Attenuated virulence of a Burkholderia cepacia type III secretion mutant in a murine model of infection.

ABSTRACT: Type III secretion systems are utilized by a number of gram-negative bacterial pathogens to deliver virulence-associated proteins into host cells. Using a PCR-based approach, we identified homologs of type III secretion genes in the gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia cepacia, an important pulmonary pathogen in immunocompromised patients and patients with cystic fibrosis. One of the genes, designated bscN, encodes a member of a family of ATP-binding proteins believed to generate energy driving virulence protein secretion. Genetic dissection of the regions flanking the bscN gene revealed a locus consisting of at least 10 open reading frames, predicted to encode products with significant homology to known type III secretion proteins in other bacteria. A defined null mutation was generated i

SUBMITTER: Tomich M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC148827 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature