain’s V-shaped pseudodimeric structure which generates A-T didomains with flanking CAsub and CDsub. These hybrid C domain-forming building blocks depict an improvement to the XU concept by avoiding the drawback of C domain specificity. This allows a more flexible NRPS engineering that can e.g. enable peptide library design. Furthermore, beside a combination of both concepts within one NRPS and a transfer to Bacillus NRPSs, the use of XUC with relaxed A domain specificity allowed further peptide modifications by introducing non-natural AAs. The third publication deals with aldehyde and alcohol-generating reductase (R) domains which depict an alternative for peptide release in NRPSs. A promoter exchange in X. indica identified a pyrazine-producing NRPS with a minimal architecture of an A, T and R domain and was therefore termed ATRed. R domains were additionally used in engineered NRPSs to produce pyrazinones and derivatives thereof by XU substitution although most constructs failed to show production. Beyond that, an R domain has been shown to replace a TE domain in wild type synthetases leading to slightly modified NRPs and the postulated biosynthesis was incidentally revised. Furthermore, an NRPS with terminal R domain was engineered to produce a free peptide aldehyde, which are known to be potent proteasome inhibitors. For the above mentioned ATReds, the presence of up to three coding regions was further identified in 20 different Xenorhabdus strains but only six of them were verified to produce pyrazines. All ATReds share variable sequence similarities among each other and were subsequently divided into three subtypes. One subtype is supposed to perform the pyrazine biosynthesis via a non-canonical catalytic triad.
Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus bacteria live in a highly specific symbiosis with nematodes that belong to the genus of Heterorhabditis and Steinernema, respectively. These cruiser type nematodes actively search for soil-dwelling insects and infect them via natural openings. Inside of the insect, the bacteria are released into the hemocoel where they start producing an array of secondary metabolites to bypass the insect immune system and kill the prey within 48 hours. Many of those natural products possess bioactivities against other bacteria, fungi, protozoa or insects, which makes them interesting candidates for pharmaceutical applications. Even though advanced molecular biological methods in combination with bioinformatics tools can now be used to predict biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) and their products, there are still many BGCs with unknown products. Even for the plethora of natural products that were successfully identified in the last couple of years, the exact ecological function often remains elusive, as laboratory conditions can vary considerably from the natural environment of the bacteria. Knowledge about the natural conditions that stimulate, or repress production of certain natural products and their underlying regulatory mechanisms yield new approaches for natural product research and enables possibilities for selective manipulations of the regulatory cascades.
The overarching goal of this work was to examine the regulatory networks in Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus strains. The first part of this work focused on the Hfq-dependent regulation of specialized metabolite production. In those genera, the RNA chaperone, Hfq, represses expression of hexA, which encodes for a global transcriptional regulator that acts as the master repressor for SM production. Multiple global approaches were used to identify the sRNA ArcZ, which targets a specific region in the 5’-untranslated region of the hexA mRNA and ultimately guides Hfq in order to repress its expression. It was shown that a deletion of arcZ led to a drastic reduction of SM production in Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus, consistent with the phenotype of their respective hfq deletion mutants. Transcriptomic profiling revealed far-reaching effects on the transcriptome, with up to 735 coding sequences significantly affected in the arcZ deletion strain. Finally, it was shown that the resulting chemical background, devoid of SMs, in combination with targeted promotor exchange can be used to exclusively overproduce a desired natural product, representing an alternative route of genetic manipulation.
The second part of this work focused on the influence and identification of insect related compounds that affect SM production in P. laumondii, X. szentirmaii and X. nematophila. Insect homogenate was generated from G. mellonella larvae, a model host for these bacteria. Supplementation of the cultivation medium with homogenate induced considerable shifts in the SM profiles of those bacteria. A global effect on the transcriptional output was determined by transcriptomic profiling. The core response to the simulation of an insect environment consisted of ten CDS, eight of which are involved in the degradation of fatty acids or the import of maltose and maltodextrin into the cells. Two abundant components in the insect homogenate, trehalose and putrescin, were added to the cultivation medium of those strains and subsequent HPLC-MS analysis revealed a direct correlation of their concentration in the medium and the production titres of certain SMs. These results indicated that the bacteria sense the insect environment via different insect specific components in order to initiate a metabolic adjustment, which is probably required for adaptation to the insect host.
The last part of this work examined the influence of other, so far not directly related genes on SM production, based on the isolation of P. laumondii transposon-insertion mutants with clear phenotypic alterations. Re-sequencing and SM profiling of the mutant strains revealed that a transposon-insertion in the gene encoding for a putative DNA-adenine methyltransferase affected SM production. The phenotype was confirmed by deleting this gene. Based on Single-Molecule Real-Time sequencing, the complete methylome of the WT, deletion- and complementation mutant were analysed (experimental work performed by Sacha J. Pidot, Melbourne, Australia). No obvious alterations were detected in the methylation patterns of the strains, indicating that the dam gene product does not methylate the adenine in GATC-motifs, as it was described in literature for E. coli. This data raises the question what the function of the putative DNA-adenine methyltransferase is in P. laumondii and how it can influence the secondary metabolism. Even though there is currently no clear evidence, the potential role of epigenetic gene regulation mechanisms should be considered in further work.
In 2010, the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity agreedon the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As this planapproaches its end, we discussed whether marine biodiversity and prediction studieswere nearing the Aichi Targets during the 4th World Conference on Marine Biodiversityheld in Montreal, Canada in June 2018. This article summarises the outcome of a five-day group discussion on how global marine biodiversity studies should be focusedfurther to better understand the patterns of biodiversity. We discussed and reviewedseven fundamental biodiversity priorities related to nine Aichi Targets focusing onglobal biodiversity discovery and predictions to improve and enhance biodiversitydata standards (quantity and quality), tools and techniques, spatial and temporal scaleframing, and stewardship and dissemination. We discuss how identifying biodiversityknowledge gaps and promoting efforts have and will reduce such gaps, including via theuse of new databases, tools and technology, and how these resources could be improvedin the future. The group recognised significant progress toward Target 19 in relationto scientific knowledge, but negligible progress with regard to Targets 6 to 13 whichaimed to safeguard and reduce human impacts on biodiversity.
Die CXCR4/CXCL12-Achse ist von entscheidender Bedeutung für die Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung einer gesunden, reifen Hämatopoese. Erstmals beschrieben wurde der später als CXCR4 bezeichnete Rezeptor 1996 allerdings als Co-Rezeptor für den Eintritt humaner HI-Viren in Lymphozyten. Ein großes Interesse bestand daraufhin darin, sowohl natürliche Inhibitoren des G-Protein gekoppelten Rezeptors zu identifizieren, als auch synthetische herzustellen, um einen Eintritt des Virus in den menschlichen Organismus zu verhindern bzw. seine Ausbreitung zu unterbinden. Ein natürlich vorkommender CXCR4-Ligand, der 2015 von Zirafi und Kollegen erstmals beschrieben wurde, fand sich im Hämofiltrat von Dialysepatienten. Der im weiteren Verlauf als EPI-X4 bezeichnete CXCR4-Antagonist wurde als Spaltprodukt von Albumin identifiziert, welches über viele Spezies hochkonserviert ist. Diese Eigenschaft interpretieren wir als Hinweis auf eine relevante physiologische Funktion des Peptids. Da die Halbwertszeit von natürlich vorkommendem EPI-X4 beim Menschen vermutlich sehr kurz ist, sind in vivo- und darauffolgende in vitro-Analysen schwierig durchzuführen. In-vitro-Spike-Analysen von synthetischem EPI-X4 in humanem Plasma ergaben eine Halbwertszeit von nur 17 Minuten. Die geringen auftretenden Konzentrationen erschweren die Problematik zusätzlich. In dieser Arbeit sollen deshalb im Mausmodell in vivo-Analysen durchgeführt werden, um die Effekte von potentiell entstehendem EPI-X4 in verschiedenen experimentellen Ansätzen aufzudecken. Ein probates, hier verwendetes Mittel, ist die Analyse einer Knock-out (KO)-Maus. Die für die Bindung an CXCR4 entscheidende Aminosäure von EPI-X4, das am N-Terminus gelegene Leucin, wurde durch Alanin ersetzt, welches die Entstehung von EPI-X4 unterbindet und zusätzlich dessen Bindung an CXCR4 verhindert. Mit Hilfe zweier Mausmodelle können nun Analysen im EPI-X4-defizienten Modell durchgeführt werden, die im Umkehrschluss Informationen über die organismische Wirkung von EPI-X4 beinhalten. Zunächst wurde in beiden Modellen die physiologisch normale reife und unreife Hämatopoese charakterisiert. Hierbei zeigte sich kein signifikanter systematischer Einfluss von EPI-X4 auf reife Leukozyten (WBC), lediglich eine leichte Lymphozytose in der HR-Ala-Variante. Im weiteren Verlauf der homöostatischen Analyse der Hämatopoese der Ala-EPI-X4-Mäuse zeigten sich keine signifikanten Unterschiede zu wildtypischen Mäusen. Sowohl reife als auch unreife Zellen zeigten, außer in der T- und B-Zelllinie, keine zahlenmäßigen oder funktionalen Auffälligkeiten, weder im Blut, noch in der Milz oder im Knochenmark. Analysen der Zellzyklusaktivität unterschiedlicher Unreifestufen wiesen ebenfalls keine Auffälligkeiten auf. Diese Daten einer normalen, von einer C57Bl/6-Maus zu erwartenden Ergebnisse dienten als Grundlage zur Bewertung und Analyse von durchgeführten hämatopoetischen Stressmodellen. Hierfür wurden
zunächst hämatopoetische Stamm- und Vorläuferzellen (HSPC) mobilisiert. In den angewandten Mobilisierungsmodellen fanden sich lediglich unter G-CSF-Behandlung im Knochenmark eine größere Anzahl Granulozyten, was auf einen Einfluss von EPI-X4 auf HSPC schließen lässt. Um potentielle Auswirkungen von EPI-X4 im Knochenmark weiter zu untersuchen, wurde ein weiteres Stressmodell gewählt, welches ebenfalls mutmaßlich die Bedingungen zur EPI-X4-Generierung schafft: Subletale Bestrahlung der Mäuse sorgt für Schäden an allen Zellarten im Knochenmark, es wird ein steriles entzündliches Milieu kreiert. Unter diesen Umständen wurde die Regeneration von Blutzellen analysiert. Es zeigten sich keine nennenswerten Unterschiede sowohl in der akuten Phase des Schadens als auch in regelmäßigen Blutentnahmen während der Regenerierung.
Die Beschreibung von natürlich vorkommendem EPI-X4 in Vaginal- und Rektalschleimhaut zeigt seine Entstehung an Schleimhautbarrieren auf. Ala-EPI-X4-Muse werden deshalb auf deren Durchlässigkeit untersucht: LPS-Konzentrationen als Marker für eindringende pathogene Bakterien wurden im Plasma untersucht. Hierbei zeigten sich keine Unterschiede zwischen den Gruppen, eine Störung scheint hier nicht vorzuliegen. Zusätzlich wurde die Zusammensetzung des Mikrobioms im Darm untersucht, da beschrieben wurde, dass sich Mikrobiom und die Integrität der Darmschleimhaut gegenseitig beeinflussen. Im Falle der EPI-X4-defizienten Mäuse liegt zwar keine offensichtliche pathologische Veränderung vor, dennoch konnte in männlichen HR-Ala-Mäusen die Abwesenheit des Proteobakteriums Parasutterella nachgewiesen werden. Um eine mögliche Defizienz der Barrierefunktion weiter zu testen, wurden zwei Stressmodelle gewählt: Zunächst wurde den Mäusen eine akute, sterile Peritonitis zugefügt, woraufhin die Anzahl und Zusammensetzung der ins Peritoneum einströmenden Leukozyten analysiert wird. Die Reaktion auf diesen Entzündungsprozess war nicht verändert. Ähnliche Ergebnisse zeigten sich auch in einem akuten Colitis-Stressmodell.
Insgesamt konnte in dieser Arbeit mithilfe zweier KO-Mausmodelle die Rolle von EPI-X4 in der Hämatopoese und der Immunologie von Mäusen beginnend charakterisiert werden. Die homöostatische Hämatopoese scheint kaum von EPI-X4 abhängig zu sein, lediglich die Zahl der B- und T-Zellen, insbesondere der regulatorischen T-Zellen, scheint beeinflusst. Damit einhergehend konnten Veränderungen in Zytokinlevels bei inflammatorischen Ereignissen gezeigt werden. Experimente zur beeinflussten, eventuell gestörten Barrierefunktion von Ala-EPI-X4-Mäusen zeigten vielversprechende Ansätze und sollten in Zukunft weiter analysiert werden.
Background: More than 170 species of tabanids are known in Europe, with many occurring only in limited areas or having become very rare in the last decades. They continue to spread various diseases in animals and are responsible for livestock losses in developing countries. The current monitoring and recording of horseflies is mainly conducted throughout central Europe, with varying degrees of frequency depending on the country. To the detriment of tabanid research, little cooperation exists between western European and Eurasian countries.
Methods: For these reasons, we have compiled available sources in order to generate as complete a dataset as possible of six horsefly species common in Europe. We chose Haematopota pluvialis, Chrysops relictus, C. caecutiens, Tabanus bromius, T. bovinus and T. sudeticus as ubiquitous and abundant species within Europe. The aim of this study is to estimate the distribution, land cover usage and niches of these species. We used a surface-range envelope (SRE) model in accordance with our hypothesis of an underestimated distribution based on Eurocentric monitoring regimes.
Results: Our results show that all six species have a wide range in Eurasia, have a broad climatic niche and can therefore be considered as widespread generalists. Areas with modelled habitat suitability cover the observed distribution and go far beyond these. This supports our assumption that the current state of tabanid monitoring and the recorded distribution significantly underestimates the actual distribution. Our results show that the species can withstand extreme weather and climatic conditions and can be found in areas with only a few frost-free months per year. Additionally, our results reveal that species prefer certain land-cover environments and avoid other land-cover types.
Conclusions: The SRE model is an effective tool to calculate the distribution of species that are well monitored in some areas but poorly in others. Our results support the hypothesis that the available distribution data underestimate the actual distribution of the surveyed species.
Cardiovascular diseases are still regarded as the main cause of death in the modern world. However, the generic term "cardiovascular diseases" is not uniformly defined. It essentially describes diseases of the cardiovascular system and includes diseases such as hypertension, arteriosclerosis, myocardial infarctions, heart failure, coronary heart diseases, rheumatic heart diseases and heart valve defects. In addition to the well-known risk factors such as obesity, smoking, hypercholesterolemia and lack of exercise, age is a further risk factor that plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular diseases. As the modern societies age; this becomes an increasing problem.
But why does the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases increase with age? In gen-eral, age-dependent changes at the cellular level are assumed to be responsible for the pathological changes in the cardiac and vascular tissues. Important mechanisms such as autophagy, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunctions, genomic instability, cellular senescence and disturbances in signaling pathways of growth factors play a decisive role. In old age, myocardial hypertrophy occurs, which results in cardiac wall thickening and an altered geometry of the ventricle. Chronic inflammations, paracrine and age-dependent cell-intrinsic factors further lead to activation of cardiac fibro-blasts with increase cell proliferation, collagen secretion and matrix cross-linking. The consequences are interstitial and perivascular fibrosis, which stiffen the heart and blood vessels. Oxidative stress and inflammations additionally attack the blood ves-sels and impair endothelial function, which is further aggravated by possible pre-existing conditions such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension.
In the past decades, the main focus has therefore been on researching these age-dependent changes in the hope of better understanding cardiovascular ageing and developing possible regenerative interventions. By studying the repair mechanisms of other organs such as the lungs and the bone marrow, the endothelium in particular showed a high regenerative capacity, which influences the proliferation and cell func-tion of the surrounding cells.
For a long time, the general opinion was that the endothelium is only the internal lin-ing of blood and lymphatic vessels, as well as the heart chambers, which as a single-layer barrier guarantees the integrity of the blood vessels. However, endothelial cells are very heterogeneous, depending on the type of blood vessel and the type of tis-sue they serve. In addition to their barrier function, endothelial cells also regulate the exchange of substances between blood and tissue, stimulate the formation of new blood vessels and re-model existing vascular networks. They are also able to re-structure the extracellular matrix that surrounds them. They release not only matrix proteins, but also cytokines and growth factors into the extracellular space. On de-mand, these factors are then released and stimulate angiogenesis or cell prolifera-tion. In addition, the secretion of various matrix proteins not only stabilizes the cellu-lar neighborhood, but also regulates various cell functions.
By modelling the endothelial environment - the so-called vascular niche - endothelial cells are able to communicate with the surrounding cells. As a result, a regenerative effect of the vascular niche has already been described in various organs. In the liv-er, for example, it has been shown that increased concentrations of endothelial Ang2 and decreased endothelial activin A after partial hepatectomy stimulate the prolifera-tion of hepatocytes and thus liver regeneration. In the bone marrow, endothelial cells mobilize stem cells via nitric oxide and in the lungs, endothelial MMP14 releases growth factors from the extracellular matrix, which stimulate epithelial cell prolifera-tion after partial pneumectomy. Whether such a regenerative effect of the vascular niche also plays a role in the heart is largely unknown.
Since both the regenerative capacity of the heart and endothelial function decrease with age, the aim of this dissertation was to investigate the role of the vascular niche and endothelial cell communication in the aged heart. Human cell lines as well as mouse and artificial rat models were used for these investigations. Since this thesis is a cumulative dissertation with partially published papers, it is divided into three parts.
In the first part of this thesis, the transcriptional signature of secretory genes in the aged cardiac endothelium was studied. Perfused endothelial cells from hearts of young (12-week-old animals) and old mice (20-month-old animals) were isolated and used for bulk RNA sequencing. The two matrix proteins laminin β1 and β2 were among the top-regulated genes. While laminin β2 was particularly expressed in the young cardiac endothelium, laminin β1 was predominantly found in the old endotheli-um. This change in laminin expression was confirmed histologically at protein level and its autocrine function was investigated in vitro. To mimic the in vivo situation in vitro, cell culture dishes were coated with human recombinant laminin 421 or laminin 411 and sutured with human endothelial cells from the umbilical vein (HUVEC). Di-verse functional investigations showed that endothelial cells migrated and adhered poorly in the presence of laminin 411, while in Matrigel tube formation assays HU-VEC formed reduced endothelial networks when cultured on LM 411.
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Soil degradation can have an impact on the soil microbiota, but its specific effects on soil fungal communities are poorly understood. In this work, we studied the impact of soil degradation on the richness and diversity of communities of soil fungi, including three different degrees of degradation in Germany and Panama. Soil fungi were isolated monthly using the soil-sprinkling method for 8 months in Germany and 3 months in Panama, and characterized by morphological and molecular data. Soil physico-chemical properties were measured and correlated with the observed values of fungal diversity. We isolated a total of 71 fungal species, 47 from Germany, and 32 from Panama. Soil properties were not associated with fungal richness, diversity, or composition in soils, with the exception of soil compaction in Germany. The geographic location was a strong determinant of the soil fungal species composition although in both countries there was dominance by members of the orders Eurotiales and Hypocreales. In conclusion, the results of this work do not show any evident influence of soil degradation on communities of soil fungi in Germany or Panama.