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Evaluating a New High-throughput Twin-Arginine Translocase Assay in Bacteria for Therapeutic Applications

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Abstract

The twin-arginine translocase (Tat) pathway is involved in the transport of folded proteins in bacteria, and has been implicated in virulence and pathogenesis. A simple but efficient assay based on the quantification of the exopolysaccharide colanic acid was developed as a new means to study Tat function. Colanic acid contains a methylpentose (l-fucose) component, and its production is directly linked to the Tat pathway through the transport of enzymes involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis. Monitoring of l-fucose levels can be applied for identification of new Tat substrates and high-throughput screening of Tat inhibitors for therapeutic applications.

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Acknowledgements

DG thanks Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, for Senior Research Fellowship. SKR thanks DST, Govt of India for Ramanujan fellowship. This Project was funded by DST Young investigator grant.

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Author notes

  1. Deepanjan Ghosh and Shridhar Chougule have equally contributed to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochemical Sciences Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, 411008, India

    Deepanjan Ghosh, Shridhar Chougule, Vellore Sunder Avinash & Sureshkumar Ramasamy

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  1. Deepanjan Ghosh
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  2. Shridhar Chougule
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  3. Vellore Sunder Avinash
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  4. Sureshkumar Ramasamy
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Correspondence to Sureshkumar Ramasamy.

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Ghosh, D., Chougule, S., Avinash, V.S. et al. Evaluating a New High-throughput Twin-Arginine Translocase Assay in Bacteria for Therapeutic Applications. Curr Microbiol 74, 1332–1336 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-017-1321-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-017-1321-z

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