Plant C-glycosylated aromatic polyketides are important for plant and animal health. These are specialized metabolites that perform functions both within the plant, and in interaction with soil or intestinal microbes. Despite the importance of these plant compounds, there is still limited knowledge of how they are metabolized. The Gram-positive aerobic soil bacterium Deinococcus aerius strain TR0125 and other Deinococcus species thrive in a wide range of harsh environments. In this work, we identified a C-glycoside deglycosylation gene cluster in the genome of D. aerius. The cluster includes three genes coding for a GMC-type oxidoreductase (DaCGO1) that oxidizes the glucosyl C3 position in aromatic C-glucosyl compounds, which in turn provides the substrate for the C-glycoside deglycosidase (DaCGD; composed of α+β subunits) that cleaves the glucosyl-aglycone C–C bond. Our results from size-exclusion chromatography, single particle cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography show that DaCGD is an α2β2 heterotetramer, which represents a novel oligomeric state among bacterial CGDs. Importantly, the high-resolution X-ray structure of DaCGD provides valuable insights into the activation of the catalytic hydroxide ion by Lys261. DaCGO1 is specific for the 6-C-glucosyl flavones isovitexin, isoorientin and the 2-C-glucosyl xanthonoid mangiferin, and the subsequent C–C-bond cleavage by DaCGD generated apigenin, luteolin and norathyriol, respectively. Of the substrates tested, isovitexin was the preferred substrate (DaCGO1, Km 0.047 mM, kcat 51 min−1; DaCGO1/DaCGD, Km 0.083 mM, kcat 0.42 min−1).

The Gram-negative bacterium Xanthomonas campestris is one of the most problematic phytopathogens, and especially the pathovar campestris (Xcc) that causes a devastating plant disease known as black rot and it is of considerable interest to understand the molecular mechanisms that enable virulence and pathogenicity. Gram-negative bacteria depend on lipoproteins (LPs) that serve many important functions including control of cell shape and integrity, biogenesis of the outer membrane (OM) and establishment of transport pathways across the periplasm. The LPs are localized to the OM where they are attached via a lipid anchor by a process known as the localization of lipoprotein (Lol) pathway. Once a lipid anchor has been synthesized on the nascent LP, the Lol pathway is initiated by a membrane-bound ABC transporter that extracts the lipid anchor of the LP from the IM. The ABC extractor presents the extracted LP to the transport protein LolA, which binds the anchor and thereby shields it from the hydrophilic periplasmic milieu. It is assumed that LolA then carries the LP across the periplasm to the OM. At the periplasmic face of the OM, the LP cargo is delivered to LolB, which completes the Lol pathway by inserting the LP anchor in the inner leaflet of the outer membrane. Earlier studies have shown that loss of Xcc LolA or LolB leads to decreased virulence and pathogenicity during plant infection, which motivates studies to better understand the Lol system in Xcc. In this study, we report the first experimental structure of a complex between LolA and LolB. The crystal structure reveals a stable LolA-LolB complex in the absence of LP. The structural integrity of the LP-free complex is safeguarded by specific protein-protein interactions that do not coincide with interactions predicted to participate in lipid binding. The results allow us to identify structural determinants that enable Xcc LolA to dock with LolB and initiate LP transfer.

The communication between plants and bacteria involves a complex chemical signaling network that mediates responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses, as well as establishing symbiotic relationships between different organisms.

The first part of the thesis focuses on a mechanism for symbiotic communication between plants and bacteria and more specifically on how C-glycosylated aromatic polyketide compounds produced by plants can be used as a mechanism for plants to communicate with beneficial bacteria. In their glycosylated form, these compounds are substrates for symbiotic bacteria, which in return deglycosylate them and release the sugar-free part, the active aglycone. The aglycone can then mediate several functions beneficial to the plant, for example facilitating nitrogen fixation or acting as an antibacterial agent against plant pathogens.

Results from studies covered in the thesis show that the soil bacteria Deinococcus aerius, Streptomyces canus and Microbacterium testaceum produce enzymes that can cleave the carbon-carbon bond between the sugar and the aglycone in C-glycosyl compounds. Deglycosylation first requires oxidation of the sugar by an oxidoreductase, after which the carbon-carbon bond can be cleaved by a C-glycosyl deglycosidase (CGD). Biochemical and structural characterization as well as results from phylogenetic analyzes of the amino-acid sequences of CGD enzymes provided new knowledge about these relatively unexplored enzymatic processes, as well as increased insight into how C-glycosylated aromatic polyketides participate in the interaction between plant and bacteria.

The second part of the thesis explores pathogenic interactions between plants and bacteria. The virulence of pathogenic bacteria is dependent on lipoproteins that are attached to the bacteria's outer membrane and that have a decisive role for the bacteria's survival and pathogenicity. The localization of lipoproteins takes place through a process abbreviated Lol. The Lol system of the notorious plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris was studied to better understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of the localization system, which could eventually open new ways to combat the bacterium. Biochemical, structural, and phylogenetic techniques were used also in this project.

Taken together, the results contributed several new discoveries. For the first time, a physical complex between the two proteins responsible for transporting lipoproteins could be determined and their mutual interactions studied. Furthermore, sequence analyses challenge the generally accepted model of how lipoproteins are released from the bacterial inner membrane before being transported to the outer membrane. 

According to the standard model based on Escherichia coli, lipoproteins are extracted from the inner membrane by a membrane protein that belongs to the ABC-transporter family and whose structure forms an asymmetric heterodimer (LolCDE). However, our bioinformatic analysis show that most of these ABC transporters, including X. campestris, are likely to be homodimers and that Escherichia coli is the exception rather than the rule. The difference between an asymmetric and symmetric ABC transporter also has implications for several hypotheses about how these proteins function. Heterologous production of the X. campestris ABC transporter confirmed that the protein is a homodimer.

Kommunikationen mellan växter och bakterier omfattar ett komplext kemiskt signaleringsnätverk som förmedlar svar på olika biotiska och abiotiska påfrestningar, samt etablerar symbiotiska relationer mellan olika organismer.

Den första delen av avhandlingen fokuserar på en mekanism för symbiotisk kommunikation mellan växter och bakterier och mer specifikt på hur C-glykosylerade aromatiska polyketidföreningar producerade av växter kan utnyttjas som en mekanism för växter att kommunicrea med goda bakterier. I sin glykosylerade form utgör dessa föreningar substrat for symbiotiska bakterier som i gengäld deglykosylerar dem och frigör den sockerfria delen, det aktiva aglykonet. Aglykonet kan sedan förmedla ett flertal för växten fördelaktiga funktioner, till exempel underlättande av kvävefixering eller fungera som ett antibakteriellt medel mot växtpatogener.

I avhandlingen visas att jordbakterierna Deinococcus aerius, Streptomyces canus och Microbacterium testaceum producerar enzymer som ansvarar för klyning av kol-kol-bindingen mellan sockret och aglykonet i C-glykosylföreningar. Deglykosylering kräver först oxidation av sockret med hjälp av ett oxidoreduktas, varefter kol-kol-bindningen kan klyvas av ett C-glykosyldeglykosidas (CGD). Biokemisk och strukturell karakterisering samt resultat från fylogenetiska analyser av CGD-enzymers aminosyra-sekvenser ger ny kunskap om dessa relativt outforskade enzymatiska processer, samt ökad insikt om hur C-glykosylerade aromatiska polyketider deltar i samspelet mellan växt och bakterie.

Den andra delen av avhandlingen utforskar patogena interaktioner mellan växter och bakterier. Patogena bakteriers virulens är beroende av lipoproteiner som är fästa i bakteriens yttermembran och som har en avgörande roll för bakteriens överlevnad och patogenicitet. Lokaliseringen av lipoproteier sker genom en process som förkortas Lol. Lol-systemet hos den problematiska växtpatogenen Xanthomonas campestris studerades för att bättre förstå de underliggande molekylära mekanismerna hos lokaliseringssystemet, vilket på sikt kan öppna upp för nya sätt att bekämpa bakterien. Även i detta projekt användes biokemiska, strukturella och fylogenetiska tekniker.

Sammantaget bidrog resultaten med flera nya upptäckter. För första gången kunde ett fysiskt komplex mellan de två proteinerna som ansvarar för transport av lipoproteiner bestämmas och deras inbördes interaktioner studeras. Vidare bidrog sekevensanalyser till ifrågasättande av den allmänt vedertagna modellen för hur lipoproteiner frigörs från bakteriens innermembran innan den transporteras till yttermembranet. 

Enligt standardmodellen baserad på Escherichia coli extraheras lipoproteiner från innermembranet av ett membranprotein som tillhör ABC-transportörfamiljen och vars struktur bildar en asymmetrisk heterodimer. Våra bioinformatikstudie visade dock att merparten av dessa ABC-transportörer, inklusive den i X. campestris, mest troligt är homodimerer och att Escherichia coli är ett undantag snarare än en regel. Skillnaden mellan en asymmetrisk och symmetrisk ABC-transportör får även konsekvenser för flera hypoteser om hur dessa proteiner fungerar. Heterolog produktion av ABC-transportören från X. campestris bekräftade att proteinet är en homodimer.

(1,3;1,4)-β-D-Glucans are widely distributed in the cell walls of grasses (family Poaceae) and closely related families, as well as some other vascular plants. Additionally, they have been found in other organisms, including fungi, lichens, brown algae, charophycean green algae, and the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti. Only three members of the Cellulose Synthase-Like (CSL) genes in the families CSLF, CSLH, and CSLJ are implicated in (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucan biosynthesis in grasses. Little is known about the enzymes responsible for synthesizing (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans outside the grasses. In the present study, we report the presence of (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans in the exopolysaccharides of the Gram-positive bacterium Romboutsia ilealis CRIBT. We also report that RiGT2 is the candidate gene of R. ilealis that encodes (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucan synthase. RiGT2 has conserved glycosyltransferase family 2 (GT2) motifs, including D, D, D, QXXRW, and a C-terminal PilZ domain that resembles the C-terminal domain of bacteria cellulose synthase, BcsA. Using a direct gain-of-function approach, we insert RiGT2 into Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans are produced with structures similar to those of the (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans of the lichen Cetraria islandica. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that putative (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucan synthase candidate genes in several other bacterial species support the finding of (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans in these species.

Pyranose oxidase (POx, glucose 2-oxidase; EC 1.1.3.10, pyranose:oxygen 2-oxidoreductase) is an FAD-dependent oxidoreductase and a member of the auxiliary activity (AA) enzymes (subfamily AA3_4) in the CAZy database. Despite the general interest in fungal POxs, only a few bacterial POxs have been studied so far. Here, we report the biochemical characterization of a POx from Streptomyces canus (ScPOx), the sequence of which is positioned in a separate, hitherto unexplored clade of the POx phylogenetic tree. Kinetic analyses revealed that ScPOx uses monosaccharide sugars (such as d-glucose, d-xylose, d-galactose) as its electron-donor substrates, albeit with low catalytic efficiencies. Interestingly, various C- and O-glycosides (such as puerarin) were oxidized by ScPOx as well. Some of these glycosides are characteristic substrates for the recently described FAD-dependent C-glycoside 3-oxidase from Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum. Here, we show that FAD-dependent C-glycoside 3-oxidases and pyranose oxidases are enzymes belonging to the same sequence space.

Fighting cancer still relies on chemo- and radiation therapy, which is a trade-off between effective clearance of malignant cells and severe side effects on healthy tissue. Targeted cancer treatment on the other hand is a promising and refined strategy with less systemic interference. The enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) exhibits cytotoxic effects on cancer cells in combination with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). However, the plantderived enzyme is out of bounds for medical purposes due to its foreign glycosylation pattern and resulting rapid clearance and immunogenicity. In this study, we generated recombinant, unglycosylated HRP variants in Escherichia coli using random mutagenesis and investigated their biochemical properties and suitability for cancer treatment. The cytotoxicity of the HRP-IAA enzyme prodrug system was assessed in vitro with HCT-116 human colon, FaDu human nasopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and murine colon adenocarcinoma cells (MC38). Extensive cytotoxicity was shown in all three cancer cell lines: the cell viability of HCT-116 and MC38 cells treated with HRP-IAA was below 1% after 24 h incubation and the surviving fraction of FaDu cells was <= 10% after 72 h. However, no cytotoxic effect was observed upon in vivo intratumoral application of HRP-IAA on a MC38 tumor model in C57BL/6J mice. However, we expect that targeting of HRP to the tumor by conjugation to specific antibodies or antibody fragments will reduce HRP clearance and thereby enhance therapy efficacy.