Melanin Produced by Bordetella parapertussis Confers a Survival Advantage to the Bacterium during Host Infection.

ABSTRACT: Bordetella parapertussis causes respiratory infection in humans, with a mild pertussis (whooping cough)-like disease. The organism produces a brown pigment, the nature and biological significance of which have not been elucidated. Here, by screening a transposon library, we demonstrate that the gene encoding 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HppD) is responsible for production of this pigment. Our results also indicate that the brown pigment produced by the bacterium is melanin, because HppD is involved in the biosynthesis of a type of melanin called pyomelanin, and homogentisic acid, the monomeric precursor of pyomelanin, was detected by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses. In an infection assay using macrophages, the hppD-deficient mutant was inter

SUBMITTER: Hiramatsu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8513678 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature