Yersiniabactin is a virulence factor for Klebsiella pneumoniae during pulmonary infection.

ABSTRACT: Iron acquisition systems are essential for the in vivo growth of bacterial pathogens. Despite the epidemiological importance of Klebsiella pneumoniae, few experiments have examined the importance of siderophores in the pathogenesis of this species. A previously reported signature-tagged mutagenesis screen identified an attenuated strain that featured an insertional disruption in ybtQ, which encodes a transporter for the siderophore yersiniabactin. We used this finding as a starting point to evaluate the importance of siderophores in the physiology and pathogenesis of K. pneumoniae. Isogenic strains carrying in-frame deletions in genes required for the synthesis of either enterobactin or yersiniabactin were constructed, and the growth of these mutants was examined both in vitro and in vivo

SUBMITTER: Lawlor MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1828572 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature