SO-LAAO, a Novel l-Amino Acid Oxidase That Enables Streptococcus oligofermentans To Outcompete Streptococcus mutans by Generating H2O2 from Peptone

摘要

We previously demonstrated that Streptococcus oligofermentans suppressed the growth of Streptococcus mutans, the primary cariogenic pathogen, by producing hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) through lactate oxidase activity. In this study, we found that the lox mutant of S. oligofermentans regained the inhibition while growing on peptone-rich plates. Further studies demonstrated that the H₂O₂ produced on peptone by S. oligofermentans was mainly derived from seven l-amino acids, i.e., l-aspartic acid, l-tryptophan, l-lysine, l-isoleucine, l-arginine, l-asparagine, and l-glutamine, indicating the possible existence of l-amino acid oxidase (LAAO) that can produce H₂O₂ from l-amino acids. Through searching the S. oligofermentans genome for open reading frames with a conserved flavin adenine dinucleotide binding motif that exists in the known LAAOs, including those of snake venom, fungi, and bacteria, a putative LAAO gene, assigned as aao_So, was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The purified protein, SO-LAAO, showed a molecular mass of 43 kDa in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and catalyzed H₂O₂ formation from the seven l-amino acids determined above, thus confirming its LAAO activity. The SO-LAAO identified in S. oligofermentans differed evidently from the known LAAOs in both substrate profile and sequence, suggesting that it could represent a novel LAAO. An aao_So mutant of S. oligofermentans did lose H₂O₂ formation from the seven l-amino acids, further verifying its function as an LAAO. Furthermore, the inhibition by S. oligofermentans of S. mutans in a peptone-rich mixed-species biofilm was greatly reduced for the aao_So mutant, indicating the gene's importance in interspecies competition.