Directed screen of Francisella novicida virulence determinants using Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Francisella tularensis is a highly virulent, facultative intracellular human pathogen whose virulence mechanisms are not well understood. Occasional outbreaks of tularemia and the potential use of F. tularensis as a bioterrorist agent warrant better knowledge about the pathogenicity of this bacterium. Thus far, genome-wide in vivo screens for virulence factors have been performed in mice, all however restricted by the necessity to apply competition-based, negative-selection assays. We wanted to individually evaluate putative virulence determinants suggested by such assays and performed directed screening of 249 F. novicida transposon insertion mutants by using survival of infected fruit flies as a measure of bacterial virulence. Some 20% of the genes tested were required for normal virulen

SUBMITTER: Ahlund MK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2897386 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature