scholarly journals Differential Requirement for PBP1a and PBP1b inIn VivoandIn VitroFitness of Vibrio cholerae

2014 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 2115-2124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Dörr ◽  
Andrea Möll ◽  
Michael C. Chao ◽  
Felipe Cava ◽  
Hubert Lam ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe investigated the roles of theVibrio choleraehigh-molecular-weight bifunctional penicillin binding proteins, PBP1a and PBP1b, in the fitness of this enteric pathogen. Using a screen for synthetic lethality, we found that theV. choleraePBP1a and PBP1b proteins, like theirEscherichia colihomologues, are each essential in the absence of the other and in the absence of the other's putative activator, the outer membrane lipoproteins LpoA and LpoB, respectively. Comparative analyses ofV. choleraemutants suggest that PBP1a/LpoA ofV. choleraeplay a more prominent role in generating and/or maintaining the pathogen's cell wall than PBP1b/LpoB.V. choleraelacking PBP1b or LpoB exhibited wild-type growth under all conditions tested. In contrast,V. choleraelacking PBP1a or LpoA exhibited growth deficiencies in minimal medium, in the presence of deoxycholate and bile, and in competition assays with wild-type cells bothin vitroand in the infant mouse small intestine. PBP1a pathway mutants are particularly impaired in stationary phase, which renders them sensitive to a product(s) present in supernatants from stationary-phase wild-type cells. The marked competitive defect of the PBP1a pathway mutantsin vivowas largely absent when exponential-phase cells rather than stationary-phase cells were used to inoculate suckling mice. Thus, at least forV. choleraePBP1a pathway mutants, the growth phase of the inoculum is a key modulator of infectivity.

mBio ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan W. Bogard ◽  
Bryan W. Davies ◽  
John J. Mekalanos

ABSTRACTLysR-type transcriptional regulators (LTTRs) are the largest, most diverse family of prokaryotic transcription factors, with regulatory roles spanning metabolism, cell growth and division, and pathogenesis. Using a sequence-defined transposon mutant library, we screened a panel ofV. choleraeEl Tor mutants to identify LTTRs required for host intestinal colonization. Surprisingly, out of 38 LTTRs, only one severely affected intestinal colonization in the suckling mouse model of cholera: the methionine metabolism regulator, MetR. Genetic analysis of genes influenced by MetR revealed thatglyA1andmetJwere also required for intestinal colonization. Chromatin immunoprecipitation of MetR and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) confirmed interaction with and regulation ofglyA1, indicating that misregulation ofglyA1is likely responsible for the colonization defect observed in themetRmutant. TheglyA1mutant was auxotrophic for glycine but exhibited wild-type trimethoprim sensitivity, making folate deficiency an unlikely cause of its colonization defect. MetJ regulatory mutants are not auxotrophic but are likely altered in the regulation of amino acid-biosynthetic pathways, including those for methionine, glycine, and serine, and this misregulation likely explains its colonization defect. However, mutants defective in methionine, serine, and cysteine biosynthesis exhibited wild-type virulence, suggesting that these amino acids can be scavenged in vivo. Taken together, our results suggest that glycine biosynthesis may be required to alleviate an in vivo nutritional restriction in the mouse intestine; however, additional roles for glycine may exist. Irrespective of the precise nature of this requirement, this study illustrates the importance of pathogen metabolism, and the regulation thereof, as a virulence factor.IMPORTANCEVibrio choleraecontinues to be a severe cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Identification ofV. choleraefactors critical to disease progression offers the potential to develop or improve upon therapeutics and prevention strategies. To increase the efficiency of virulence factor discovery, we employed a regulator-centric approach to multiplex our in vivo screening capabilities and allow whole regulons inV. choleraeto be interrogated for pathogenic potential. We identified MetR as a new virulence regulator and serine hydroxymethyltransferase GlyA1 as a new MetR-regulated virulence factor, both required byV. choleraeto colonize the infant mouse intestine. Bacterial metabolism is a prerequisite to virulence, and current knowledge of in vivo metabolism of pathogens is limited. Here, we expand the known role of amino acid metabolism and regulation in virulence and offer new insights into the in vivo metabolic requirements ofV. choleraewithin the mouse intestine.


2011 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Li ◽  
Kurniyati ◽  
Bo Hu ◽  
Jiang Bian ◽  
Jianlan Sun ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe oral bacteriumPorphyromonas gingivalisis a key etiological agent of human periodontitis, a prevalent chronic disease that affects up to 80% of the adult population worldwide.P. gingivalisexhibits neuraminidase activity. However, the enzyme responsible for this activity, its biochemical features, and its role in the physiology and virulence ofP. gingivalisremain elusive. In this report, we found thatP. gingivalisencodes a neuraminidase, PG0352 (SiaPg). Transcriptional analysis showed thatPG0352is monocistronic and is regulated by a sigma70-like promoter. Biochemical analyses demonstrated that SiaPgis an exo-α-neuraminidase that cleaves glycosidic-linked sialic acids. Cryoelectron microscopy and tomography analyses revealed that thePG0352deletion mutant (ΔPG352) failed to produce an intact capsule layer. Compared to the wild type,in vitrostudies showed that ΔPG352 formed less biofilm and was less resistant to killing by the host complement.In vivostudies showed that while the wild type caused a spreading type of infection that affected multiple organs and all infected mice were killed, ΔPG352 only caused localized infection and all animals survived. Taken together, these results demonstrate that SiaPgis an important virulence factor that contributes to the biofilm formation, capsule biosynthesis, and pathogenicity ofP. gingivalis, and it can potentially serve as a new target for developing therapeutic agents againstP. gingivalisinfection.


Microbiology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 167 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengting Shi ◽  
Yue Zheng ◽  
Xianghong Wang ◽  
Zhengjia Wang ◽  
Menghua Yang

Vibrio cholerae the causative agent of cholera, uses a large number of coordinated transcriptional regulatory events to transition from its environmental reservoir to the host intestine, which is its preferred colonization site. Transcription of the mannose-sensitive haemagglutinin pilus (MSHA), which aids the persistence of V. cholerae in aquatic environments, but causes its clearance by host immune defenses, was found to be regulated by a yet unknown mechanism during the infection cycle of V. cholerae . In this study, genomic expression library screening revealed that two regulators, VC1371 and VcRfaH, are able to positively activate the transcription of MSHA operon. VC1371 is localized and active in the cell membrane. Deletion of vc1371 or VcrfaH genes in V. cholerae resulted in less MshA protein production and less efficiency of biofilm formation compared to that in the wild-type strain. An adult mouse model showed that the mutants with vc1371 or VcrfaH deletion colonized less efficiently than the wild-type; the VcrfaH deletion mutant showed less colonization efficiency in the infant mouse model. The findings strongly suggested that the two regulators, namely VC1371 and VcRfaH, which are involved in the regulation of MSHA expression, play an important role in V. cholerae biofilm formation and colonization in mice.


Microbiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 166 (5) ◽  
pp. 484-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Arteaga Ide ◽  
Victor M. Hernández ◽  
Liliana Medina-Aparicio ◽  
Edson Carcamo-Noriega ◽  
Lourdes Girard ◽  
...  

In bacteria, l-arginine is a precursor of various metabolites and can serve as a source of carbon and/or nitrogen. Arginine catabolism by arginase, which hydrolyzes arginine to l-ornithine and urea, is common in nature but has not been studied in symbiotic nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. The genome of the alfalfa microsymbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 has two genes annotated as arginases, argI1 (smc03091) and argI2 (sma1711). Biochemical assays with purified ArgI1 and ArgI2 (as 6His-Sumo-tagged proteins) showed that only ArgI1 had detectable arginase activity. A 1021 argI1 null mutant lacked arginase activity and grew at a drastically reduced rate with arginine as sole nitrogen source. Wild-type growth and arginase activity were restored in the argI1 mutant genetically complemented with a genomically integrated argI1 gene. In the wild-type, arginase activity and argI1 transcription were induced several fold by exogenous arginine. ArgI1 purified as a 6His-Sumo-tagged protein had its highest in vitro enzymatic activity at pH 7.5 with Ni2+ as cofactor. The enzyme was also active with Mn2+ and Co2+, both of which gave the enzyme the highest activities at a more alkaline pH. The 6His-Sumo-ArgI1 comprised three identical subunits based on the migration of the urea-dissociated protein in a native polyacrylamide gel. A Lrp-like regulator (smc03092) divergently transcribed from argI1 was required for arginase induction by arginine or ornithine. This regulator was designated ArgIR. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that purified ArgIR bound to the argI1 promoter in a region preceding the predicted argI1 transcriptional start. Our results indicate that ArgI1 is the sole arginase in S. meliloti , that it contributes substantially to arginine catabolism in vivo and that argI1 induction by arginine is dependent on ArgIR.


2015 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renu Verma ◽  
Thaís Cabrera Galvão Rojas ◽  
Renato Pariz Maluta ◽  
Janaína Luisa Leite ◽  
Livia Pilatti Mendes da Silva ◽  
...  

The extraintestinal pathogen termed avian pathogenicEscherichia coli(APEC) is known to cause colibacillosis in chickens. The molecular basis of APEC pathogenesis is not fully elucidated yet. In this work, we deleted a component of the Yad gene cluster (yadC) in order to understand the role of Yad in the pathogenicity of the APEC strain SCI-07.In vitro, the transcription level ofyadCwas upregulated at 41°C and downregulated at 22°C. TheyadCexpressionin vivowas more pronounced in lungs than in spleen, suggesting a role in the early steps of the infection. Chicks infected with the wild-type and mutant strains presented, respectively, 80% and 50% mortality rates. The ΔyadCstrain presented a slightly decreased ability to adhere to HeLa cells with or without thed-mannose analog compared with the wild type. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) assays showed thatfimHwas downregulated (P< 0.05) andcsgAandecpAwere slightly upregulated in the mutant strain, showing thatyadCmodulates expression of other fimbriae. Bacterial internalization studies showed that the ΔyadCstrain had a lower number of intracellular bacteria recovered from Hep-2 cells and HD11 cells than the wild-type strain (P< 0.05). Motility assays in soft agar demonstrated that the ΔyadCstrain was less motile than the wild type (P< 0.01). Curiously, flagellum-associated genes were not dramatically downregulated in the ΔyadCstrain. Taken together, the results show that the fimbrial adhesin Yad contributes to the pathogenicity and modulates different biological characteristics of the APEC strain SCI-07.


2009 ◽  
Vol 192 (4) ◽  
pp. 955-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhra Pradhan ◽  
Amit K. Baidya ◽  
Amalendu Ghosh ◽  
Kalidas Paul ◽  
Rukhsana Chowdhury

ABSTRACT Vibrio cholerae strains of the O1 serogroup that typically cause epidemic cholera can be classified into two biotypes, classical and El Tor. The El Tor biotype emerged in 1961 and subsequently displaced the classical biotype as a cause of cholera throughout the world. In this study we demonstrate that when strains of the El Tor and classical biotypes were cocultured in standard LB medium, the El Tor strains clearly had a competitive growth advantage over the classical biotype starting from the late stationary phase and could eventually take over the population. The classical biotype produces extracellular protease(s) in the stationary phase, and the amounts of amino acids and small peptides in the late stationary and death phase culture filtrates of the classical biotype were higher than those in the corresponding culture filtrates of the El Tor biotype. The El Tor biotype cells could utilize the amino acids more efficiently than the classical biotype under the alkaline pH of the stationary phase cultures but not in medium buffered to neutral pH. The growth advantage of the El Tor biotype was also observed in vivo using the ligated rabbit ileal loop and infant mouse animal models.


2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 1671-1677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora E. Wiskirchen ◽  
Patrice Nordmann ◽  
Jared L. Crandon ◽  
David P. Nicolau

ABSTRACTDoripenem and ertapenem have demonstrated efficacy against several NDM-1-producing isolatesin vivo, despite having high MICs. In this study, we sought to further characterize the efficacy profiles of humanized regimens of standard (500 mg given every 8 h) and high-dose, prolonged infusion of doripenem (2 g given every 8 h, 4-h infusion) and 1 g of ertapenem given intravenously every 24 h and the comparator regimens of ceftazidime at 2 g given every 8 h (2-h infusion), levofloxacin at 500 mg every 24 h, and aztreonam at 2 g every 6 h (1-h infusion) against a wider range of isolates in a murine thigh infection model. An isogenic wild-type strain and NDM-1-producingKlebsiella pneumoniaeand eight clinical NDM-1-producing members of the familyEnterobacteriaceaewere tested in immunocompetent- and neutropenic-mouse models. The wild-type strain was susceptible to all of the agents, while the isogenic NDM-1-producing strain was resistant to ceftazidime, doripenem, and ertapenem. Clinical NDM-1-producing strains were resistant to nearly all five of the agents (two were susceptible to levofloxacin). In immunocompetent mice, all of the agents produced ≥1-log10CFU reductions of the isogenic wild-type and NDM-1-producing strains after 24 h. Minimal efficacy of ceftazidime, aztreonam, and levofloxacin against the clinical NDM-1-producing strains was observed. However, despitein vitroresistance, ≥1-log10CFU reductions of six of eight clinical strains were achieved with high-dose, prolonged infusion of doripenem and ertapenem. Slight enhancements of doripenem activity over the standard doses were obtained with high-dose, prolonged infusion for three of the four isolates tested. Similar efficacy observations were noted in neutropenic mice. These data suggest that carbapenems are a viable treatment option for infections caused by NDM-1-producingEnterobacteriaceae.


2015 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 701-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine G. Moule ◽  
Natasha Spink ◽  
Sam Willcocks ◽  
Jiali Lim ◽  
José Afonso Guerra-Assunção ◽  
...  

Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, has complex and poorly understood extracellular and intracellular lifestyles. We used transposon-directed insertion site sequencing (TraDIS) to retrospectively analyze a transposon library that had previously been screened through a BALB/c mouse model to identify genes important for growth and survivalin vivo. This allowed us to identify the insertion sites and phenotypes of negatively selected mutants that were previously overlooked due to technical constraints. All 23 unique genes identified in the original screen were confirmed by TraDIS, and an additional 105 mutants with various degrees of attenuationin vivowere identified. Five of the newly identified genes were chosen for further characterization, and clean, unmarkedbpsl2248,tex,rpiR,bpsl1728, andbpss1528deletion mutants were constructed from the wild-type strain K96243. Each of these mutants was testedin vitroandin vivoto confirm their attenuated phenotypes and investigate the nature of the attenuation. Our results confirm that we have identified new genes important toin vivovirulence with roles in different stages ofB. pseudomalleipathogenesis, including extracellular and intracellular survival. Of particular interest, deletion of the transcription accessory protein Tex was shown to be highly attenuating, and thetexmutant was capable of providing protective immunity against challenge with wild-typeB. pseudomallei, suggesting that the genes identified in our TraDIS screen have the potential to be investigated as live vaccine candidates.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. T. Astvad ◽  
D. Sanglard ◽  
E. Delarze ◽  
R. K. Hare ◽  
M. C. Arendrup

ABSTRACTCandida tropicalisisolates often display reduced but persistent growth (trailing) over a broad fluconazole concentration range during EUCAST susceptibility testing. Whereas weak trailing (<25% of the positive growth control) is common and found not to impair fluconazole efficacy, we investigated if more pronounced trailing impacted treatment efficacy. Fluconazole efficacy against two weakly (≤25% growth), two moderately (26% to 50% growth), and one heavily (>70% growth) trailing resistant isolate and one resistant (100% growth) isolate were investigatedin vitroandin vivo(in aGalleria mellonellasurvival model and two nonlethal murine models).CDR1expression levels andERG11sequences were characterized. The survival in fluconazole-treatedG. mellonellawas inversely correlated with the degree of trailing (71% to 9% survival in treatment groups). In mice, resistant and heavily trailing isolates responded poorly to fluconazole treatment.CDR1expression was significantly higher in trailing and resistant isolates than in wild-type isolates (1.4-fold to 10-fold higher). All isolates exhibitedERG11wild-type alleles. Heavily trailing isolates were less responsive to fluconazole in allin vivomodels, indicating an impact on fluconazole efficacy.CDR1upregulation may have contributed to the observed differences. Moderately trailing isolates responded less well to fluconazole in larvae only. This confirms clinical data suggesting fluconazole is effective against infections with such isolates in less severely ill patients and supports the current 50% growth endpoint for susceptibility testing. However, it is still unclear if the gradual loss of efficacy observed for moderately trailing isolates in the larva model may be a reason for concern in selected vulnerable patient populations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 202 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasiia N. Klimova ◽  
Steven J. Sandler

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli PriA and PriC recognize abandoned replication forks and direct reloading of the DnaB replicative helicase onto the lagging-strand template coated with single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB). Both PriA and PriC have been shown by biochemical and structural studies to physically interact with the C terminus of SSB. In vitro, these interactions trigger remodeling of the SSB on ssDNA. priA341(R697A) and priC351(R155A) negated the SSB remodeling reaction in vitro. Plasmid-carried priC351(R155A) did not complement priC303::kan, and priA341(R697A) has not yet been tested for complementation. Here, we further studied the SSB-binding pockets of PriA and PriC by placing priA341(R697A), priA344(R697E), priA345(Q701E), and priC351(R155A) on the chromosome and characterizing the mutant strains. All three priA mutants behaved like the wild type. In a ΔpriB strain, the mutations caused modest increases in SOS expression, cell size, and defects in nucleoid partitioning (Par−). Overproduction of SSB partially suppressed these phenotypes for priA341(R697A) and priA344(R697E). The priC351(R155A) mutant behaved as expected: there was no phenotype in a single mutant, and there were severe growth defects when this mutation was combined with ΔpriB. Analysis of the priBC mutant revealed two populations of cells: those with wild-type phenotypes and those that were extremely filamentous and Par− and had high SOS expression. We conclude that in vivo, priC351(R155A) identified an essential residue and function for PriC, that PriA R697 and Q701 are important only in the absence of PriB, and that this region of the protein may have a complicated relationship with SSB. IMPORTANCE Escherichia coli PriA and PriC recruit the replication machinery to a collapsed replication fork after it is repaired and needs to be restarted. In vitro studies suggest that the C terminus of SSB interacts with certain residues in PriA and PriC to recruit those proteins to the repaired fork, where they help remodel it for restart. Here, we placed those mutations on the chromosome and tested the effect of mutating these residues in vivo. The priC mutation completely abolished function. The priA mutations had no effect by themselves. They did, however, display modest phenotypes in a priB-null strain. These phenotypes were partially suppressed by SSB overproduction. These studies give us further insight into the reactions needed for replication restart.


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