Arginine promotes Proteus mirabilis motility and fitness by contributing to conservation of the proton gradient and proton motive force.

ABSTRACT: Swarming contributes to Proteus mirabilis pathogenicity by facilitating access to the catheterized urinary tract. We previously demonstrated that 0.1-20 mmol/L arginine promotes swarming on normally nonpermissive media and that putrescine biosynthesis is required for arginine-induced swarming. We also previously determined that arginine-induced swarming is pH dependent, indicating that the external proton concentration is critical for arginine-dependent effects on swarming. In this study, we utilized survival at pH 5 and motility as surrogates for measuring changes in the proton gradient (ΔpH) and proton motive force (μH(+) ) in response to arginine. We determined that arginine primarily contributes to ΔpH (and therefore μH(+) ) through the action of arginine decarboxylase (speA), independ

SUBMITTER: Armbruster CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4234256 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature