Loss of Sigma Factor RpoN Increases Intestinal Colonization of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in an Adult Mouse Model
ABSTRACTVibrio parahaemolyticusis the leading cause of bacterial seafood-borne gastroenteritis worldwide, yet little is known about how this pathogen colonizes the human intestine. The alternative sigma factor RpoN/sigma-54 is a global regulator that controls flagellar synthesis, as well as a wide range of nonflagellar genes. We constructed an in-frame deletion mutation inrpoN(VP2670) inV. parahaemolyticusRIMD2210633, a clinical serogroup O3:K6 isolate, and examined the effectsin vivousing a streptomycin-treated mouse model of colonization. We confirmed that deletion ofrpoNrenderedV. parahaemolyticusnonmotile, and it caused reduced biofilm formation and an apparent defect in glutamine synthetase production. Inin vivocompetition assays between therpoNmutant and a wild-type RIMD2210633 strain marked with the β-galactosidase genelacZ(WBWlacZ), the mutant colonized significantly more proficiently. Intestinal persistence competition assays also demonstrated that therpoNmutant had enhanced fitness and outcompeted WBWlacZ. Mutants defective in the polar flagellum biosynthesis FliAP sigma factor also outcompeted WBWlacZ but not to the same level as therpoNmutant, which suggested that lack of motility is not the sole cause of the fitness effect. In anin vitrogrowth competition assay in mouse intestinal mucus, therpoNmutant also outcompeted the wild type and exhibited faster doubling times when grown in mucus and on individual components of mucus. Genes in the pathways for the catabolism of mucus sugars also had significantly higher expression levels in a ΔrpoNmutant than in the wild type. These data suggest that inV. parahaemolyticus, RpoN plays an important role in carbon utilization regulation, which may significantly affect host colonization.