scholarly journals Temporal Regulation offimGenes in UropathogenicEscherichia coliduring Infection of the Murine Urinary Tract

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Schwan ◽  
Hua Ding
Keyword(s):  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Phase Variation ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Temporal Regulation ◽  
Type 1 Pili ◽  
Transcriptional Fusions ◽  
Over Time

UropathogenicEscherichia coli(UPEC) adhere to cells in the human urinary tract via type 1 pili that undergo phase variation where a 314-bpfimSDNA element flips between Phase-ON and Phase-OFF orientations through two site-specific recombinases, FimB and FimE. Threefim-luxoperon transcriptional fusions were created and moved into the clinical UPEC isolate NU149 to determine their temporal regulation in UPEC growing in the urinary tract. Within murine urinary tracts, the UPEC strains demonstrated elevated transcription offimAandfimBearly in the infection, but lower transcription by the fifth day in murine kidneys. In contrast,fimEtranscription was much lower than eitherfimAorfimBearly, increased markedly at 24 h after inoculation, and then dropped five days after inoculation. Positioning offimSwas primarily in the Phase-ON position over the time span in UPEC infected bladders, whereas in UPEC infected murine kidneys the Phase-OFF orientation was favored by the fifth day after inoculation. Hemagglutination titers with guinea pig erythrocytes remained constant in UPEC growing in infected murine bladders but fell substantially in UPEC infected kidneys over time. Our results show temporalin vivoregulation offimgene expression in different environmental niches when UPEC infects the murine urinary tract.

scholarly journals Utilization of an Intracellular Bacterial Community Pathway in Klebsiella pneumoniae Urinary Tract Infection and the Effects of FimK on Type 1 Pilus Expression

2008 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 3337-3345 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Rosen ◽  
Jerome S. Pinkner ◽  
Jennifer M. Jones ◽  
Jennifer N. Walker ◽  
Steven Clegg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urinary Tract Infection ◽  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Tract Infection ◽  
Klebsiella Pneumoniae ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Phase Variation ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Type 1 Pili

ABSTRACT Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important cause of urinary tract infection (UTI), but little is known about its pathogenesis in vivo. The pathogenesis of the K. pneumoniae cystitis isolate TOP52 was compared to that of the uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolate UTI89 in a murine cystitis model. Bladder and kidney titers of TOP52 were lower than those of UTI89 at early time points but similar at later time points. TOP52, like UTI89, formed biofilm-like intracellular bacterial communities (IBCs) within the murine bladder, albeit at significantly lower levels than UTI89. Additionally, filamentation of TOP52 was observed, a process critical for UTI89 evasion of neutrophil phagocytosis and persistence in the bladder. Thus, the IBC pathway is not specific to UPEC alone. We investigated if differences in type 1 pilus expression may explain TOP52's early defect in vivo. The type 1 pilus operon is controlled by recombinase-mediated (fimE, fimB, and fimX) phase variation of an invertible promoter element. We found that K. pneumoniae carries an extra gene of unknown function at the 3′ end of its type 1 operon, fimK, and the genome lacks the recombinase fimX. A deletion mutant of fimK was constructed, and TOP52 ΔfimK had higher titers and formed more IBCs in the murine cystitis model than wild type. The loss of fimK or expression of E. coli fimX from a plasmid in TOP52 resulted in a larger phase-ON population and higher expression levels of type 1 pili and gave TOP52 the ability to form type 1-dependent biofilms. Complementation with pfimK decreased type 1 pilus expression and biofilm formation of TOP52 ΔfimK and decreased UTI89 biofilm formation. Thus, K. pneumoniae appears programmed for minimal expression of type 1 pili, which may explain, in part, why K. pneumoniae is a less prevalent etiologic agent of UTI than UPEC.

In Vivo Phase Variation of Escherichia Coli Type 1 Fimbrial Genes in Women With Urinary Tract Infection

1999 ◽  
pp. 1413
Author(s):  
J. K. Lim ◽  
N. W. IV Gunther ◽  
H. Zhao ◽  
D. E. Johnson ◽  
S. K. Keay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Urinary Tract Infection ◽  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Tract Infection ◽  
Phase Variation

In Vivo Phase Variation of Escherichia Coli Type 1 Fimbrial Genes in Women With Urinary Tract Infection

1999 ◽  
Vol 161 (4) ◽  
pp. 1413-1413
Author(s):  
J.K. Lim ◽  
N.W. Gunther ◽  
H. Zhao ◽  
D.E. Johnson ◽  
S.K. Keay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Urinary Tract Infection ◽  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Tract Infection ◽  
Phase Variation

scholarly journals In Vivo Dynamics of Type 1 Fimbria Regulation in UropathogenicEscherichia coli during Experimental Urinary Tract Infection

2001 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 2838-2846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nereus W. Gunther ◽  
Virginia Lockatell ◽  
David E. Johnson ◽  
Harry L. T. Mobley
Keyword(s):  
Urinary Tract Infection ◽  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Tract Infection ◽  
Invertible Element ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Type 1 Fimbriae ◽  
Invertible Elements

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli is the primary cause of uncomplicated infections of the urinary tract including cystitis. More serious infections, characterized as acute pyelonephritis, can also develop. Type 1 fimbriae of E. coli contribute to virulence in the urinary tract; however, only recently has the expression of the type 1 fimbriae been investigated in vivo using molecular techniques. Transcription of type 1 fimbrial genes is controlled by a promoter that resides on a 314-bp invertible element capable of two orientations. One places the promoter in the ON orientation, allowing for transcription; the other places the promoter in the OFF orientation, preventing transcription. A PCR-based assay was developed to measure the orientation of the invertible element during an experimental urinary tract infection in mice. Using this assay, it was found that the percentage of the population ON in urine samples correlated with the respective CFU per gram of bladder (P = 0.0006) but not with CFU per gram of kidney (P > 0.069). Cystitis isolates present in the urine of mice during the course of infection had a higher percentage of their invertible elements in the ON orientation than did pyelonephritis isolates (85 and 34%, respectively, at 24 h; P < 0.0001). In general, cystitis isolates, unlike pyelonephritis isolates, were more likely to maintain their invertible elements in the ON orientation for the entire period of infection. E. coli cells expressing type 1 fimbriae, expelled in urine, were shown by scanning electron microscopy to be densely packed on the surface of uroepithelial cells. These results suggest that expression of type 1 fimbriae is more critical for cystitis strains than for pyelonephritis strains in the early stages of an infection during bladder colonization.

scholarly journals The UbiI (VisC) Aerobic Ubiquinone Synthase Is Required for Expression of Type 1 Pili, Biofilm Formation, and Pathogenesis in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli

2016 ◽  
Vol 198 (19) ◽  
pp. 2662-2672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle A. Floyd ◽  
Courtney A. Mitchell ◽  
Allison R. Eberly ◽  
Spencer J. Colling ◽  
Ellisa W. Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Energy Deficit ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Anoxic Conditions ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Type 1 Pili ◽  
Tract Infections

ABSTRACTUropathogenicEscherichia coli(UPEC), which causes the majority of urinary tract infections (UTI), uses pilus-mediated adherence to initiate biofilm formation in the urinary tract. Oxygen gradients withinE. colibiofilms regulate expression and localization of adhesive type 1 pili. A transposon mutant screen for strains defective in biofilm formation identified theubiI(formerlyvisC) aerobic ubiquinone synthase gene as critical for UPEC biofilm formation. In this study, we characterized a nonpolarubiIdeletion mutant and compared its behavior to that of wild-type bacteria grown under aerobic and anoxic conditions. Consistent with its function as an aerobic ubiquinone-8 synthase, deletion ofubiIin UPEC resulted in reduced membrane potential, diminished motility, and reduced expression of chaperone-usher pathway pili. Loss of aerobic respiration was previously shown to negatively impact expression of type 1 pili. To determine whether this reduction in type 1 pili was due to an energy deficit, wild-type UPEC and theubiImutant were compared for energy-dependent phenotypes under anoxic conditions, in which quinone synthesis is undertaken by anaerobic quinone synthases. Under anoxic conditions, the two strains exhibited wild-type levels of motility but produced diminished numbers of type 1 pili, suggesting that the reduction of type 1 pilus expression in the absence of oxygen is not due to a cellular energy deficit. Acute- and chronic-infection studies in a mouse model of UTI revealed a significant virulence deficit in theubiImutant, indicating that UPEC encounters enough oxygen in the bladder to induce aerobic ubiquinone synthesis during infection.IMPORTANCEThe majority of urinary tract infections are caused by uropathogenicE. coli, a bacterium that can respire in the presence and absence of oxygen. The bladder environment is hypoxic, with oxygen concentrations ranging from 4% to 7%, compared to 21% atmospheric oxygen. This work provides evidence that aerobic ubiquinone synthesis must be engaged during bladder infection, indicating that UPEC bacteria sense and use oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor in the bladder and that this ability drives infection potential despite the fact that UPEC is a facultative anaerobe.

scholarly journals Bacterial Outer Membrane Ushers Contain Distinct Targeting and Assembly Domains for Pilus Biogenesis

2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (22) ◽  
pp. 6260-6269 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Thanassi ◽  
Christos Stathopoulos ◽  
Karen Dodson ◽  
Dominik Geiger ◽  
Scott J. Hultgren
Keyword(s):  
Outer Membrane ◽  
Secretory Pathway ◽  
Terminal Branch ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Type 1 Pili ◽  
Pilus Biogenesis ◽  
And Function

ABSTRACT Biogenesis of a superfamily of surface structures by gram-negative bacteria requires the chaperone/usher pathway, a terminal branch of the general secretory pathway. In this pathway a periplasmic chaperone works together with an outer membrane usher to direct substrate folding, assembly, and secretion to the cell surface. We analyzed the structure and function of the PapC usher required for P pilus biogenesis by uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Structural analysis indicated PapC folds as a β-barrel with short extracellular loops and extensive periplasmic domains. Several periplasmic regions were localized, including two domains containing conserved cysteine pairs. Functional analysis of deletion mutants revealed that the PapC C terminus was not required for insertion of the usher into the outer membrane or for proper folding. The usher C terminus was not necessary for interaction with chaperone-subunit complexes in vitro but was required for pilus biogenesis in vivo. Interestingly, coexpression of PapC C-terminal truncation mutants with the chromosomal fim gene cluster coding for type 1 pili allowed P pilus biogenesis in vivo. These studies suggest that chaperone-subunit complexes target an N-terminal domain of the usher and that subunit assembly into pili depends on a subsequent function provided by the usher C terminus.

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