Inactivation of the Mla system and outer-membrane phospholipase A results in disrupted outer-membrane lipid asymmetry and hypervesiculation in Bordetella pertussis.

ABSTRACT: Bordetella pertussis is the causative agent of a respiratory infection known as whooping cough. With the goal of improving the production of outer-membrane vesicles (OMVs), we studied here the mechanisms that are involved in maintaining lipid asymmetry in the outer membrane of this organism. We identified homologues of the phospholipid (PL)-transport systems Mla and Pqi and of outer-membrane phospholipase A (OMPLA). Inactivation of mlaF, encoding the ATPase of the Mla system, together with pldA, which encodes OMPLA, resulted in an accumulation of PLs at the cell surface as demonstrated by the binding of a phosphatidylethanolamine-specific fluorescent probe to intact cells of this strain. The corresponding single mutations did hardly or not affect binding of the probe.

SUBMITTER: de Jonge EF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9743053 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature