Kingella kingae PilC1 and PilC2 are adhesive multifunctional proteins that promote bacterial adherence, twitching motility, DNA transformation, and pilus biogenesis.

ABSTRACT: The gram-negative bacterium Kingella kingae is a leading cause of osteoarticular infections in young children and initiates infection by colonizing the oropharynx. Adherence to respiratory epithelial cells represents an initial step in the process of K. kingae colonization and is mediated in part by type IV pili. In previous work, we observed that elimination of the K. kingae PilC1 and PilC2 pilus-associated proteins resulted in non-piliated organisms that were non-adherent, suggesting that PilC1 and PilC2 have a role in pilus biogenesis. To further define the functions of PilC1 and PilC2, in this study we eliminated the PilT retraction ATPase in the ΔpilC1ΔpilC2 mutant, thereby blocking pilus retraction and restoring piliation. The resulting strain was non-adherent in assays with cultured

SUBMITTER: Sacharok AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9000118 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature