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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2006, p. 2950-2956, Vol. 72, No. 4
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.4.2950-2956.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A New C-Type Lectin Similar to the Human Immunoreceptor DC-SIGN Mediates Symbiont Acquisition by a Marine Nematode{dagger}

Silvia Bulgheresi,1* Irma Schabussova,2 Tie Chen,3 Nicholas P. Mullin,4 Rick M. Maizels,2 and Jörg A. Ott1

Vienna Ecology Centre, Department of Marine Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria,1 Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH93JT, United Kingdom,2 Department of Biomedical Science, College of Medicine-Rockford, University of Illinois at Chicago, Rockford, Illinois,3 Department of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH93JT, United Kingdom4

Received 20 October 2005/ Accepted 20 January 2006

Although thiotrophic symbioses have been intensively studied for the last three decades, nothing is known about the molecular mechanisms of symbiont acquisition. We used the symbiosis between the marine nematode Laxus oneistus and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria to study this process. In this association a monolayer of symbionts covers the whole cuticle of the nematode, except its anterior-most region. Here, we identify a novel Ca2+-dependent mannose-specific lectin that was exclusively secreted onto the posterior, bacterium-associated region of L. oneistus cuticle. A recombinant form of this lectin induced symbiont aggregation in seawater and was able to compete with the native lectin for symbiont binding in vivo. Surprisingly, the carbohydrate recognition domain of this mannose-binding protein was similar both structurally and functionally to a human dendritic cell-specific immunoreceptor. Our results provide a molecular link between bacterial symbionts and host-secreted mucus in a marine symbiosis and suggest conservation in the mechanisms of host-microbe interactions throughout the animal kingdom.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Vienna Ecology Centre, Department of Marine Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Phone: 43-1-4277-54457. Fax: 43-1-4277-4592. E-mail: silvia.bulgheresi{at}univie.ac.at.

{dagger} Contribution 751 from the Carrie Bow Cay Laboratory, Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Program, NMNH, Washington, D.C.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2006, p. 2950-2956, Vol. 72, No. 4
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.4.2950-2956.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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