Characterization of a Unique Tetrasaccharide and Distinct Glycoproteome in the
O
-Linked Protein Glycosylation System of Neisseria elongata subsp. glycolytica
Authors: Anonsen Jan Haug , Vik Åshild , Børud Bente , Viburiene Raimonda , Aas Finn Erik , Kidd Shani W. A. , Aspholm Marina , Koomey Michael 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACT

Broad-spectrum
O
-linked protein glycosylation is well characterized in the major
Neisseria
species of importance to human health and disease. Within strains of
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
,
N. meningitidis
, and
N. lactamica
, protein glycosylation (
pgl
) gene content and the corresponding oligosaccharide structure are fairly well conserved, although intra- and interstrain variability occurs. The status of such systems in distantly related commensal species, however, remains largely unexplored. Using a strain of deeply branching
Neisseria elongata
subsp.
glycolytica
, a heretofore unrecognized tetrasaccharide glycoform consisting of di-
N
-acetylbacillosamine-glucose-di-
N
-acetyl hexuronic acid-
N
-acetylhexosamine (diNAcBac-Glc-diNAcHexA-HexNAc) was identified. Directed mutagenesis, mass spectrometric analysis, and glycan serotyping confirmed that the oligosaccharide is an extended version of the diNAcBac-Glc-based structure seen in
N. gonorrhoeae
and
N. meningitidis
generated by the successive actions of PglB, PglC, and PglD and glucosyltransferase PglH orthologues. In addition, a null mutation in the orthologue of the broadly conserved but enigmatic
pglG
gene precluded expression of the extended glycoform, providing the first evidence that its product is a functional glycosyltransferase. Despite clear evidence for a substantial number of glycoprotein substrates, the major pilin subunit of the endogenous type IV pilus was not glycosylated. The latter finding raises obvious questions as to the relative distribution of pilin glycosylation within the genus, how protein glycosylation substrates are selected, and the overall structure-function relationships of broad-spectrum protein glycosylation. Together, the results of this study provide a foundation upon which to assess neisserial
O
-linked protein glycosylation diversity at the genus level.

IMPORTANCE
Broad-spectrum protein glycosylation systems are well characterized in the pathogenic
Neisseria
species
N. gonorrhoeae
and
N. meningitidis
. A number of lines of evidence indicate that the glycan components in these systems are subject to diversifying selection and suggest that glycan variation may be driven in the context of glycosylation of the abundant and surface-localized pilin protein PilE, the major subunit of type IV pili. Here, we examined protein glycosylation in a distantly related, nonpathogenic neisserial species,
Neisseria elongata
subsp.
glycolytica
. This system has clear similarities to the systems found in pathogenic species but makes novel glycoforms utilizing a glycosyltransferase that is widely conserved at the genus level but whose function until now remained unknown. Remarkably, PilE pilin is not glycosylated in this species, a finding that raises important questions about the evolutionary trajectories and overall structure-function relationships of broad-spectrum protein glycosylation systems in bacteria.