Limited transcriptional responses of Rickettsia rickettsii exposed to environmental stimuli.

ABSTRACT: Rickettsiae are strict obligate intracellular pathogens that alternate between arthropod and mammalian hosts in a zoonotic cycle. Typically, pathogenic bacteria that cycle between environmental sources and mammalian hosts adapt to the respective environments by coordinately regulating gene expression such that genes essential for survival and virulence are expressed only upon infection of mammals. Temperature is a common environmental signal for upregulation of virulence gene expression although other factors may also play a role. We examined the transcriptional responses of Rickettsia rickettsii, the agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, to a variety of environmental signals expected to be encountered during its life cycle. R. rickettsii exposed to differences in growth temperature (25 d

SUBMITTER: Ellison DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2680988 | biostudies-literature | 2009

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature