ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbial Physiology and Metabolism
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1598098
Identification of the malonylation modification in staphylococcus aureus and insight into the regulators in biofilm Formation
Provisionally accepted
- 1College of Food Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
- 2School of Food Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou, China
- 3Yunnan College of Modern Coffee Industry, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
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Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are critical regulators of bacterial biofilm formation, but the role of lysine malonylation (Kmal) in biofilm formation is still poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed the dynamic changes of protein malonylation of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) DC15 during biofilm formation based on antibody affinity enrichment combined with quantitative proteomics.Quantitative profiling identified 2,833 malonylated sites across 788 proteins, with significant enrichment in biofilm-associated proteins. Twelve conserved motifs, including Kmal******R and Kmal****R (* represents any amino acid residue), dominated the malonyl proteome landscape in S. aureus. The combined analysis of modified and quantitative proteomics revealed the quorum-sensing system as a key regulatory hub in S. aureus biofilm formation. In particular, the response regulator, AgrA, showed decreased expression but increased malonylation at the K2, K11 and K216 sites during S. aureus biofilm formation, suggesting functional compensation.Structural and phylogenetic analysis showed that the key malonylation sites (K216) of protein AgrA were evolutionarily conserved in Gram-positive pathogens including Bacillus cereus. Molecular docking analysis found that antimicrobial peptide BCp12 and natural compound chlorogenic acid could bind with the malonylation sites in AgrA (ΔG = -6.888 and -5.302 kcal/mol, respectively). This study provides a new perspective for understanding the general rules of bacterial biofilm formation and developing broad-spectrum anti-biofilm drugs.
Keywords: Biofilm formation, lysine malonylation, AgrA protein, Staphylococcus aureus, quorum-sensing system
Received: 22 Mar 2025; Accepted: 24 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yu, Li, Yang, Li, Dong, Huang and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Aixiang Huang, College of Food Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
Yanan Shi, Yunnan College of Modern Coffee Industry, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
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