scholarly journals Inactivation of vimF, a Putative Glycosyltransferase Gene Downstream of vimE, Alters Glycosylation and Activation of the Gingipains in Porphyromonas gingivalis W83

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (7) ◽  
pp. 3971-3982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Vanterpool ◽  
Francis Roy ◽  
Hansel M. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Porphyromonas Gingivalis ◽  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Allelic Exchange ◽  
Sugar Moiety ◽  
Defective Mutant ◽  
Porphyromonas Gingivalis W83 ◽  
High Molecular Weight Proteins ◽  
Group 1

ABSTRACT Regulation/activation of the Porphyromonas gingivalis gingipains is poorly understood. A 1.2-kb open reading frame, a putative glycosyltransferase, downstream of vimE, was cloned, insertionally inactivated using the ermF-ermAM antibiotic resistance cassette, and used to create a defective mutant by allelic exchange. In contrast to the wild-type W83 strain, this mutant, designated P. gingivalis FLL95, was nonpigmented and nonhemolytic when plated on Brucella blood agar. Arginine- and lysine-specific gingipain activities were reduced by approximately 97% and 96%, respectively, relative to that of the parent strain. These activities were unaffected by the growth phase, in contrast to the vimA-defective mutant P. gingivalis FLL92. Expression of the rgpA, rgpB, and kgp gingipain genes was unaffected in P. gingivalis FLL95 in comparison to the wild-type strain. In nonactive gingipain extracellular protein fractions, multiple high-molecular-weight proteins immunoreacted with gingipain-specific antibodies. The specific gingipain-associated sugar moiety recognized by monoclonal antibody 1B5 was absent in FLL95. Taken together, these results suggest that the vimE downstream gene, designated vimF (virulence modulating gene F), which is a putative glycosyltransferase group 1, is involved in the regulation of the major virulence factors of P. gingivalis.

scholarly journals regT can modulate gingipain activity and response to oxidative stress in Porphyromonas gingivalis

Microbiology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 156 (10) ◽  
pp. 3065-3072 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Vanterpool ◽  
A. Wilson Aruni ◽  
F. Roy ◽  
H. M. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Porphyromonas Gingivalis ◽  
Stress Resistance ◽  
Type Strain ◽  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Normal Growth ◽  
Hypothetical Protein ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Defective Mutant

Recombinant VimA protein can interact with the gingipains and several other proteins that may play a role in its biogenesis in Porphyromonas gingivalis. In silico analysis of PG2096, a hypothetical protein that was shown to interact with VimA, suggests that it may have environmental stress resistance properties. To further evaluate the role(s) of PG2096, the predicted open reading frame was PCR amplified from P. gingivalis W83 and insertionally inactivated using the ermF-ermAM antibiotic-resistance cassette. One randomly chosen PG2096-defective mutant created by allelic exchange and designated FLL205 was further characterized. Under normal growth conditions at 37 °C, Arg-X and Lys-X gingipain activities in FLL205 were reduced by approximately 35 % and 21 %, respectively, compared to the wild-type strain. However, during prolonged growth at an elevated temperature of 42 °C, Arg-X activity was increased by more than 40 % in FLL205 in comparison to the wild-type strain. In addition, the PG2096-defective mutant was more resistant to oxidative stress when treated with 0.25 mM hydrogen peroxide. Taken together these results suggest that the PG2096 gene, designated regT (regulator of gingipain activity at elevated temperatures), may be involved in regulating gingipain activity at elevated temperatures and be important in oxidative stress resistance in P. gingivalis.

scholarly journals VimA is part of the maturation pathway for the major gingipains of Porphyromonas gingivalis W83

Microbiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 152 (11) ◽  
pp. 3383-3389 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Vanterpool ◽  
F. Roy ◽  
W. Zhan ◽  
S. M. Sheets ◽  
L. Sangberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Product ◽  
Porphyromonas Gingivalis ◽  
Protein Interaction ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Interaction Studies ◽  
Defective Mutant ◽  
Protease Activation ◽  
Porphyromonas Gingivalis W83

The authors have shown previously that the vimA gene, which is part of the bcp-recA-vimA operon, plays an important role in protease activation in Porphyromonas gingivalis. The gingipain RgpB proenzyme is secreted in the vimA-defective mutant P. gingivalis FLL92. An important question that is raised is whether the vimA gene product could directly interact with the proteases for their activation or regulate a pathway responsible for protease activation. To further study the mechanism(s) of VimA-dependent protease activation, the vimA gene product was further characterized. A 39 kDa protein consistent with the size of the predicted VimA protein was purified. In protein–protein interaction studies, the VimA protein was shown to interact with gingipains RgpA, RgpB and Kgp. Immune sera from mice immunized with P. gingivalis immunoreacted with the purified VimA protein. Taken together, these data suggest an interaction of VimA with the gingipains and further confirm the role of this protein in their regulation or maturation.

scholarly journals Sialidase and Sialoglycoproteases Can Modulate Virulence in Porphyromonas gingivalis

2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (7) ◽  
pp. 2779-2791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilson Aruni ◽  
Elaine Vanterpool ◽  
Devon Osbourne ◽  
Francis Roy ◽  
Arun Muthiah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Porphyromonas Gingivalis ◽  
Type Strain ◽  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sialidase Activity ◽  
Catalytic Domains ◽  
Virulence Regulation ◽  
Isogenic Mutants ◽  
Related Proteins

ABSTRACTThePorphyromonas gingivalisrecombinant VimA can interact with the gingipains and several other proteins, including a sialidase. Sialylation can be involved in protein maturation; however, its role in virulence regulation inP. gingivalisis unknown. The three sialidase-related proteins inP. gingivalisshowed the characteristic sialidase Asp signature motif (SXDXGXTW) and other unique domains. To evaluate the roles of the associated genes, randomly chosenP. gingivalisisogenic mutants created by allelic exchange and designated FLL401 (PG0778::ermF), FLL402 (PG1724::ermF), and FLL403 (PG0352::ermF-ermAM) were characterized. Similar to the wild-type strain, FLL402 and FLL403 displayed a black-pigmented phenotype in contrast to FLL401, which was not black pigmented. Sialidase activity inP. gingivalisFLL401 was reduced by approximately 70% in comparison to those in FLL402 and FLL403, which were reduced by approximately 42% and 5%, respectively. Although there were no changes in the expression of the gingipain genes, their activities were reduced by 60 to 90% in all the isogenic mutants compared to that for the wild type. Immunoreactive bands representing the catalytic domains for RgpA, RgpB, and Kgp were present in FLL402 and FLL403 but were missing in FLL401. While adhesion was decreased, the capacity for invasion of epithelial cells by the isogenic mutants was increased by 11 to 16% over that of the wild-type strain. Isogenic mutants defective inPG0778andPG0352were more sensitive to hydrogen peroxide than the wild type. Taken together, these results suggest that theP. gingivalissialidase activity may be involved in regulating gingipain activity and other virulence factors and may be important in the pathogenesis of this organism.

scholarly journals Identification of a UPC2 Homolog inSaccharomyces cerevisiae and Its Involvement in Aerobic Sterol Uptake

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (3) ◽  
pp. 830-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin V. Shianna ◽  
W. David Dotson ◽  
Shirley Tove ◽  
Leo W. Parks
Keyword(s):  
Point Mutation ◽  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Transcriptional Activator ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Sterol Uptake ◽  
Major Sterol ◽  
High Level

ABSTRACT Saccharomyces cerevisiae normally will not take up sterols from the environment under aerobic conditions. A specific mutant, upc2-1, of the predicted transcriptional activator UPC2 (YDR213w) has been recognized as a strain that allows a high level of aerobic sterol uptake. Another predicted transcriptional activator, the YLR228c gene product, is highly homologous to Upc2p. In fact, at the carboxy terminus 130 of the last 139 amino acids are similar between the two proteins. Since these proteins are very similar, the effect of mutations in the YLR228c open reading frame (ORF) was compared with like alterations in UPC2. First, the YLR228c ORF was insertionally inactivated and crossed with various UPC2constructs. Deletion of YLR228c and UPC2 in combination resulted in nonviability, suggesting that the two proteins have some essential overlapping function. The upc2-1point mutation responsible for aerobic sterol uptake was duplicated in the homologous carboxy region of the YLR228c ORF using site-directed mutagenesis. This mutation on a high-copy vector resulted in an increase in sterol uptake compared to an isogenic wild-type strain. The combination of both point mutations resulted in the greatest level of aerobic sterol uptake. When the YLR228c point mutation was expressed from a low-copy vector there was little if any effect on sterol uptake. Gas chromatographic analysis of the nonsaponifiable fractions of the various strains showed that the major sterol for all YLR228c andUPC2 combinations was ergosterol, the consensus yeast sterol.

scholarly journals Campylobacter fetus Uses Multiple Loci for DNA Inversion within the 5′ Conserved Regions ofsap Homologs

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (22) ◽  
pp. 6654-6661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng-Chao Tu ◽  
Kevin C. Ray ◽  
Stuart A. Thompson ◽  
Martin J. Blaser
Keyword(s):  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Invertible Element ◽  
Kanamycin Resistance ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Sequence Analyses ◽  
Chloramphenicol Resistance ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Dna Inversion ◽  
Multiple Loci ◽  
Campylobacter Fetus

ABSTRACT Campylobacter fetus cells possess multiple promoterless sap homologs, each capable of expressing a surface layer protein (SLP) by utilizing a unique promoter present on a 6.2-kb invertible element. Each sap homolog includes a 626-bp 5′ conserved region (FCR) with 74 bp upstream and 552 bp within the open reading frame. After DNA inversion, the splice is seamless because the FCRs are identical. In mutant strain 23D:ACA2K101, in whichsapA and sapA2 flanking the invertible element in opposite orientations were disrupted by promoterless chloramphenicol resistance (Cmr) and kanamycin resistance (Kmr) cassettes, respectively, the frequency of DNA inversion is 100-fold lower than that of wild-type strain 23D. To define the roles of a 15-bp inverted repeat (IR) and a Chi-like site (CLS) in the FCR, we mutagenized each upstream of sapA2in 23D:ACA2K101 by introducing NotI andKpnI sites to create strains 23D:ACA2K101N and 23D:ACA2K101K, respectively. Alternatively selecting colonies for Cmr or Kmr showed that mutagenizing the IR or CLS had no apparent effect on the frequency of the DNA inversion. However, mapping the unique NotI or KpnI site in relation to the Cmr or Kmr cassette in the cells that changed phenotype showed that splices occurred both upstream and downstream of the mutated sites. PCR and sequence analyses also showed that the splice could occur in the 425-bp portion of the FCR downstream of the cassettes. In total, these data indicate that C.fetus can use multiple sites within the FCR for itssap-related DNA inversion.

scholarly journals Role of Arg-Gingipain A in Virulence of Porphyromonas gingivalis

1998 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 1159-1166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayuki Tokuda ◽  
Thonthi Karunakaran ◽  
Margaret Duncan ◽  
Nobushiro Hamada ◽  
Howard Kuramitsu
Keyword(s):  
Porphyromonas Gingivalis ◽  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Type I Collagen ◽  
Northern Blotting ◽  
Type I ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Self Aggregation ◽  
Wild Type Parent ◽  
Rat Tail

ABSTRACT In order to access the role of the Porphyromonas gingivalis Arg-gingipain proteases in the virulence of this organism, a mutant defective in the rgpA gene was constructed in strain 381. This mutant, MT10, displayed only 40% of the Arg-specific cysteine protease activity of the wild-type strain. In addition, MT10, as well as the recently characterized protease mutant G-102, which is defective in the rgpB gene, displayed reduced self-aggregation, hemagglutination, and the ability to bind to immobilized type I collagen compared to levels of the wild-type parent. However, unlike mutant G-102, the rgpA mutant displayed increased binding to epithelial cells relative to that of the parental organism. Mutant MT10 also did not express detectable levels of the FimA protein as assessed by both Western and Northern blotting or fimbriae visible by electron microscopy of the cells. Furthermore, the ability of MT10 to degrade rat tail collagen fibers when it was cultured at 37°C was markedly attenuated compared to that of strain 381. These results suggest that Arg-gingipain A may play a significant role in the pathogenicity of P. gingivalis by altering the colonization and toxic properties of the organism.

scholarly journals The BfeR Regulator Mediates Enterobactin-Inducible Expression of Bordetella Enterobactin Utilization Genes

2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (21) ◽  
pp. 7302-7311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark T. Anderson ◽  
Sandra K. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Transcriptional Regulator ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Bordetella Bronchiseptica ◽  
Transcriptional Analysis ◽  
Respiratory Pathogens ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Outer Membrane Receptor ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Type Strains

ABSTRACT Utilization of the enterobactin siderophore by the respiratory pathogens Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella bronchiseptica is dependent on the BfeA outer membrane receptor. This study determined that production of BfeA was increased significantly in iron-starved bacteria upon supplementation of cultures with enterobactin. A 1.01-kb open reading frame, designated bfeR, encoding a predicted positive transcriptional regulator of the AraC family was identified upstream and divergently oriented from bfeA. In iron-depleted cultures containing enterobactin, a Bordetella bfeR mutant exhibited markedly decreased BfeA receptor production compared to that of the wild-type strain. Additionally, B. pertussis and B. bronchiseptica bfeR mutants exhibited impaired growth with ferric enterobactin as the sole source of iron, demonstrating that effective enterobactin utilization is bfeR dependent. Transcriptional analysis using bfeA-lacZ reporter fusions in wild-type strains demonstrated that bfeA transcription was stimulated in iron-depleted conditions in the presence of enterobactin, compared to modest expression levels in cultures lacking enterobactin. In contrast, bfeA transcription in B. pertussis and B. bronchiseptica bfeR mutants was completely unresponsive to the enterobactin inducer. bfeA transcriptional analyses of a bfeA mutant demonstrated that induction by enterobactin did not require BfeA receptor-mediated uptake of the siderophore. These studies establish that bfeR encodes an enterobactin-dependent positive regulator of bfeA transcription in these Bordetella species.

The LicT protein acts as both a positive and a negative regulator of loci within the bgl regulon of Streptococcus mutans

Microbiology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 149 (5) ◽  
pp. 1333-1340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher K. Cote ◽  
Allen L. Honeyman
Keyword(s):  
Streptococcus Mutans ◽  
Dna Sequence ◽  
Transcriptional Activity ◽  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Negative Regulator ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Phosphotransferase System ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Genomic Dna Sequence ◽  
Transcriptional Fusions

An open reading frame (ORF) that would encode a putative antiterminator protein (LicT) of the BglG family was identified in the genomic DNA sequence of Streptococcus mutans. A DNA sequence that would encode a potential ribonucleic antiterminator (RAT) site in the mRNA at which the putative antitermination protein LicT would bind was located immediately downstream from this ORF. These putative antitermination components are upstream of a glucose-independent β-glucoside-utilization system that is responsible for aesculin utilization by S. mutans NG8 in the presence of glucose. It was hypothesized that these putative regulatory components were an important mechanism that was involved with the controlled expression of the S. mutans bglP locus. A strain of S. mutans containing a licT : : Ω-Kan2 insertional mutation was created. This strain could not hydrolyse aesculin in the presence of glucose. The transcriptional activity associated with other genes from the bgl regulon was determined in the licT : : Ω-Kan2 genetic background using lacZ transcriptional fusions and β-galactosidase assays to determine the effect of LicT on these loci. The LicT protein had no significant effect on the expression of the bglC promoter, a regulator of the bglA locus. However, it is essential for the optimal expression of bglP. These data correlate with the phenotype observed on aesculin plates for the S. mutans wild-type strain NG8 and the licT : : Ω-Kan2 strain. Thus, the glucose-independent β-glucoside-specific phosphotransferase system (PTS) regulon in S. mutans relies on LicT for BglP expression and, in turn, aesculin transport in the presence of glucose. Interestingly, LicT also seems to negatively regulate the expression of the bglA promoter region. In addition, the presence of the S. mutans licT gene has been shown to be able to activate a cryptic β-glucoside-specific operon found in Escherichia coli.

scholarly journals Role of vimA in cell surface biogenesis in Porphyromonas gingivalis

Microbiology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 156 (7) ◽  
pp. 2180-2193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devon O. Osbourne ◽  
Wilson Aruni ◽  
Francis Roy ◽  
Christopher Perry ◽  
Lawrence Sandberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Surface ◽  
Outer Membrane ◽  
Porphyromonas Gingivalis ◽  
Type Strain ◽  
Wild Type Strain ◽  
Phenotypic Expression ◽  
Surface Proteins ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
In The Wild

The Porphyromonas gingivalis vimA gene has been previously shown to play a significant role in the biogenesis of gingipains. Further, in P. gingivalis FLL92, a vimA-defective mutant, there was increased auto-aggregation, suggesting alteration in membrane surface proteins. In order to determine the role of the VimA protein in cell surface biogenesis, the surface morphology of P. gingivalis FLL92 was further characterized. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated abundant fimbrial appendages and a less well defined and irregular capsule in FLL92 compared with the wild-type. In addition, atomic force microscopy showed that the wild-type had a smoother surface compared with FLL92. Western blot analysis using anti-FimA antibodies showed a 41 kDa immunoreactive protein band in P. gingivalis FLL92 which was missing in the wild-type P. gingivalis W83 strain. There was increased sensitivity to globomycin and vancomycin in FLL92 compared with the wild-type. Outer membrane fractions from FLL92 had a modified lectin-binding profile. Furthermore, in contrast with the wild-type strain, nine proteins were missing from the outer membrane fraction of FLL92, while 20 proteins present in that fraction from FLL92 were missing in the wild-type strain. Taken together, these results suggest that the VimA protein affects capsular synthesis and fimbrial phenotypic expression, and plays a role in the glycosylation and anchorage of several surface proteins.

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