scholarly journals Contribution of the SirA regulon to biofilm formation in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium

Microbiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 152 (11) ◽  
pp. 3411-3424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Teplitski ◽  
Ali Al-Agely ◽  
Brian M. M. Ahmer

Orthologues of the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) BarA/SirA two-component system are important for biofilm formation and virulence in many γ-Proteobacteria. In S. typhimurium, SirA activates the csrB and csrC carbon storage regulatory RNAs and the virulence gene regulators hilA and hilC. The regulatory RNAs antagonize the activity of the CsrA protein, allowing translation of those same virulence genes, and inhibiting the translation of flagellar genes. In this report, it was determined that SirA and the Csr system also control the fim operon that encodes type 1 fimbriae. sirA orthologues in other bacterial species, and the fim operon of S. typhimurium, are known to play a role in biofilm formation; therefore, all members of the S. typhimurium sirA regulon were tested for in vitro biofilm production. A sirA mutant, a csrB csrC double mutant, and a fimI mutant, were all defective in biofilm formation. Conversely, inactivation of flhDC increased biofilm formation. Therefore, SirA activates csrB, csrC and the fim operon to promote biofilm formation. In turn, csrB and csrC promote the translation of the fim operon, while at the same time inhibiting the translation of flagella, which are inhibitory to biofilm formation.

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 8433-8436 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Fadl ◽  
J. Sha ◽  
G. R. Klimpel ◽  
J. P. Olano ◽  
C. L. Galindo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We constructed Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium double-knockout mutants in which either the lipoprotein A (lppA) or the lipoprotein B (lppB) gene was deleted from an msbB-negative background strain by marker exchange mutagenesis. These mutants were highly attenuated when tested with in vitro and in vivo models of Salmonella pathogenesis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 201 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
María M. Banda ◽  
Crispín Zavala-Alvarado ◽  
Deyanira Pérez-Morales ◽  
Víctor H. Bustamante

ABSTRACT H-NS-mediated repression of acquired genes and the subsequent adaptation of regulatory mechanisms that counteract this repression have played a central role in the Salmonella pathogenicity evolution. The Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2) is an acquired chromosomal region containing genes necessary for Salmonella enterica to colonize and replicate in different niches of hosts. The ssrAB operon, located in SPI-2, encodes the two-component system SsrA-SsrB, which positively controls the expression of the SPI-2 genes but also other many genes located outside SPI-2. Several regulators have been involved in the expression of ssrAB, such as the ancestral regulators SlyA and OmpR, and the acquired regulator HilD. In this study, we show how SlyA, HilD, and OmpR coordinate to induce the expression of ssrAB under different growth conditions. We found that when Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is grown in nutrient-rich lysogeny broth (LB), SlyA and HilD additively counteract H-NS-mediated repression on ssrAB, whereas in N-minimal medium (N-MM), SlyA antagonizes H-NS-mediated repression on ssrAB independently of HilD. Interestingly, our results indicate that OmpR is required for the expression of ssrAB independently of the growth conditions, even in the absence of repression by H-NS. Therefore, our data support two mechanisms adapted for the expression of ssrAB under different growth conditions. One involves the additive action of SlyA and HilD, whereas the other involves SlyA, but not HilD, to counteract H-NS-mediated repression on ssrAB, thus favoring in both cases the activation of ssrAB by OmpR. IMPORTANCE The global regulator H-NS represses the expression of acquired genes and thus avoids possible detrimental effects on bacterial fitness. Regulatory mechanisms are adapted to induce expression of the acquired genes in particular niches to obtain a benefit from the information encoded in the foreign DNA, as for pathogenesis. Here, we show two mechanisms that were integrated for the expression of virulence genes in Salmonella Typhimurium. One involves the additive action of the regulators SlyA and HilD, whereas the other involves SlyA, but not HilD, to counteract H-NS-mediated repression on the ssrAB operon, thus favoring its activation by the OmpR regulator. To our knowledge, this is the first report involving the coordinated action of two regulators to counteract H-NS-mediated repression.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1629-1643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Ehrhardt ◽  
Natalie Steck ◽  
Reinhild Kappelhoff ◽  
Stephanie Stein ◽  
Florian Rieder ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundIntestinal fibrosis is a common and serious complication of Crohn’s disease characterized by the accumulation of fibroblasts, deposition of extracellular matrix, and formation of scar tissue. Although many factors including cytokines and proteases contribute to the development of intestinal fibrosis, the initiating mechanisms and the complex interplay between these factors remain unclear.MethodsChronic infection of mice with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium was used to induce intestinal fibrosis. A murine protease-specific CLIP-CHIP microarray analysis was employed to assess regulation of proteases and protease inhibitors. To confirm up- or downregulation during fibrosis, we performed quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemical stainings in mouse tissue and tissue from patients with inflammatory bowel disease. In vitro infections were used to demonstrate a direct effect of bacterial infection in the regulation of proteases.ResultsMice develop severe and persistent intestinal fibrosis upon chronic infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, mimicking the pathology of human disease. Microarray analyses revealed 56 up- and 40 downregulated proteases and protease inhibitors in fibrotic cecal tissue. Various matrix metalloproteases, serine proteases, cysteine proteases, and protease inhibitors were regulated in the fibrotic tissue, 22 of which were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. Proteases demonstrated site-specific staining patterns in intestinal fibrotic tissue from mice and in tissue from human inflammatory bowel disease patients. Finally, we show in vitro that Salmonella infection directly induces protease expression in macrophages and epithelial cells but not in fibroblasts.ConclusionsIn summary, we show that chronic Salmonella infection regulates proteases and protease inhibitors during tissue fibrosis in vivo and in vitro, and therefore this model is well suited to investigating the role of proteases in intestinal fibrosis.


2012 ◽  
Vol 80 (12) ◽  
pp. 4344-4353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiano G. Moreira ◽  
Vanessa Sperandio

ABSTRACTThe bacterial adrenergic sensor kinases QseC and QseE respond to epinephrine and/or norepinephrine to initiate a complex phosphorelay regulatory cascade that modulates virulence gene expression in several pathogens. We have previously shown that QseC activates virulence gene expression inSalmonella entericaserovar Typhimurium. Here we report the role of QseE inS. Typhimurium pathogenesis as well as the interplay between these two histidine sensor kinases in gene regulation. AnS. TyphimuriumqseEmutant is hampered in the invasion of epithelial cells and intramacrophage replication. The ΔqseCstrain is highly attenuated for intramacrophage survival but has only a minor defect in invasion. However, the ΔqseECstrain has only a slight attenuation in invasion, mirroring the ΔqseCstrain, and has an intermediary intramacrophage replication defect in comparison to the ΔqseEand ΔqseCstrains. The expressions of thesipAandsopBgenes, involved in the invasion of epithelial cells, are activated by epinephrine via QseE. The expression levels of these genes are still decreased in the ΔqseECdouble mutant, albeit to a lesser extent, congruent with the invasion phenotype of this mutant. The expression level of thesifAgene, important for intramacrophage replication, is decreased in theqseEmutant and the ΔqseECdouble mutant grownin vitro. However, as previously reported by us, the epinephrine-dependent activation of this gene occurs via QseC. In the systemic model ofS. Typhimurium infection of BALB/c mice, theqseCandqseEmutants are highly attenuated, while the double mutant has an intermediary phenotype. Altogether, these data suggest that both adrenergic sensors play an important role in modulating several aspects ofS. Typhimurium pathogenesis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. LEVENT ◽  
R. B. HARVEY ◽  
G. CIFTCIOGLU ◽  
R. C. BEIER ◽  
K. J. GENOVESE ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Although thymol is bactericidal against many pathogens in vitro, its in vivo effectiveness against pathogens in the lower gastrointestinal tract is limited because of its rapid absorption in the proximal gut. Thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside (β-thymol), a conjugated form of thymol, can deliver thymol to the lower gastrointestinal tract and has shown antibacterial effects. In the present study, we examined the in vitro effects of β-thymol on Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (ST) and Escherichia coli K88 (K88). We inoculated one-half strength Mueller-Hinton broth with 5.8 ± 0.09 log CFU/ml novobiocin- and naladixic acid–resistant (NN) ST (NVSL 95-1776) and 5.1 ± 0.09 log CFU ml−1 NN-resistant K88, with or without porcine feces (0.1% [wt/vol]) (fecal incubations). The resultant bacterial suspensions were distributed under N2 to triplicate sets of tubes to achieve initial concentrations of 0, 3, 6, and 12 mM for ST treatments and 0, 3, 12, and 30 mM for K88 treatments. Samples were incubated at 39°C and then plated onto NN-containing brilliant green agar and NN-containing MacConkey agar; ST and K88 CFU concentrations were determined via 10-fold dilutions, and viable cell counts were performed at 0, 6, and 24 h. No differences in ST CFU counts were observed in β-thymol–treated tubes without the added porcine feces (i.e., pure culture) at 6 or 24 h. However, in tubes that contained fecal incubations, ST CFU counts were reduced (P < 0.05) from controls at 6 h in tubes treated with 6 and 12 mM β-thymol, whereas in tubes treated with 3, 6, and 12 mM β-thymol the CFU counts were reduced (P < 0.05) at 24 h. No differences were observed in K88 CFU counts in pure culture or in fecal incubations at 6 h, but K88 CFU counts were reduced (P < 0.05) in both pure and fecal incubations at 24 h. The results from this study demonstrate that β-thymol, in the presence of fecal suspensions, has anti-Salmonella and anti–E. coli effects, suggesting a role of β-glycoside–hydrolyzing microbes for the release of bactericidal thymol from β-thymol.


2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 1243-1254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Eriksson Ygberg ◽  
Mark O. Clements ◽  
Anne Rytkönen ◽  
Arthur Thompson ◽  
David W. Holden ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Mutational inactivation of the cold-shock-associated exoribonuclease polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase; encoded by the pnp gene) in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium was previously shown to enable the bacteria to cause chronic infection and to affect the bacterial replication in BALB/c mice (M. O. Clements et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:8784-8789, 2002). Here, we report that PNPase deficiency results in increased expression of Salmonella plasmid virulence (spv) genes under in vitro growth conditions that allow induction of spv expression. Furthermore, whole-genome microarray-based transcriptome analyses of bacteria growing inside murine macrophage-like J774.A.1 cells revealed six genes as being significantly up-regulated in the PNPase-deficient background, which included spvABC, rtcB, entC, and STM2236. Mutational inactivation of the spvR regulator diminished the increased expression of spv observed in the pnp mutant background, implying that PNPase acts upstream of or at the level of SpvR. Finally, competition experiments revealed that the growth advantage of the pnp mutant in BALB/c mice was dependent on spvR as well. Combined, our results support the idea that in S. enterica PNPase, apart from being a regulator of the cold shock response, also functions in tuning the expression of virulence genes and bacterial fitness during infection.


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