Integrating the extracellular, intracellular, and intercellular metabolic processes of Escherichia coli through glucose saturation, inhibition of the acetyl-CoA carboxylase subunit accA with asRNA, and through quantifying cell to cell quorum-sensing
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Genetics, Microbiology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Synthetic Biology
- Keywords
- Microbiome, Quorum Sensing, Pathogenesis, Antisense RNA, Lux-S Gene, Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase, qPCR, Plasmids, Glucose Absorption, Fermentation
- Copyright
- © 2019 Hillman et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2019. Integrating the extracellular, intracellular, and intercellular metabolic processes of Escherichia coli through glucose saturation, inhibition of the acetyl-CoA carboxylase subunit accA with asRNA, and through quantifying cell to cell quorum-sensing. PeerJ Preprints 7:e27459v2 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.27459v2
Abstract
The study aims to demonstrate the link between bacterial cell metabolism and virulence through integrating the environmental, genetic, and cell to cell signaling molecular processes. Dietary fiber metabolized into glucose, increases the proliferation of intestinal microflora, which augments the outputof the Short Chain Fatty Acids. Bacteria ferment the glucose, from fiber, into Short Chain Fatty Acids, which help regulate many biochemical processes and pathways. Each SCFA maintains colonic pH, promotes cell differentiation, and the apoptosis of colonocytes. To model a high-fiber diet, increasing the synthesis of Acetyl-CoA carboxylase, an enzyme that catabolizes glucose into SCFAs, Escherichia coli was cultured in Luria Broth enhanced with a high to low concentration of glucose. The 15mM, a high concentration of glucose, yielded qPCR products measured, for the target gene accA, which was 4,210ng/µL. The 7.5mM sample produced a concentration equaled to 375 ng/µL, and the 0µM sample measured an accA concentration of 196 ng/µL. The gene accA, 1 of 4 subunits for the Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase enzyme, was suppressed by asRNA, producing a qPCR concentration of 63ng/µL. Antisense RNA for accA reduced the amount of Lux-S, a vital gene needed for propagating quorum-sensing signal molecules. The Lux-S gene, responsible for releasing autoinducer 2 for cell to cell quorum sensing, was reduced by the gene inhibition of accA with asRNA. The increase in Lux-S transcription increases biofilm production for spreading virulence. The further implications of the study propose designing antibiotics that target bacterial cell metabolic processes to block bacterial antibiotic resistance.
Author Comment
A co-author was added. The preprint focuses more on the gene accA than the entire microbiome of the gut. The preprint now has a more focused intent and purpose. Statistics were included where needed. Many uneeded misinterpretations were deleted. The overall preprint was revised to express a more central and single purpose.