Characterization of the the L. plantarum capsular polysaccharide clusters. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum

The bacterial cell envelope is a complex, multilayered structure that is not only essential to maintain cellular integrity, but also facilitates vital bacterial processes such as adaption, colonization and adhesion. Cell envelopes comprise a wide range of molecules, such as proteins and capsular polysaccharide (CPS), which collectively decorate the bacterial cell in a species- and strain specific manner. Here we characterized the 4 CPS gene cluster of L. plantarum and assessed the impact on CPS (combinatorial) gene deletions on surface polysaccharide composition. Overall design: individual KOs of the cps clusters and the combination of all four together were compared with the WT expression in a loop design. The KO of 1-3 was directly compared to the WT (dye swapped)

细菌细胞包膜（bacterial cell envelope）是一种复杂的多层结构，其不仅对维持细胞完整性至关重要，还可助力细菌完成适应、定植与黏附等关键生理过程。细菌包膜包含多种分子组分，例如蛋白质与荚膜多糖（capsular polysaccharide, CPS），这些分子以物种和菌株特异性的方式共同修饰细菌细胞表面。本研究对植物乳杆菌（L. plantarum）的4个荚膜多糖基因簇进行了系统表征，并评估了荚膜多糖（组合式）基因缺失对细菌表面多糖组成的影响。实验整体设计：采用环路设计，将荚膜多糖基因簇的单个敲除（knockout, KO）株与4个基因簇全部敲除的菌株，分别与野生型（wild type, WT）的表达水平进行对比；其中1至3号基因簇的敲除株与野生型菌株直接采用染料互换法完成比较。