IBS Seminar: A new family of ribosomal peptide metallophores involved in bacterial adaptation to metal stress

Par Dr Françoise Jacob-Dubuisson (Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille)

Ribosomally synthesized, post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) form a large group of natural products employed by bacteria in their survival strategies. We recently discovered a new family of RiPPs that we called ‘bufferins’, as they are involved in copper homeostasis. Copper is a necessary but toxic transition metal, and hence bacteria have developed mechanisms that strictly control its homeostasis. We characterized the biosynthesis pathway of bufferins and showed that conserved cysteine residues are converted to rare post-translational modifications, thiooxazole groups, that are necessary for their metal-binding properties. With thousands of homologous biosynthetic gene clusters in the bacterial phylogenetic tree, bufferins represent a large family of metallophores and a widespread but overlooked metal homeostasis mechanism in bacteria.

Hosted by A. Maillard (IBS/Bacterial Pathogenesis and Cellular Responses Group)