Acetic acid bacteria encode two levansucrase types of different ecological relationship

Frank Jakob, Yamira Quintero, Alexis Musacchio, Paulina Estrada-de los Santos, Lázaro Hernández, Rudi F. Vogel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are associated with plants and insects. Determinants for the targeting and occupation of these widely different environments are unknown. However, most of these natural habitats share plant-derived sucrose, which can be metabolized by some AAB via polyfructose building levansucrases (LS) known to be involved in biofilm formation. Here, we propose two LS types (T) encoded by AAB as determinants for habitat selection, which emerged from vertical (T1) and horizontal (T2) lines of evolution and differ in their genetic organization, structural features and secretion mechanism, as well as their occurrence in proteobacteria. T1-LS are secreted by plant-pathogenic α- and γ-proteobacteria, while T2-LS genes are common in diazotrophic, plant-growth-promoting α-, β- and γ-proteobacteria. This knowledge may be exploited for a better understanding of microbial ecology, plant health and biofilm formation by sucrase-secreting proteobacteria in eukaryotic hosts.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4151-4165
Number of pages15
JournalEnvironmental Microbiology
Volume21
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2019

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Acetic acid bacteria encode two levansucrase types of different ecological relationship'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this