Transcriptional profiling of the iron starvation response in Bordetella pertussis provides new insights into siderophore utilization and virulence gene expression.

ABSTRACT: Serological studies of patients with pertussis and the identification of antigenic Bordetella pertussis proteins support the hypothesis that B. pertussis perceives an iron starvation cue and expresses multiple iron source utilization systems in its natural human host environment. Furthermore, previous studies using a murine respiratory tract infection model showed that several of these B. pertussis iron systems are required for colonization and persistence and are differentially expressed over the course of infection. The present study examined genome-wide changes in B. pertussis gene transcript abundance in response to iron starvation in vitro. In addition to known iron source utilization genes, we identified a previously uncharacterized iron-repressed cytoplasmic membrane transporter sys

SUBMITTER: Brickman TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3165686 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature