Evaluating aroA gene essentiality and EPSP synthase vulnerability in Mycobacterium smegmatis under different nutritional conditions

The epidemiological importance of bacteria from the genus Mycobacterium is indisputable and the necessity to find new molecules that can inhibit their growth is urgent. The shikimate pathway, required for the synthesis of important metabolites in bacteria, represents a target for inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth. The aroA-encoded 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) enzyme catalyzes the sixth step of the shikimate pathway. In this study, we combined gene knockout, gene knockdown and kinetic assays to evaluate aroA gene essentiality and the vulnerability of its protein product, EPSPS synthase from Mycobacterium smegmatis (MsEPSPS), under different nutritional conditions. We demonstrate by an allelic exchange-based gene knockout approach the essentiality of MsEPSPS under rich and poor nutritional conditions. By performing gene complementation experiments with wild-type (WT) and point mutant versions of aroA gene, together with kinetic assays using WT and mutant recombinant proteins, we show that aroA gene essentiality depends on MsEPSPS activity. To evaluate MsEPSPS vulnerability, we performed gene knockdown experiments using the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats interference (CRISPRi) system. The experiments were performed in both rich and defined (poor) media, using three different repression forces for aroA gene. We only observed growth impairment when bacteria were grown in defined medium without supplementation of aromatic amino acids, thereby indicating that MsEPSPS vulnerability depends on the environment conditions. ImportanceWe evaluated both gene essentiality and target vulnerability of the enzyme that catalyzes the sixth step of the shikimate pathway, the aroA-encoded 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase from Mycobacterium smegmatis (MsEPSPS). Combining gene knockout experiments and kinetic assays, we established a causal link between aroA gene essentiality and the biological function of EPSPS protein, which we advocate is an indispensable step for target validation. Moreover, we characterized MsEPSPS vulnerability under different nutritional conditions and found it is a vulnerable target only when M. smegmatis is grown under poor nutritional conditions without supplementation with aromatic amino acids. Based on our findings, we suggest that gene essentiality information should be obtained from gene knockout experiments and not knockdown approaches, as even low levels of a protein after gene silencing can lead to a different growth phenotype when compared to that under its complete absence, as was the case with aroA and MsEPSPS in our study.