Chain-length regulation by WzzE is necessary for, but genetically separable from, cyclic enterobacterial common...

Bacteria of the order Enterobacterales (e.g., Escherichia, Klebsiella, Yersinia) produce an invariant glycan, enterobacterial common antigen (ECA), that plays a role in maintaining outer membrane (OM) impermeability. ECA is found as the headgroup of a phospholipid and attached to LPS in the OM, and as a periplasmic cyclic form (ECA_CYC). WzyE polymerizes ECA repeat units to form the ECA chain with final chain length regulated by WzzE, a class 1 polysaccharide co-polymerase (PCP1). PCP1 function studies have shown interaction of the PCP1 transmembrane helices with the polymerase and a secondary activity found in the periplasmic domain of the PCP1 are required for chain-length regulation. However, WzzE is also necessary for ECA_CYC biosynthesis, and it remains unclear why loss of WzzE prevents ECA_CYC production but not linear ECA production. Here, we constructed plasmid-based and chromosomal wzzE mutants in E. coli K-12 with alterations that affect chain-length regulation of other PCP1 and assessed their effects on ECA_CYC biogenesis. Our data show loss of chain-length regulation and ECA_CYC synthesis from mutations altering transmembrane helix 2 and mutations altering the periplasmic domain of WzzE. We also identified two WzzE variants to the same residue with identical, near wild type linear ECA chain-length regulation but differing effects on ECA_CYC production. Specifically, WzzE^F104Y produces wild-type levels of ECA_CYC, while WzzE^F104H produces twofold less ECA_CYC than wild type, demonstrating ECA_CYC synthesis is genetically separable from chain length regulation. Overall, our results show that chain-length regulation by WzzE is necessary but not sufficient for normal production of ECA_CYC.