bims-polyam Biomed News
on Polyamines
Issue of 2022–09–18
six papers selected by
Sebastian J. Hofer, University of Graz



  1. Environ Microbiol. 2022 Sep 16.
      Polyamines are essential for all kinds of organisms and take part in the regulation of multiple biological processes. Our previous study revealed that heat stress promoted the conversion of putrescine to spermidine and subsequently promoted the accumulation of ganoderic acids (GAs). However, how heat stress affects polyamine homeostasis remains unclear. To explore the underlying mechanism by which heat stress promoted spermidine biosynthesis, we assessed the effects of signaling molecules that respond to heat stress on spermidine biosynthesis. Our data suggested that heat stress induced spermidine biosynthesis and GAs accumulation via a phospholipase D (PLD)-mediated phosphatidic acid (PA) signal. Further research revealed that the transcription factor GlMyb promoted spermidine biosynthesis via regulating spermidine synthases genes (spds1 and spds2) expression by directly bonding to their promoters and it responded to heat stress and PA signal. In summary, heat stress activated GlMyb by PLD-mediated PA signaling and subsequently induced the expression of spds1 and spds2 to promote the biosynthesis of spermidine and the accumulation of GAs. Our findings firstly reveal a detailed mechanism by which heat signaling regulates polyamine homeostasis by PLD-mediated PA signal in fungi and provide a greater understanding of how organisms alter polyamine levels in response to environmental changes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16211
  2. J Plant Physiol. 2022 Sep 06. pii: S0176-1617(22)00194-8. [Epub ahead of print]277 153808
      Manganese (Mn) toxicity in soil is a widely observed phenomenon, which seriously restricts growth, quality, and yield of various crops and fruits including apples. However, mechanisms underlying the regulation of polyamines (PAs) by brassinosteroids (BRs) to improve tolerance to Mn stress are still unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of 2,4-epibrassinolide (EBL; a BR) on the expression of genes involved in BR signaling pathway, Mn accumulation, PAs-mediated responses (PA precursor levels, metabolic enzymes, and genes), and growth parameters in Mn-stressed Malus robusta Rehd. EBL application significantly modulated the expressions of genes related to BR signaling (MdBRI, MdBSK, etc.) and reduced Mn accumulation, along with improving the rate of increase in root length and plant height, relative water content, chlorophyll content, maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm), and actual photochemical efficiency (ΦPSII) and decreasing electrical conductivity. Furthermore, EBL application significantly reduced putrescine (Put) accumulation and increased spermine (Spm) content and (Spd + Spm)/Put ratio. EBL weakened ornithine (Orn) pathway, decreased ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity, and increased biosynthesis of Spm from Put via elevating the PA oxidase (PAO) activity and expression of MdSPDS, MdSPMS, and MdPAO. The trends for free, PS-conjugated, and PIS-bound PAs were similar to that of total PAs, except that no significant change was observed in free Spm, PS-conjugated Spd, and Spm, as well as PIS-bound Spd. This study revealed that BR-regulated PAs help in mitigating Mn toxicity and clarified the mechanisms of regulation of PAs by BRs in apple trees.
    Keywords:  2,4-Epibrassinolide; Malus robusta; Manganese toxicity; Polyamines; Regulation strategy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2022.153808
  3. J Agric Food Chem. 2022 Sep 15.
      Polyamine oxidase (PAO) is a key enzyme maintaining polyamine homeostasis, which affects plant physiological activities. Until now, the gene members and function of PAOs in tea (Camellia sinenesis) have not been fully identified. Here, through the expression in Escherichia coli and Nicotiana benthamiana, we identified six genes annotated as CsPAO in tea genome and transcriptome and determined their enzyme reaction modes and gene expression profiles in tea cultivar 'Yinghong 9'. We found that CsPAO1,2,3 could catalyze spermine, thermospermine, and norspermidine, and CsPAO2,3 could catalyze spermidine in the back-conversion mode, which indicated that the precursor of γ-aminobutyric acid might originate from the oxidation of putrescin but not spermidine. We further investigated the changes of CsPAO activity with temperature and pH and their stability. Kinetic parameters suggested that CsPAO2 was the major PAO modifying polyamine composition in tea, and it could be inactivated by β-hydroxyethylhydrazine and aminoguanidine. Putrescine content and CsPAO2 expression were high in tea flowers. CsPAO2 responded to wound, drought, and salt stress; CsPAO1 might be the main member responding to cold stress; anoxia induced CsPAO3. We conclude that in terms of phylogenetic tree, enzyme characteristics, and expression profile, CsPAO2 might be the dominant CsPAO in the polyamine degradation pathway.
    Keywords:  Camellia sinensis; anoxia; back-conversion; catalytic kinetics; cold; drought; expression profile; polyamine oxidase; salinity; wound
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.2c01549
  4. J Biotechnol. 2022 Sep 07. pii: S0168-1656(22)00209-7. [Epub ahead of print]
      Postbiotics is a novel term proposed to describe as a set of bioactive compounds obtained from beneficial microorganisms. In this work, postbiotics from four lactic acid bacteria (LAB) including Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris, Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and Streptococcus thermophilus were prepared in MRS broth. The antimicrobial properties and organic acids content of postbiotics were also investigated. Postbiotics were used to tentatively reduce the production of biogenic amines by foodborne pathogens (i.e., Salmonella paratyphi A and Escherichia coli) on lysine decarboxylase broth (LDB). Experimental data showed that acetic, propionic, and butyric acids were in the range of 387.51 to 709.21mg/L, 0.00 to 1.28mg/L, and 0.00 to 20.98mg/L, respectively. The inhibition zone of postbiotics on E. coli and S. paratyphi A were 11.67, and 12.33mm, respectively. Two different levels of postbiotics (25, and 50%) were used in LDB to measure the diamines (cadaverine and putrescine), polyamines (agmatine, spermidine, and spermine, ammonia), and other biogenic amine formation by pathogens. E. coli produced cadaverine and putrescine with concentrations of 1072.21 and 1114.18mg/L, respectively. The postbiotics reduced cadaverine formation by 67% in E. coli, and cadaverine production was mostly suppressed by postbiotics from P. acidilactici in E. coli (97%) and L. lactis subsp. lactis in S. paratyphi A (90%). Putrescine production by E. coli was reduced by 94% with postbiotics of P. acidilactici at a concentration of 25%, whereas putrescine production by S. paratyphi A has been decreased by 61% in the presence of postbiotics from L. lactis subsp. Lactis with a 25% concentration. The results revealed that an increase in postbiotics concentration (from 25 to 50%) in LDB may lead to synergistic effects, resulting from the production of biogenic amines by microbial pathogens. It was importantly concluded that postbiotics of LAB may degrade biogenic amines or prevent their formation by foodborne pathogens.
    Keywords:  Biogenic amines; cell-free supernatant; foodborne pathogens; lysine decarboxylase broth; postbiotic solution
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2022.09.003
  5. J Biol Chem. 2022 Sep 10. pii: S0021-9258(22)00925-5. [Epub ahead of print] 102482
      The Small Multidrug Resistance (SMR) family is composed of widespread microbial membrane proteins that fulfill different transport functions. Four functional SMR subtypes have been identified, which variously transport the small, charged metabolite guanidinium, bulky hydrophobic drugs and antiseptics, polyamines, and glycolipids across the membrane bilayer. The transporters possess a minimalist architecture, with ∼100-residue subunits that require assembly into homodimers or heterodimers for transport. In part because of their simple construction, the SMRs are a tractable system for biochemical and biophysical analysis. Studies of SMR transporters over the last 25 years have yielded deep insights for diverse fields, including membrane protein topology and evolution, mechanisms of membrane transport, and bacterial multidrug resistance. Here we review recent advances in understanding the structures and functions of SMR transporters. New molecular structures of SMRs representing two of the four functional subtypes reveal the conserved structural features that have permitted the emergence of disparate substrate transport functions in the SMR family, and illuminate structural similarities with a distantly related membrane transporter family, SLC35/DMT.
    Keywords:  SLC35; evolution; flippase; guanidinium; membrane transport; multidrug transporter; polyamine; quaternary ammonium cations; structure-function; substrate specificity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102482
  6. J Sci Food Agric. 2022 Sep 16.
       BACKGROUND: Broad bean paste is a high-nitrogen and salt traditional Chinese condiment, which triggers biosynthesis of nitrogen hazards like biogenic amines (BA). Mechanisms of association and applied research of functional safety and community assembly within multiple-microbial fermentation are currently lacking. Here, bioaugmentation was performed based on the profiles of BA accumulation and microbial succession to evaluate the functional variation within broad bean paste fermentation.
    RESULTS: Putrescine, spermine, and spermidine were the main BA during traditional broad bean paste fermentation. Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Bacillus were the predominant bacteria, whereas Aspergillus and Zygosaccharomyces dominated in fungal species, and community structure shifted upon salt exposure. Bacillus contributed significantly (> 1%) to the amine oxidase gene family was uncovered via Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt). Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 1-G6 and Bacillus licheniformis 2-B3 were screened to perform the bioaugmentation of broad bean paste, which achieved a 29% and 16% BA decrease, respectively. Interaction network analysis showed that Cronobacter and Lactobacillus were significantly negatively correlated with Bacillus (ρ = -0.829, ρ = -0.714, P < 0.05) in the B. amyloliquefaciens 1-G6 group, and Staphylococcus and Buttiauxella were inhibited by Bacillus (ρ = -0.657, ρ = -0.543, P < 0.05) in the B. licheniformis 2-B3 group.
    CONCLUSION: The synergism of amine oxidase activity and microbial interactions led to the decline of BA. Thus, this study improves our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of microbial succession and functional variation to further facilitate the optimization of the fermented food industry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Keywords:  Bacillus; Bioaugmentation; Biogenic amine; Broad bean paste; Microbial succession
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.12225