Photobactin:: a catechol siderophore produced by Photorhabdus luminescens, an entomopathogen mutually associated with Heterorhabditis bacteriophora NC1 nematodes

The nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora transmits a monoculture of Photorhabdus luminescens bacteria to insect hosts, where it requires the bacteria for efficient insect pathogenicity and as a substrate for growth and reproduction. Siderophore production was implicated as being involved in the symbiosis because an ngrA mutant inadequate for supporting nematode growth and reproduction was also deficient in producing siderophore activity and ngrA is homologous to a siderophore biosynthetic gene, entD. The role of the siderophore in the symbiosis with the nematode was determined by isolating and characterizing a mini-Tn5-induced mutant, NS414, producing no detectable siderophore activity. This mutant, being defective for growth in iron-depleted medium, was normal in supporting nematode growth and reproduction, in transmission by the dauer juvenile nematode, and in insect pathogenicity. The mini-Tn5 transposon was inserted into phbH-, whose protein product is a putative peptidyl carrier protein homologous to the nonribosomal peptide synthetase VibF of Vibrio cholerae. Other putative siderophore biosynthetic and transport genes flanking phbH were characterized. The catecholate siderophore was purified, its structure was determined to be 2-(2,3-dihydroxyphenyl)-5-methyl-4,5-dihydro-oxazole-4-carboxylic acid [4-(2,3-dihydroxybenzoylamino)-butyl]-amide, and it was given the generic name photobactin. Antibiotic activity was detected with purified photobactin, indicating that the siderophore may contribute to antibiosis of the insect cadaver. These results eliminate the lack of siderophore activity as the cause for the inadequacy of the ngrA mutant in supporting nematode growth and reproduction.