Taxonomic group: bacteria / Firmicutes
(Phylum: Firmicutes)
Associated disease: infection due to Enterococcus faecalis [ICD11:
XN2H4 
]
The structure was elucidated in this paperNCBI PubMed ID: 19170884Publication DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06587.xJournal NLM ID: 8712028Publisher: Blackwell Publishing
Correspondence: christian.theilacker
uniklinik-freiburg.de
Institutions: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany
Biofilm production is thought to be an important step in many enterococcal infections. In several Gram-positive bacteria, membrane glycolipids have been implicated in biofilm formation. We constructed a non-polar deletion mutant of a putative glucosyltransferase designated biofilm-associated glycolipid synthesis A (bgsA) in Enterococcus faecalis 12030. Analysis of major extracted glycolipids by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed that the cell membrane of 12030 ∆ bgsA was devoid of diglucosyl-diacylglycerol (DGlcDAG), while monoglucosyl-diacylglycerol was overrepresented. The cell walls of 12030 ∆ bgsA contained longer lipoteichoic acid molecules and were less hydrophobic than wild-type bacteria. Inactivation of bgsA in E. faecalis 12030 and E. faecalis V583 led to an almost complete arrest of biofilm formation on plastic surfaces. Overexpression of bgsA, on the other hand, resulted in increased biofilm production. While initial adherence was not affected, bgsA-deficient bacteria did not accumulate in the growing biofilm. Also, adherence of E. faecalis ∆ bgsA to Caco-2 cells was impaired. In a mouse bacteraemia model, E. faecalis 12030 ∆ bgsA was cleared more rapidly from the bloodstream than the wild-type strain. In summary, BgsA is a glycosyltransferase synthetizing DGlcDAG, a glycolipid and lipoteichoic acid precursor involved in biofilm accumulation, adherence to host cells, and virulence in vivo.
teichoic acids, glycolipid, Biofilm, Caco-2 cells, Enterococcus faecalis
Structure type: monomer
Location inside paper: p.1057, fig.1, MGlcDAG
Compound class: glycolipid
Contained glycoepitopes: IEDB_141181,IEDB_142488,IEDB_144998,IEDB_146664,IEDB_983931,SB_192
Methods: 13C NMR, 1H NMR, NMR-2D, de-O-acylation, TLC, Western blotting, biological assays, composition analysis, NMR-1D, genetic methods
Biosynthesis and genetic data: genetic data
Comments, role: Minor glycolipid in E. faecalis 12030 and major in mutant strain.
Related record ID(s): 31232
NCBI Taxonomy refs (TaxIDs): 1169282,
1351
Show glycosyltransferases
There is only one chemically distinct structure:
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