The Bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila Inhibits Phospholipases A₂ from Insect, Prokaryote, and Vertebrate Sources

Authors

Youngjin Park, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Yonggyun Kim, Andong National UniversityFollow
David Stanley, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2004

Citation

Published in Naturwissenschaften 91 (2004), pp. 371–373; doi: 10.1007/s00114-004-0548-2.

Comments

Copyright © 2004 Springer-Verlag. Used by permission.

Abstract

The bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila is a virulent insect pathogen. Part of its pathogenicity is due to impairing cellular immunity by blocking biosynthesis of eicosanoids, the major recognized signal transduction system in insect cellular immunity. X. nematophila inhibits the first step in eicosanoid biosynthesis, phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂). Here we report that the bacterium inhibits PLA₂ from two insect immune tissues, hemocytes and fat body, as well as PLA_2s selected to represent a wide range of organisms, including prokaryotes, insects, reptiles, and mammals. Our finding on a bacterial in-hibitor of PLA₂ activity contributes new insight into the chemical ecology of microbe-host interactions, which usually involve actions rather than inhibitors of PLA_2s.