The obligate intracellular bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi differentiates into a developmentally distinct extracellular state.

ABSTRACT: Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ot) is an obligate intracellular bacterium in the family Rickettsiaceae that causes scrub typhus, a severe mite-borne human disease. Its mechanism of cell exit is unusual amongst Rickettsiaceae, as Ot buds off the surface of infected cells enveloped in plasma membrane. Here, we show that Ot bacteria that have budded out of host cells are in a distinct developmental stage compared with intracellular bacteria. We refer to these two stages as intracellular and extracellular bacteria (IB and EB, respectively). These two forms differ in physical properties: IB is both round and elongated, and EB is round. Additionally, IB has higher levels of peptidoglycan and is physically robust compared with EB. The two bacterial forms differentially express proteins involved in bacte

SUBMITTER: Atwal S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9226355 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature