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Published June 2016 | Supplemental Material
Journal Article Open

Identification and differential production of ubiquinone-8 in the bacterial predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus

Abstract

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109J, a predatory bacterium with potential as a bacterial control agent, can exist in several lifestyles that differ both in predatory capacity and color. We determined that levels of ubiquinone-8 contribute to the distinctive but variable yellow color of different types of Bdellovibrio cells. Steady-state ubiquinone-8 concentrations did not differ markedly between conventional predatory and host-independent B. bacteriovorus despite upregulation of a suite of ubiquinone-8 synthesis genes in host-independent cells. In contrast, in spatially organized B. bacteriovorus films, the yellow inner regions contain significantly higher ubiquinone-8 concentrations than the off-white outer regions. Correspondingly, RT-PCR analysis reveals that the inner region, previously shown to consist primarily of active predators, clearly expresses two ubiquinone biosynthesis genes, while the outer region, composed mainly of quiescent or stalled bdelloplasts, expresses those genes weakly or not at all. Moreover, B. bacteriovorus cells in the inner region of week-old interfacial films, which are phenotypically attack-phase, have much higher UQ8 levels than regular attack-phase bdellovibrios, most likely because their "trapped" state prevents a high expenditure of energy to power flagellar motion.

Additional Information

© 2016 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Institut Pasteur. Received 6 August 2015; accepted 2 April 2016. NFD, MAF, and EMS are grateful to Dr. John Greaves of UC Irvine for his assistance with high-resolution mass spectrometry. EMS and MAF thank Weidong Wang (Occidental College) for advice on NMR studies. We also thank the Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities program at SUNY New Paltz, the Undergraduate Research Center at Occidental College, and Occidental's Biochemistry program. This work was supported by NSF (CHE-0910578) as well as a grant to Occidental College from HHMI through the Undergraduate and Graduate Science Education Programs. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article.

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