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Prevalence of pathogenicity island IICFT073 genes among extraintestinal clinical isolates of Escherichia coli.

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli is the most common cause of urinary tract infection (UTI). Cystitis in women is by far the most common UTI; pyelonephritis in both sexes and prostatitis in men are more severe but are less frequent complaints. The ability of E. coli to cause UTI is associated with specific virulence determinants, some of which are encoded on pathogenicity islands (PAI). One such PAI (PAI IICFT073), of the prototypical uropathogenic E. coli strain CFT073, contains 116 open reading frames, including iron-regulated genes, carbohydrate biosynthetic genes, the serine protease autotransporter picU, a two-partner secretion system, a type I secretion system, mobility genes, and a large number of hypothetical genes. To determine the association of PAI IICFT073 with UTI, PCR was used to examine the prevalence of the five virulence-associated loci among the ECOR collection and a collection of E. coli isolated from patients with cystitis, pyelonephritis, prostatitis, or septicemia. All PAI IICFT073 loci were found to be more prevalent among the B2 phylogenetic group than any other group within the ECOR collection and among invasive prostatitis strains than were cystitis or pyelonephritis strains. These data support the theory that clinical isolates causing prostatitis are more virulent than those producing cystitis or pyelonephritis in women.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Presence of sopE gene & its phenotypic expression among different serovars of Salmonella isolated from man & animals.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Salmonellae cause a spectrum of diseases in man and animals but their virulence factors responsible for induction of gastroenteritis and/or systematic infection are still poorly understood. Also, the different subspecies and serovars of Salmonella differ considerably in their virulence for man and animals. There is increasing evidence that Salmonella possesses a dedicated protein secretion system denoted type III secretion system (TTSS) that is involved in the early stage of Salmonella infection. One such TTSS is Salmonella outer protein E (SopE) that helps in the invasion of Salmonella by stimulating membrane ruffling. In the present study the presence of sopE gene and its phenotypic expression (SopE protein) among different serovars of Salmonella enterica isolated from man and animals in India was investigated. METHODS: A total of 50 isolates of S. enterica belonging to 11 serovars were tested for the presence of sopE gene by polymerase chain reaction. The in vitro phenotypic expression of SopE protein was detected by Western blotting using anti-SopE serum. RESULTS: Of the 50 isolates of S. enterica belonging to 11 serovars tested for the presence of sopE,14 belonging to three serovars viz., Enteritidis, Gallinarum and Virchow were found to carry the sopE gene. Similarly, 13 isolates belonging to same three serovars were found to express SopE protein phenotypically as detected by Western blotting using anti-SopE serum. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The results indicated that sopE gene appeared to be distributed and conserved among only a few serovars of Salmonella (Enteritidis, Gallinarum and Virchow) irrespective of their source of isolation. The presence of sopE gene in Salmonella provides an important pathogenic means to invade epithelial cells.

Animals↗

Negative regulation of hrp genes in Pseudomonas syringae by HrpV.

Mutations in the five hrp and hrc genes in the hrpC operon of the phytopathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae 61 have different effects on bacterial interactions with host and nonhost plants. The hrcC gene within the hrpC operon encodes an outer membrane component of the Hrp secretion system that is conserved in all type III protein secretion systems and is required for most pathogenic phenotypes and for secretion of the HrpZ harpin to the bacterial milieu. The other four genes (in order), hrpF, hrpG, (hrcC), hrpT, and hrpV, appear to be unique to the group I hrp clusters found in certain phytopathogens (e.g., P. syringae and Erwinia amylovora) and are less well understood. We initiated an examination of their role in Hrp regulation and secretion by determining the effects of functionally nonpolar nptII cartridge insertions in each gene on the production and secretion of HrpZ, as determined by immunoblot analysis of cell fractions. P. syringae pv. syringae 61 hrpF, hrpG, and hrpT mutants were unable to secrete HrpZ, whereas the hrpV mutant overproduced and secreted the protein. This suggested that HrpV is a negative regulator of HrpZ production. Further immunoblot assays showed that the hrpV mutant produced higher levels of proteins encoded by all three of the major hrp operons tested-HrcJ (hrpZ operon), HrcC (hrpC operon), and HrcQB (hrpU operon)-and that constitutive expression of hrpV in trans abolished the production of each of these proteins. To determine the hierarchy of HrpV regulation in the P. syringae pv. syringae 61 positive regulatory cascade, which is composed of HrpRS (proteins homologous with sigma54-dependent promoter-enhancer-binding proteins) and HrpL (alternate sigma factor), we tested the ability of constitutively expressed hrpV to repress the activation of HrcJ production that normally accompanies constitutive expression of hrpL or hrpRS. No repression was observed, indicating that HrpV acts upstream of HrpRS in the cascade. The effect of HrpV levels on transcription of the hrpZ operon was determined by monitoring the levels of beta-glucuronidase produced by a hrpA'::uidA transcriptional fusion plasmid in different P. syringae pv. syringae 61 strains. The hrpV mutant produced higher levels of beta-glucuronidase than the wild type, a hrcU (type III secretion) mutant produced the same level as the wild type, and the strain constitutively expressing hrpV in trans produced low levels equivalent to that of a hrpS mutant. These results suggest that HrpF, HrpG, and HrpT are all components of the type III protein secretion system whereas HrpV is a negative regulator of transcription of the Hrp regulon.

Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial↗

Secretory delivery of recombinant proteins in attenuated Salmonella strains: potential and limitations of Type I protein transporters.

Live attenuated Salmonella strains have been extensively explored as oral delivery systems for recombinant vaccine antigens and effector proteins with immunoadjuvant and immunomodulatory potential. The feasibility of this approach was demonstrated in human vaccination trials for various antigens. However, immunization efficiencies with live vaccines are generally significantly lower compared to those monitored in parenteral immunizations with the same vaccine antigen. This is, at least partly, due to the lack of secretory expression systems, enabling large-scale extracellular delivery of vaccine and effector proteins by these strains. Because of their low complexity and the terminal location of the secretion signal in the secreted protein, Type I (ATP-binding cassette) secretion systems appear to be particularly suited for development of such recombinant extracellular expression systems. So far, the Escherichia coli hemolysin system is the only Type I secretion system, which has been adapted to recombinant protein secretion in Salmonella. However, this system has a number of disadvantages, including low secretion capacity, complex genetic regulation, and structural restriction to the secreted protein, which eventually hinder high-level in vivo delivery of recombinant vaccines and effector proteins. Thus, the development of more efficient recombinant protein secretion systems, based on Type I exporters can help to improve efficacies of live recombinant Salmonella vaccines. Type I secretion systems, mediating secretion of bacterial surface layer proteins, such as RsaA in Caulobacter crescentus, are discussed as promising candidates for improved secretory delivery systems.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗

Type III secretion system-associated pilus of Pseudomonas syringae as an epitope display tool.

Type III secretion system-associated pili found in several plant pathogenic bacteria are required for injection of virulence proteins from bacteria into the plant cells. The possibility to use the type III secretion pilus of Pseudomonas syringae as an epitope display tool was studied. The advantage of the type III secretion pilus, compared with conventional fimbrial epitope display tools, is that the pilin subunits of the type III secretion pilus can auto-assemble into intact pili in vitro. Various peptides were inserted into the type III secretion pilin subunit, and secretion, assembly and surface properties of the modified pili were monitored. It was concluded that the outwards-projecting N-terminal region of the pilin can bear even 43 amino acids insertion. The three-dimensional structure of the epitope, however, can restrict the use of the pilus as an epitope display tool: a beta-hairpin structure was poorly tolerated.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

BopB is a type III secreted protein in Bordetella bronchiseptica and is required for cytotoxicity against cultured mammalian cells.

The cytotoxicity of Bordetella bronchiseptica to infected cells is known to be dependent on a B. bronchiseptica type III secretion system. Although the precise mechanism of the type III secretion system is unknown, BopN, BopD and Bsp22 have been identified as type III secreted proteins. In order to identify other proteins secreted via the type III secretion machinery in Bordetella, a type III mutant was generated, and its secretion profile was compared with that of the wild-type strain. The results showed that the wild-type strain, but not the type III mutant, secreted a 40-kDa protein into the culture supernatant. This protein was identified as BopB by the analysis of its N-terminal amino acid sequence. Severe cytotoxicity such as necrosis was induced in L2 cells by infection with the wild-type B. bronchiseptica. In contrast, this effect was not observed by the BopB mutant infection. The haemolytic activity of the BopB mutant was greatly impaired compared with that of the wild-type strain. The results of a digitonin assay strongly suggested that BopB was translocated into HeLa cells infected with the wild-type strain. Taken together, our results demonstrate that Bordetella secretes BopB via a type III secretion system during infection. BopB may play a role in the formation of pores in the host plasma membrane which serve as a conduit for the translocation of effector proteins into host cells.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Different subcellular locations of secretome components of Gram-positive bacteria.

Gram-positive bacteria contain different types of secretion systems for the transport of proteins into or across the cytoplasmic membrane. Recent studies on subcellular localization of specific components of these secretion systems and their substrates have shown that they can be present at various locations in the cell. The translocons of the general Sec secretion system in the rod-shaped bacterium Bacillus subtilis have been shown to localize in spirals along the cytoplasmic membrane, whereas the translocons in the coccoid Streptococcus pyogenes are located in a microdomain near the septum. In both bacteria the Sec translocons appear to be located near the sites of cell wall synthesis. The Tat secretion system, which is used for the transport of folded proteins, probably localizes in the cytoplasmic membrane and at the cell poles of B. subtilis. In Lactococcus lactis the ABC transporter dedicated to the transport of a small antimicrobial peptide is distributed throughout the membrane. Possible mechanisms for maintaining the localization of these secretion machineries involve their interaction with proteins of the cytoskeleton or components of the cell wall synthesis machinery, or the presence of lipid subdomains surrounding the transport systems.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Interaction of Helicobacter pylori with professional phagocytes: role of the cag pathogenicity island and translocation, phosphorylation and processing of CagA.

Chronic infection of the human gastric mucosa with Helicobacter pylori is a major cause of gastroduodenal pathologies, including peptic ulcerations, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and adenocarcinoma. Helicobacter pylori strains carrying the cag pathogenicity island, which encodes an active type IV protein secretion system (cag+ or type I strains), are preferentially associated with strong gastric inflammation and severe disease. We show here that cag+ H. pylori strains use the type IV secretion system to inject the bacterial protein CagA into various types of professional phagocytes, including human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs) and the human and murine macrophage cell lines THP-1 and J774A.1 CagA is rapidly tyrosine phosphorylated and proteolytically processed to generate a stable 35-45 kDa C-terminally tyrosine-phosphorylated protein fragment. H. pylori was efficiently ingested by the different types of phagocytic cells. A chromosomal deletion of the complete pathogenicity island had no significant effect on the rate of ingestion. Furthermore, the survival rate of H. pylori in the phagosome was unchanged between the wild type and a deletion mutant lacking the type IV secretion system. Thus, the type IV secretion system seems to be involved neither in active phagocytosis resistance nor in prolonged survival of the bacteria in phagocytic cells.

Animals↗

The Caulobacter crescentus paracrystalline S-layer protein is secreted by an ABC transporter (type I) secretion apparatus.

Caulobacter crescentus is a gram-negative bacterium that produces a two-dimensional crystalline array on its surface composed of a single 98-kDa protein, RsaA. Secretion of RsaA to the cell surface relies on an uncleaved C-terminal secretion signal. In this report, we identify two genes encoding components of the RsaA secretion apparatus. These components are part of a type I secretion system involving an ABC transporter protein. These genes, lying immediately 3' of rsaA, were found by screening a Tn5 transposon library for the loss of RsaA transport and characterizing the transposon-interrupted genes. The two proteins presumably encoded by these genes were found to have significant sequence similarity to ABC transporter and membrane fusion proteins of other type I secretion systems. The greatest sequence similarity was found to the alkaline protease (AprA) transport system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the metalloprotease (PrtB) transport system of Erwinia chrysanthemi. The prtB and aprA genes were introduced into C. crescentus, and their products were secreted by the RsaA transport system. Further, defects in the S-layer protein transport system led to the loss of this heterologous secretion. This is the first report of an S-layer protein secreted by a type I secretion apparatus. Unlike other type I secretion systems, the RsaA transport system secretes large amounts of its substrate protein (it is estimated that RsaA accounts for 10 to 12% of the total cell protein). Such levels are expected for bacterial S-layer proteins but are higher than for any other known type I secretion system.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗

Immunological studies on bronchial secretion. II. Antibodies against bronchial secretion in systemic lupus erythematosus and asthmatic patients.

Bronchial secretion was tested by double gel-diffusion with sera from 100 asthmatic patients, 72 systemic lupus erythematosus patients, 29 patients with other diseases and 31 normal individuals. Positive gel-diffusion reactions were observed only in the sera from two patients with S.L.E. Sera from 100 asthmatic patients, 29 non-allergic patients and 31 normal individuals, tested with bronchial secretion by the passive haemagglutination and inhibition test, showed only three positive reactions with sera from asthmatic patients. Two problems were discussed: the immunological relationship between antigenic determinants found in the sputum and serum in S.L.E. patients; and the possibility that the bronchial secretion being reabsorbed might act as an auto-antigen.

Antibodies↗

Translocated EspF protein from enteropathogenic Escherichia coli disrupts host intestinal barrier function.

The mechanisms by which enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), an important cause of diarrhea among infants in developing countries, induce symptoms are not defined. EPEC have a type III secretion system required for characteristic attaching and effacing changes that modify the cytoskeleton and apical surface of host cells. Infection of polarized intestinal epithelial cell monolayers by EPEC leads to a loss of transepithelial electrical resistance, which also requires the type III secretion system. We demonstrate here that EspF, a protein that is secreted by EPEC via the type III secretion system, is not required for quantitatively and qualitatively typical attaching and effacing lesion formation in intestinal epithelial cells. However, EspF is required in a dose-dependent fashion for the loss of transepithelial electrical resistance, for increased monolayer permeability, and for redistribution of the tight junction-associated protein occludin. Furthermore, the analysis of EPEC strains expressing EspF-adenylate cyclase fusion proteins indicates that EspF is translocated via the type III secretion system to the cytoplasm of host cells, a result confirmed by immunofluorescence microscopy. These studies suggest a novel role for EspF as an effector protein that disrupts intestinal barrier function without involvement in attaching and effacing lesion formation.

Bacterial Adhesion↗

Fatal attraction of mammalian cells to Legionella pneumophila.

Legionella pneumophila is a protozoan parasite that causes Legionnaires' disease. Its ability to do so is dependent on its capacity to replicate intracellularly within a phagosome that is not trafficked through the endosomal-lysosomal pathway and is surrounded by the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Within this unique niche, the bacterium undergoes alterations in gene expression. In addition, many virulence-related phenotypes that are induced in vitro by starvation are expressed intracellularly as the bacteria exit the logarithmic growth phase. (p)ppGpp appears to signal expression of the virulence-related genes in L. pneumophila upon starvation. This growth phase-dependent phenotypical transition is concomitant with lysis of the host cell, in which both necrosis and apoptosis seem to play roles. Many genetic loci that are required for intracellular replication within mammalian and protozoan cells have been identified, and the majority of them are novel. Two secretion systems have been identified, one of which may be distantly related to type IV secretion systems. The other is a type II secretion system similar to the PilBCD piliation system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Animals↗

Type III secretion: more systems than you think.

The type III secretion (T3S) pathway allows bacteria to inject effector proteins into the cytosol of target animal or plant cells. T3S systems evolved into seven families that were distributed among Gram-negative bacteria by horizontal gene transfer. There are probably a few hundred effectors interfering with control and signaling in eukaryotic cells and offering a wealth of new tools to cell biologists.

Animals↗

Virulence systems of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato promote bacterial speck disease in tomato by targeting the jasmonate signaling pathway.

Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strain DC3000 (Pst DC3000) causes bacterial speck disease on tomato. The pathogenicity of Pst DC3000 depends on both the type III secretion system that delivers virulence effector proteins into host cells and the phytotoxin coronatine (COR), which is thought to mimic the action of the plant hormone jasmonic acid (JA). We found that a JA-insensitive mutant (jai1) of tomato was unresponsive to COR and highly resistant to Pst DC3000, whereas host genotypes that are defective in JA biosynthesis were as susceptible to Pst DC3000 as wild-type (WT) plants. Treatment of WT plants with exogenous methyl-JA (MeJA) complemented the virulence defect of a bacterial mutant deficient in COR production, but not a mutant defective in the type III secretion system. Analysis of host gene expression using cDNA microarrays revealed that COR works through Jai1 to induce the massive expression of JA and wound response genes that have been implicated in defense against herbivores. Concomitant with the induction of JA and wound response genes, the type III secretion system and COR repressed the expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes in Pst DC3000-infected WT plants. Resistance of jai1 plants to Pst DC3000 was correlated with a high level of PR gene expression and reduced expression of JA/wound response genes. These results indicate that COR promotes bacterial virulence by activating the host's JA signaling pathway, and further suggest that the type III secretion system might also modify host defense by targeting the JA signaling pathway in susceptible tomato plants.

Amino Acids↗

Contact with cultured epithelial cells stimulates secretion of Salmonella typhimurium invasion protein InvJ.

Contact of Salmonella typhimurium with cultured epithelial cells results in the assembly of surface appendages termed invasomes which are presumably required for the internalization of these organisms into host cells. The assembly of these structures requires the function of a dedicated protein secretion system encoded in the inv locus. We show in this report that contact of wild-type S. typhimurium with cultured Henle-407 cells stimulated the secretion of InvJ, a recently identified target of the inv-encoded type III protein secretion system. Stimulation of InvJ secretion also occurred upon bacterial contact with bovine calf serum-coated culture dishes but did not occur upon S. typhimurium contact with glutaraldehyde-fixed Henle-407 cells. The stimulation of InvJ secretion did not require de novo protein synthesis. Invasion-defective invC and invG mutants of S. typhimurium failed to secrete InvJ upon contact with live Henle-407 cells. In contrast, contact-dependent secretion of InvJ in S. typhimurium invE mutants occurred at levels equivalent to those of the wild type. These results indicate that the presence of Henle-407 cells and/or serum is capable of activating the type III secretion system encoded in the inv locus, further supporting the notion that Salmonella entry into cultured cells is the result of a biochemical cross-talk between the bacteria and the host cells.

Antigens, Bacterial↗

Role of EscF, a putative needle complex protein, in the type III protein translocation system of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Type III secretion systems, designed to deliver effector proteins across the bacterial cell envelope and the plasma membrane of the target eukaryotic cell, are involved in subversion of eukaryotic cell functions in a variety of human, animal and plant pathogens. In enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), several protein substrates for the secretion apparatus were identified, including EspA, EspB and EspD. EspA is a structural protein and the major component of a large transiently expressed filamentous surface organelle that forms a direct link between the bacterium and the host cell, whereas EspD and EspB seem to form the mature translocation pore. Recent studies of the type III secretion systems of Shigella and Salmonella pathogenicity island (SPI)-1 revealed the existence of a macromolecular complex that spans both bacterial membranes and consists of a basal structure with two upper and two lower rings and a needle-like projection that extends outwards from the bacterial surface. MxiH (Shigella) and PrgI (Salmonella) are the main components of the needle of the type III secretion complex. A needle-like complex has not yet been reported in EPEC. In this study, we investigated EscF, a protein sharing sequence similarity with MxiH and PrgI. We report that EscF is required for type III protein secretion and EspA filament assembly. Moreover, we show that EscF binds EspA, suggesting that EspA filaments are an extension of the type III secretion needle complexes in EPEC.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The role of hrp genes during plant-bacterial interactions.

hrp genes control the ability of phytopathogenic bacteria to cause disease and to elicit hypersensitive reactions on resistant plants. Genetic and biochemical studies have demonstrated that Hrp proteins are components of Type III secretion systems, regulatory proteins, proteinaceous elicitors of the hypersensitive reaction, and enzymes needed for synthesis of periplasmic glucans. Significantly, Type III secretion systems are involved with the secretion of pathogenicity proteins in bacterial pathogens of animals. The transcriptional activation of a number of bacterial avirulence (avr) genes is controlled by Hrp regulatory proteins, and recent experimental evidence suggests that Avr proteins may be transported by Hrp secretion systems. It has also been hypothesized that pathogenicity and/or virulence gene products exit bacterial phytopathogens via Hrp pathways. Thus, hrp genes may be one of the most important groups of genes found in phytopathogenic bacteria in relationship to pathogenicity and host range.

Journal Article↗

Identification of genes encoding exported Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins using a Tn552'phoA in vitro transposition system.

Secreted and cell envelope-associated proteins are important to both Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogenesis and the generation of protective immunity to M. tuberculosis. We used an in vitro Tn552'phoA transposition system to identify exported proteins of M. tuberculosis. The system is simple and efficient, and the transposon inserts randomly into target DNA. M. tuberculosis genomic libraries were targeted with Tn552'phoA transposons, and these libraries were screened in M. smegmatis for active PhoA translational fusions. Thirty-two different M. tuberculosis open reading frames were identified; eight contain standard signal peptides, six contain lipoprotein signal peptides, and seventeen contain one or more transmembrane domains. Four of these proteins had not yet been assigned as exported proteins in the M. tuberculosis databases. This collection of exported proteins includes factors that are known to participate in the immune response of M. tuberculosis and proteins with homologies, suggesting a role in pathogenesis. Nine of the proteins appear to be unique to mycobacteria and represent promising candidates for factors that participate in protective immunity and virulence. This technology of creating comprehensive fusion libraries should be applicable to other organisms.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗