BhuR, a virulence-associated outer membrane protein of Bordetella avium, is required for the acquisition of iron from heme and hemoproteins.

ABSTRACT: Iron (Fe) is an essential element for most organisms which must be obtained from the local environment. In the case of pathogenic bacteria, this fundamental element must be acquired from the fluids and tissues of the infected host. A variety of systems have evolved in bacteria for efficient acquisition of host-bound Fe. The gram-negative bacterium Bordetella avium, upon colonization of the avian upper respiratory tract, produces a disease in birds that has striking similarity to whooping cough, a disease caused by the obligate human pathogen Bordetella pertussis. We describe a B. avium Fe utilization locus comprised of bhuR and six accessory genes (rhuIR and bhuSTUV). Genetic manipulations of B. avium confirmed that bhuR, which encodes a putative outer membrane heme receptor, mediates effi

SUBMITTER: Murphy ER 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC128346 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature