Christophe Mougel

The expression of most Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors is controlled by the agr locus, which encodes a two-component signaling pathway whose activating ligand is an agr-encoded autoinducing peptide (AIP). A polymorphism in the amino acid sequence of the AIP and of its corresponding receptor divides S. aureus strains into four major groups. Within a given group, each strain produces a peptide that can activate the agr response in the other member strains, whereas the AIPs belonging to different groups are usually mutually inhibitory. We investigated a possible relationship between agr groups and human S. aureus disease by studying 198 S. aureus strains isolated from 14 asymptomatic carriers, 66 patients with suppurative infection, and 114 patients with acute toxemia. The agr group and the distribution of 24 toxin genes were analyzed by PCR, and the genetic background was determined by means of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. The isolates were relatively evenly distributed among the four agrgroups, with 61 strains belonging to agr group I, 49 belonging to group II, 43 belonging to group III, and 45 belonging to group IV. Principal coordinate analysis performed on the AFLP distance matrix divided the 198 strains into three main phylogenetic groups, AF1 corresponding to strains of agr group IV, AF2 corresponding to strains of agr groups I and II, and AF3 corresponding to strains of agr group III. This indicated that the agr type was linked to the genetic background. A relationship between genetic background, agr group, and disease type was observed for several toxin-mediated diseases: for instance, agr group IV strains were associated with generalized exfoliative syndromes, and phylogenetic group AF1 strains with bullous impetigo. Among the suppurative infections, endocarditis strains mainly belonged to phylogenetic group AF2 and agr groups I and II. While these results do not show a direct role of the agr type in the type of human disease caused by S. aureus, the agr group may reflect an ancient evolutionary division of S. aureus in terms of this species' fundamental biology.

Soils are the product of the activities of plants, which supply organic matter and play a pivotal role in weathering rocks and minerals. Many plant species have a distinct ecological amplitude that shows restriction to specific soil types. In the numerous interactions between plants and soil, microorganisms also play a key role. Here we review the existing literature on interactions between plants, microorganisms and soils, and include considerations of evolutionary time scales, where possible. Some of these interactions involve intricate systems of communication, which in the case of symbioses such as the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis are several hundreds of millions years old; others involve the release of exudates from roots, and other products of rhizodeposition that are used as substrates for soil microorganisms. The possible reasons for the survival value of this loss of carbon over tens or hundreds of millions of years of evolution of higher plants are discussed, taking a cost-benefit approach. Co-evolution of plants and rhizosphere microorganisms is discussed, in the light of known ecological interactions between various partners in terrestrial ecosystems. Finally, the role of higher plants, especially deep-rooted plants and associated microorganisms in the weathering of rocks and minerals, ultimately contributing to pedogenesis, is addressed. We show that rhizosphere processes in the long run are central to biogeochemical cycles, soil formation and Earth history. Major anticipated discoveries will enhance our basic understanding and allow applications of new knowledge to deal with nutrient deficiencies, pests and diseases, and the challenges of increasing global food production and agroecosystem productivity in an environmentally responsible manner.

The recently described staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE) G and I were originally identified in two separate strains of Staphylococcus aureus. We have previously shown that the corresponding genes seg and sei are present in S. aureus in tandem orientation, on a 3.2-kb DNA fragment (Jarraud, J. et al. 1999. J. Clin. Microbiol. 37:2446-2449). Sequence analysis of seg-sei intergenic DNA and flanking regions revealed three enterotoxin-like open reading frames related to seg and sei, designated sek, sel, and sem, and two pseudogenes, psi ent1 and psi ent2. RT-PCR analysis showed that all these genes, including seg and sei, belong to an operon, designated the enterotoxin gene cluster (egc). Recombinant SEG, SEI, SEK, SEL, and SEM showed superantigen activity, each with a specific V beta pattern. Distribution studies of genes encoding superantigens in clinical S. aureus isolates showed that most strains harbored such genes and in particular the enterotoxin gene cluster, whatever the disease they caused. Phylogenetic analysis of enterotoxin genes indicated that they all potentially derived from this cluster, identifying egc as a putative nursery of enterotoxin genes.

Automated rRNA intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) was used to characterise bacterial (B-ARISA) and fungal (F-ARISA) communities from different soil types. The 16S-23S intergenic spacer region from the bacterial rRNA operon was amplified from total soil community DNA for B-ARISA. Similarly, the two internal transcribed spacers and the 5.8S rRNA gene (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) from the fungal rRNA operon were amplified from total soil community DNA for F-ARISA. Universal fluorescence-labeled primers were used for the PCRs, and fragments of between 200 and 1,200 bp were resolved on denaturing polyacrylamide gels by use of an automated sequencer with laser detection. Methodological (DNA extraction and PCR amplification) and biological (inter- and intrasite) variations were evaluated by comparing the number and intensity of peaks (bands) between electrophoregrams (profiles) and by multivariate analysis. Our results showed that ARISA is a high-resolution, highly reproducible technique and is a robust method for discriminating between microbial communities. To evaluate the potential biases in community description provided by ARISA, we also examined databases on length distribution of ribosomal intergenic spacers among bacteria (L. Ranjard, E. Brothier, and S. Nazaret, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66:5334-5339, 2000) and fungi.

In the recent years, the holobiont concept has emerged as a theoretical and experimental framework to study the interactions between hosts and their associated microbial communities in all types of ecosystems. The spread of this concept in many branches of biology results from the fairly recent realization of the ubiquitous nature of host-associated microbes and their central role in host biology, ecology, and evolution. Through this special series "Host-microbiota interactions: from holobiont theory to analysis," we wanted to promote this field of research which has considerable implications for human health, food production, and ecosystem protection. In this preface, we highlight a collection of articles selected for this special issue that show, use, or debate the concept of holobiont to approach taxonomically and ecologically diverse organisms, from humans and plants to sponges and insects. We also identify some theoretical and methodological challenges and propose directions for future research on holobionts.