Chemoreceptor MCP4580 of Vibrio splendidus mediates chemotaxis toward L-glutamic acid contributing to bacterial virulence

Chemotaxis has an essential function in flagellar bacteria that allows them to sense and respond to specific environmental signals, enabling their survival and colonization. Vibrio splendidus is an important opportunistic pathogen that infects a wide range of hosts including fish, bivalve, and sea cucumber. Our study demonstrated that V. splendidus AJ01 exhibited chemotaxis toward L-glutamic acid (L-Glu), an abundant amino acid in the intestinal and respiratory tree tissues of the sea cucumber. Bacterial samples collected from two locations in soft agar swimming plates were subjected to RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis to identify the methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein (MCP) respond to L-Glu. Among the 40 annotated chemoreceptors, MCP4580 was identified as the MCP that mediates L-Glu-response. Molecular docking and site-directed mutagenesis revealed that L-arginine at residue 81 (R81) and L-glutamine at residue 88 (Q88) in the ligand-binding domain (LBD) are crucial for L-Glu recognition. Bacterial two-hybrid assay (BTH) showed that MCP4580 forms dimers and interacts with the histidine kinase CheA via the coupling protein CheW1 and CheW2. Phosphorylation analysis showed that the binding of L-Glu to MCP4580 results in the inhibition of CheA phosphorylation mainly via CheW1. Notably, sea cucumbers stimulated with each mutant strain of chemotaxis protein exhibited reduced mortality, highlighting the importance of chemotaxis in V. splendidus virulence. The present study provides valuable insights into the molecular components and signal transduction involved in the chemotaxis of V. splendidus toward L-Glu, and highlights the importance of chemotaxis in its virulence.