Clade-1 Vap virulence proteins of Rhodococcus equi are associated with the cell surface and support intracellular growth in macrophages.

ABSTRACT: The multi-host pathogen Rhodococcus equi is a parasite of macrophages preventing maturation of the phagolysosome, thus creating a hospitable environment supporting intracellular growth. Virulent R. equi isolated from foals, pigs and cattle harbor a host-specific virulence plasmid, pVAPA, pVAPB and pVAPN respectively, which encode a family of 17 Vap proteins belonging to seven monophyletic clades. We examined all 17 Vap proteins for their ability to complement intracellular growth of a R. equi ΔvapA strain, and show that only vapK1, vapK2 and vapN support growth in murine macrophages of this strain. We show that only the clade-1 proteins VapA, VapK1, VapK2 and VapN are located on the R. equi cell surface. The pVAPB plasmid encodes three clade-1 proteins: VapK1, VapK2 and VapB. The latter wa

SUBMITTER: Yerlikaya Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11703076 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature