Streptococcus mutans dextransucrase: effect of cerulenin on lipid synthesis and enzyme production

The effect of the fatty acid synthesis inhibitor cerulenin on growth and dextransucrase (EC 2.4.1.5) production by Streptococcus mutans 6715 was analyzed. Growth was markedly inhibited by less than 1 microgram of the antibiotic per ml. Under conditions where cerulenin did not inhibit amino acid incorporation into protein but did block acetate metabolism into lipid, the production of extracellular dextransucrase was suppressed. Inhibition was not due to a direct effect of the antibiotic on the enzyme or the lack of release of enzyme from the bacterial cell surface. Gel column chromatography demonstrated that enzyme produced in the presence of cerulenin was highly aggregated, similar to the control enzyme. Although the addition of ysophosphatidylcholine to enzyme which had been synthesized in the presence of cerulenin stimulated glucan formation from sucrose, the increase was not greater than that produced with the control enzyme. The differential inhibition of dextransucrase production by cerulenin indicates that enzyme secretion requires the production of lipid and may reflect the mechanism by whch this enzyme is transported from the bacterial cell.