Abiotic stress protection by ecologically abundant dimethylsulfoniopropionate and its natural and synthetic derivatives: insights from Bacillus subtilis

Summary Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is an abundant osmolyte and anti‐stress compound produced primarily in marine ecosystems. After its release into the environment, microorganisms can exploit DMSP as a source of sulfur and carbon, or accumulate it as an osmoprotectant. However, import systems...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental microbiology 2015-07, Vol.17 (7), p.2362-2378
Main Authors: Broy, Sebastian, Chen, Chiliang, Hoffmann, Tamara, Brock, Nelson L., Nau-Wagner, Gabriele, Jebbar, Mohamed, Smits, Sander H. J., Dickschat, Jeroen S., Bremer, Erhard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters - genetics
ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters - metabolism
Bacillus subtilis - genetics
Bacillus subtilis - metabolism
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Bacteriology
Gene expression
Hot Temperature
Microorganisms
Osmotic Pressure - physiology
Proline - metabolism
Salinity
Stress, Physiological - physiology
Sulfonium Compounds - metabolism
Sulfur - metabolism
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is an abundant osmolyte and anti‐stress compound produced primarily in marine ecosystems. After its release into the environment, microorganisms can exploit DMSP as a source of sulfur and carbon, or accumulate it as an osmoprotectant. However, import systems for this ecophysiologically important compatible solute, and its stress‐protective properties for microorganisms that do not produce it are insufficiently understood. Here we address these questions using a well‐characterized set of Bacillus subtilis mutants to chemically profile the influence of DMSP import on stress resistance, the osmostress‐adaptive proline pool and on osmotically controlled gene expression. We included in this study the naturally occurring selenium analogue of DMSP, dimethylseleniopropionate (DMSeP), as well as a set of synthetic DMSP derivatives. We found that DMSP is not a nutrient for B. subtilis, but it serves as an excellent stress protectant against challenges conferred by sustained high salinity or lasting extremes in both low and high growth temperatures. DMSeP and synthetic DMSP derivatives retain part of these stress protective attributes, but DMSP is clearly the more effective stress protectant. We identified the promiscuous and widely distributed ABC transporter OpuC as a high‐affinity uptake system not only for DMSP, but also for its natural and synthetic derivatives.
ISSN:1462-2912
1462-2920
DOI:10.1111/1462-2920.12698