OpnS, an outer membrane porin of Xenorhabdus nematophila, confers a competitive advantage for growth in the insect host.

ABSTRACT: The gammaproteobacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila engages in a mutualistic association with an entomopathogenic nematode and also functions as a pathogen toward different insect hosts. We studied the role of the growth-phase-regulated outer membrane protein OpnS in host interactions. OpnS was shown to be a 16-stranded beta-barrel porin. opnS was expressed during growth in insect hemolymph and expression was elevated as the cell density increased. When wild-type and opnS deletion strains were coinjected into insects, the wild-type strain was predominantly recovered from the insect cadaver. Similarly, an opnS-complemented strain outcompeted the DeltaopnS strain. Coinjection of the wild-type and DeltaopnS strains together with uncolonized nematodes into insects resulted in nematode progeny tha

SUBMITTER: van der Hoeven R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2725620 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature