Vibrio cholerae virulence regulator-coordinated evasion of host immunity.

ABSTRACT: To successfully propagate and cause disease, pathogenic bacteria must modulate their transcriptional activities in response to pressures exerted by the host immune system, including secreted immunoglobulins such as secretory IgA (S-IgA), which can bind and agglutinate bacteria. Here, we present a previously undescribed flow cytometry-based screening method to identify bacterial genes expressed in vitro and repressed during infections of Vibrio cholerae, an aquatic Gram-negative bacterium responsible for the severe diarrheal disease cholera. We identified a type IV mannose-sensitive hemagglutinin (MSHA) pilus that is repressed specifically in vivo. We showed that bacteria that failed to turn off MSHA biosynthesis were unable to colonize the intestines of infant mice in the presence of S-IgA

SUBMITTER: Hsiao A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1599996 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature