ABSTRACT
Highly virulent strains of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp.mycoides SC belonging to the African cluster contain an operon with the genes gtsA, gtsB, andgtsC, encoding membrane ATP binding cassette transporter proteins GtsA, GtsB, and GtsC, which are involved in glycerol transport. Strain Afadé from the African cluster incorporated [U-14C]glycerol with a time-dependent increase. The less virulent strain L2 of the European cluster, which lacksgtsB and gtsC, failed to incorporate glycerol. Antibodies against GtsB noncompetitively inhibited glycerol uptake.l-α-Glycerophosphate was not transported by M. mycoides subsp. mycoides SC. It is postulated to be synthesized by phosphorylation of glycerol during transport and subsequently metabolized further to dihydroxyacetone phosphate accompanied by release of H2O2. Peroxide production in glycerol-containing growth medium was high for the African strain Afadé but very low for the European strain L2. Virtually no H2O2 was produced by both strains without glycerol. Hence, the efficient glycerol uptake system found in the virulent strain of the African cluster leads to a strong release of peroxide, a potential virulence factor which is lacking in the less virulent European strains. M. mycoides subsp.mycoides SC might have adopted, as a strategy for virulence, a highly efficient uptake system for glycerol which allows the production of an active metabolic intermediate that damages host cells.
Direct Transfer of a Mycoplasma mycoides Genome to Yeast Is Enhanced by Removal of the Mycoides Glycerol Uptake Factor Gene glpF