Browsing by Author "Stucken, Karina"

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    In Silico Analysis of Putative Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Toxins Export Proteins in Cyanobacteria
    (2013) Soto-Liebe, Katia; Lopez-Cortes, Xaviera A.; Jose Fuentes-Valdes, Juan; Stucken, Karina; Gonzalez-Nilo, Fernando; Vasquez, Monica
    Paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins (PSTs) are a family of more than 30 natural alkaloids synthesized by dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria whose toxicity in animals is mediated by voltage-gated Na+ channel blocking. The export of PST analogues may be through SxtF and SxtM, two putative MATE (multidrug and toxic compound extrusion) family transporters encoded in PSTs biosynthetic gene cluster (sxt). sxtM is present in every sxt cluster analyzed; however, sxtF is only present in the Cylindrospermopsis-Raphidiopsis clade. These transporters are energetically coupled with an electrochemical gradient of proton (H+) or sodium (Na+) ions across membranes. Because the functional role of PSTs remains unknown and methods for genetic manipulation in PST-producing organisms have not yet been developed, protein structure analyses will allow us to understand their function. By analyzing the sxt cluster of eight PST-producing cyanobacteria, we found no correlation between the presence of sxtF or sxtM and a specific PSTs profile. Phylogenetic analyses of SxtF/M showed a high conservation of SxtF in the Cylindrospermopsis-Raphidiopsis clade, suggesting conserved substrate affinity. Two domains involved in Na+ and drug recognition from NorM proteins (MATE family) of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae are present in SxtF/M. The Na+ recognition domain was conserved in both SxtF/M, indicating that Na+ can maintain the role as a cation anti-transporter. Consensus motifs for toxin binding differed between SxtF and SxtM implying differential substrate binding. Through protein modeling and docking analysis, we found that there is no marked affinity between the recognition domain and a specific PST analogue. This agrees with our previous results of PST export in R. brookii D9, where we observed that the response to Na+ incubation was similar to different analogues. These results reassert the hypothesis regarding the involvement of Na+ in toxin export, as well as the motifs L(398)XGLQD(403) (SxtM) and L(390)VGLRD(395) (SxtF) in toxin recognition.
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    Impact of Nitrogen Sources on Gene Expression and Toxin Production in the Diazotroph Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii CS-505 and Non-Diazotroph Raphidiopsis brookii D9
    (2014) Stucken, Karina; John, Uwe; Cembella, Allan; Soto-Liebe, Katia; Vasquez, Monica
    Different environmental nitrogen sources play selective roles in the development of cyanobacterial blooms and noxious effects are often exacerbated when toxic cyanobacteria are dominant. Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii CS-505 (heterocystous, nitrogen fixing) and Raphidiopsis brookii D9 (non-N2 fixing) produce the nitrogenous toxins cylindrospermopsin (CYN) and paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), respectively. These toxin groups are biosynthesized constitutively by two independent putative gene clusters, whose flanking genes are target for nitrogen (N) regulation. It is not yet known how or if toxin biosynthetic genes are regulated, particularly by N-source dependency. Here we show that binding boxes for NtcA, the master regulator of N metabolism, are located within both gene clusters as potential regulators of toxin biosynthesis. Quantification of intra-and extracellular toxin content in cultures at early stages of growth under nitrate, ammonium, urea and N-free media showed that N-sources influence neither CYN nor PST production. However, CYN and PST profiles were altered under N-free medium resulting in a decrease in the predicted precursor toxins (doCYN and STX, respectively). Reduced STX amounts were also observed under growth in ammonium. Quantification of toxin biosynthesis and transport gene transcripts revealed a constitutive transcription under all tested N-sources. Our data support the hypothesis that PSTs and CYN are constitutive metabolites whose biosynthesis is correlated to cyanobacterial growth rather than directly to specific environmental conditions. Overall, the constant biosynthesis of toxins and expression of the putative toxin-biosynthesis genes supports the usage of qPCR probes in water quality monitoring of toxic cyanobacteria.
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    Reassessment of the toxin profile of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii T3 and function of putative sulfotransferases in synthesis of sulfated and sulfonated PSP toxins
    (PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2010) Soto Liebe, Katia; Murillo, Alejandro A.; Krock, Bernd; Stucken, Karina; Fuentes Valdes, Juan J.; Trefault, Nicole; Cembella, Allan; Vasquez, Monica
    The toxigenic freshwater cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii T3 has been used as a model to study and elucidate the biosynthetic pathway of tetrahydropurine neurotoxins associated with paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). There are nevertheless several inconsistencies and contradictions in the toxin profile of this strain as published by different research groups, and claimed to include carbamoyl (SIX, NEO, GTX2/3), decarbamoyl (dcSTX), and N-sulfocarbamoyl (C1/2, 81) derivatives. Our analysis of the complete genome of another PSP toxin-producing cyanobacterium, Raphidiopsis brookii D9, which is closely related to C. raciborskii T3, resolved many issues regarding the correlation between biosynthetic pathways, corresponding genes and the T3 toxin profile. The putative sxt gene cluster in R. brookii D9 has a high synteny with the T3 sxt cluster, with 100% nucleotide identity among the shared genes. We also compared the PSP toxin profile of the strains by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In contrast to published reports, our reassessment of the PSP toxin profile of T3 confirmed production of only SIX, NEO and dcNEO. We gained significant insights via correlation between specific sxt genes and their role in PSP toxin synthesis in both D9 and T3 strains. In particular, analysis of sulfotransferase functions for SxtN (N-sulfotransferase) and SxtSUL (O-sulfotransferase) enzymes allowed us to propose an extension of the PSP toxin biosynthetic pathway from SIX to the production of the derivatives GTX2/3. C1/2 and B1. This is a significantly revised view of the genetic mechanisms underlying synthesis of sulfated and sulfonated STX analogues in toxigenic cyanobacteria. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.