The Protease Locus of Francisella tularensis LVS Is Required for Stress Tolerance and Infection in the Mammalian Host.

ABSTRACT: Francisella tularensis is the causative agent of tularemia and a category A potential agent of bioterrorism, but the pathogenic mechanisms of F. tularensis are largely unknown. Our previous transposon mutagenesis screen identified 95 lung infectivity-associated F. tularensis genes, including those encoding the Lon and ClpP proteases. The present study validates the importance of Lon and ClpP in intramacrophage growth and infection of the mammalian host by using unmarked deletion mutants of the F. tularensis live vaccine strain (LVS). Further experiments revealed that lon and clpP are also required for F. tularensis tolerance to stressful conditions. A quantitative proteomic comparison between heat-stressed LVS and the isogenic Lon-deficient mutant identified 29 putative Lon substrate prote

SUBMITTER: He L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4862698 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature