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The second messenger c-di-AMP mediates bacterial exopolysaccharide biosynthesis: a review

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Abstract

Cyclic dimeric adenosine 3′–5′-monophosphate (c-di-AMP) is a recently discovered nucleotide messenger in bacteria. It plays an important role in signaling, transcription, and cell physiology, such as in bacterial growth, potassium transport, fatty acid synthesis, the metabolic balance of cell wall components, and biofilm formation. Exopolysaccharides (EPSs) have distinct physico-chemical properties and diverse bioactivities including antibacterial, hypolipidemic, and antioxidative activities, and they are widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Although c-di-AMP has been demonstrated to regulate the biosynthesis of bacterial EPSs, only a single c-di-AMP receptor, CabpA, has been identified in EPS synthesis. With the aim of describing current understanding of the regulation of microbial EPSs, this review summarizes c-di-AMP biosynthesis and degradation as well as the mechanism through which c-di-AMP regulates bacterial EPSs.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31871776 and 31771956), Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (Grant No. 18ZR1426800), Shanghai Agriculture Applied Technology Development Program (Grant No. 2019-02-08-00-07-F01152), and Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Food Microbiology (Grant No. 19DZ2281100).

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  1. Zhi-Qiang Xiong and Yi-Zhou Fan have contributed equally.

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  1. Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Food Microbiology, School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China

    Zhi-Qiang Xiong, Yi-Zhou Fan, Xin Song, Xin-Xin Liu, Yong-Jun Xia & Lian-Zhong Ai

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  1. Zhi-Qiang Xiong
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Correspondence to Lian-Zhong Ai.

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Xiong, ZQ., Fan, YZ., Song, X. et al. The second messenger c-di-AMP mediates bacterial exopolysaccharide biosynthesis: a review. Mol Biol Rep 47, 9149–9157 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-020-05930-5

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