Inactivation of the Moraxella catarrhalis 7169 ferric uptake regulator increases susceptibility to the bactericidal activity of normal human sera.

ABSTRACT: Moraxella catarrhalis is a strict human pathogen and a significant cause of respiratory disease and otitis media. In direct response to these infections, research efforts have focused primarily on the identification of potential vaccine targets. The general biology of M. catarrhalis, however, including the mechanisms utilized to survive in the human host, remains poorly understood. Previous work has demonstrated that M. catarrhalis expresses iron-repressible proteins, suggesting the presence of iron acquisition systems under the control of a ferric uptake regulator (Fur). In this study M. catarrhalis fur has been cloned and sequenced from strain 7169. A deletion-insertion mutation of 7169 fur resulted in upregulation of iron-repressible outer membrane proteins in the absence and presence o

SUBMITTER: Furano K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC152102 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature