Crystal structures of the isochorismatase domains from Vibrio anguillarum

Antibiotic resistance is becoming a global threat and overuse of antibiotics in aquaculture disease control worsens the situation. To reduce the risk of drug resistance developed in aquaculture, safer biocontrol programs are needed. Antivirulence therapy, with less chance for developing drug resistance, is a promising approach. To facilitate antivirulence inhibitor design against Vibrio anguillarum, a serious aquaculture pathogen, we present crystal structures for isochorismatase domains of AngB and VabB, which are required to synthesize siderophore, a critical virulence factor. Both structures are highly similar to known isochorismatases in fold and active site, therefore we conclude inhibitors for isochorismatases can be developed in a common framework. The structural information will improve design of virulence inhibitors against Vibrio anguillarum. We also firstly report that isochorismatase family could bind endogenous metabolite during the hetero-expression process, which is likely nicotinic acid, nicotinamide or pyrazinic acid, based on structural analysis and affinity prediction. Taken together, our results provide precise structural information of isochorismatase domains for antivirulence inhibitor design against Vibrio anguillarum.