Project description:Pseudomonas syringae, a Gram-negative plant pathogen, infects more than 50 crops with its type III secretion system (T3SS) and causes severe economic losses around the world. Although the mechanisms of virulence-associated regulators of P. syringae T3SS have been studied for decades, the crosstalk and network underlying these regulators are still elusive. Previously, we have individually studied a group of T3SS regulators, including AefR, HrpS, and RhpRS. In the present study, we found 4 new T3SS regulator genes (envZ, ompR, tsiS and phoQ) via transposon-mediated mutagenesis. Two-component systems EnvZ and TsiS natively regulate T3SS. In order to uncover the crosstalk between 16 virulence-associated regulators, (including AefR, AlgU, CvsR, GacA, HrpL, HrpR, HrpS, MgrA, OmpR, PhoP, PilR, PsrA, RhpR, RpoN, TsiR and Vfr) in P. syringae, we mapped an intricate network named PSVnet (Pseudomonas syringae Virulence Regulatory Network) by combining differentially expression genes in RNA-seq and binding loci in ChIP-seq of all regulators.
Project description:Quorum sensing is a communication strategy that bacteria use to collectively alter gene expression in response to cell density. Pathogens use quorum sensing systems to control activities vital to infection, such as the production of virulence factors and biofilm formation. The Pseudomonas virulence factor (pvf) gene cluster encodes a quorum sensing system (Pvf) that is present in over 500 strains of proteobacteria, including strains that infect a variety of plant and human hosts. We have shown that the Pvf quorum sensing system regulates the production of secreted proteins and small molecules in the insect pathogen Pseudomonas entomophila L48. Here, we identified genes that are likely regulated by Pvf using the model strain P. entomophila L48 which does not contain other known quorum sensing systems. Pvf regulated genes were identified through comparing the transcriptomes of wildtype P. entomophila and a pvf deletion mutant (ΔpvfA-D). We found that deletion of pvfA-D affected the expression of approximately 300 genes involved in virulence, the type VI secretion system, siderophore transport, and branched chain amino acid biosynthesis. Additionally, we identified seven putative biosynthetic gene clusters whose expression are reduced in ΔpvfA-D. Our results indicate that Pvf controls multiple virulence mechanisms in P. entomophila L48. Characterizing genes regulated by Pvf will aid understanding of host-pathogen interactions and development of anti-virulence strategies against P. entomophila and other pvf-containing strains.
Project description:An important, but rarely performed, test of Koch’s molecular postulates involves evaluating the capacity of candidate virulence genes to confer pathogenicity in otherwise non-virulent species. Unbiased genomic surveys of avirulent natural isolates might reveal rare variants possessing specific virulence features, which might prove useful in testing their functional sufficiency. Using a custom pan-genome array, we analyzed a panel of avirulent Burkholderia thailandensis (Bt) isolates related to Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp), the causative agent of the often fatal human and animal disease melioidosis. We report the discovery of variant Bt isolates exhibiting isolated acquisition of a capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis gene cluster (BpCPS), long regarded as an critical species-specific virulence factor essential for Bp mammalian virulence. BpCPS-expressing Bt strains exhibited certain pathogen-related phenotypes including resistance to human complement binding, but did not exhibit enhanced virulence when assessed in two different in vivo animal infection models. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the BpCPS-expressing Bt strains likely reside within an evolutionary subgroup distinct from the majority of previously-described Bt strains. Our findings suggest that BpCPS acquisition alone is unlikely to fully explain the ability of Bp to colonize humans and animals, highlighting the importance of other collaborating factors in the pathogenesis of mammalian melioidosis.
Project description:The population structure of Toxoplasma gondii includes three highly prevalent clonal lineages, types I, II, and III, which differ greatly in virulence in the mouse model. Previous studies have implicated a family of serine threonine protein kinases found in rhoptries (ROPs) as important in mediating virulence differences between types I vs. III and II vs. III. Here, we explored the genetic basis of differences in virulence between the highly virulent type I lineage and moderately virulent type II based on a new genetic cross and linkage mapping. Genome-wide association revealed a single quantitative trait locus controls the > 4 log difference in lethality between these strains. Neither ROP16 nor ROP18, previously implicated in virulence differences in T. gondii, were found to contribute to differences between types I and II. Instead, the major virulence locus contained a cluster of pseudokinases denoted as rhoptry protein 5 (ROP5); this locus contains a tandem cluster of polymorphic alleles that differed in expression levels between strains. ROP5 alleles contained only part of the catalytic triad of canonical S/T kinases, and consistent with this they lack demonstrable kinase activity in vitro. Genetic disruption of the rop5 locus in the type I lineage lead to a > 5 log increase in the lethal dose, and surviving mice developed lasting immunity and were protected from an otherwise lethal challenge. These findings reveal that amplification of a polymorphic cluster of pseudokinases plays an important role in pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis in the mouse model.
Project description:The transcriptome of EHEC grown in vitro with or without Symbioflor® was analyzed using RNA-seq. The analysis revealed downregulation of several virulence-associated genes in the presence of Symbioflor®, including virulence key genes (e.g., LEE, flagellum, quorum-sensing).
Project description:The control of virulence two-component gene regulatory system (CovRS) is critical to the pathogenesis of many medically important streptococci. In emm1 group A streptococci (GAS), CovR directly binds the promoters of numerous GAS virulence factor encoding genes. Elimination of CovS phosphatase activity increases CovR phosphorylation (CovR~P) levels and abrogates GAS virulence. Given the emm type-specific diversity of CovRS function, herein we used ChIP-seq to define global CovR DNA occupancy in the wild-type emm3 strain MGAS10870 (medium CovR~P) and its CovS phosphatase-negative derivative 10870-CovS-T284A (high CovR~P). In the wild-type emm3 strain, 89% of the previously identified emm1 CovR binding sites present in the emm3 genome were also enriched; additionally, we ascertained unique CovR binding, primarily to genes in mobile genetic elements and other sites of inter-strain chromosomal differences. Elimination of phosphatase activity specifically increased CovR occupancy at the promoters of a broad array of CovR repressed virulence factor encoding genes, including those encoding the key GAS regulator Mga and M protein. However, a limited number of promoters had augmented enrichment at low CovR~P levels. Differential motif searches using sequences enriched at high vs. low CovR~P levels revealed two distinct binding patterns. At high CovR~P, a pseudo-palindromic AT-rich consensus sequence consistent with CovR binding as a dimer was determined. Conversely, sequences specifically enriched at low CovR~P contained isolated “ATTARA” motifs suggesting an interaction with a monomer. These data extend understanding of global CovR DNA occupancy beyond emm1 GAS and provide a mechanism for previous observations regarding hypovirulence induced by CovS phosphatase abrogation.
Project description:Pf4 is a filamentous bacteriophage integrated as a prophage into the genome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Pf4 virions can be produced without killing P. aeruginosa. Cell lysis can however occur during superinfection when Pf virions successfully infect a host lysogenized by a Pf superinfective variant. We have previously shown that infection of P. aeruginosa PAO1 with a superinfective Pf4 variant led to abolish twitching motility and to alter biofilm’s architecture. More precisely, the cells embedded into the biofilm were showing for most of them a filamentous morphology, that could be related to the activation of the cell envelope stress response involving both the AlgU and SigX extra cytoplasmic function sigma factors. Herein, we show that Pf4 variant-infection resulted also into a drastic dysregulation of 3,360 genes representing about 58% of P. aeruginosa’s genome, of which about 43% of the virulence factors encoding genes showing a down-regulation. Accordingly, Pf4 variant infection (termed Pf4*) causes in vivo reduction of P. aeruginosa virulence, decreased production of N-acyl-homoserine lactones and 2-alkyl-4-quinolones quorum sensing molecules, and related virulence factors, such as pyocyanin, elastase, and pyoverdine. In addition to virulence encoding genes, expression of genes involved in metabolism, including energy generation and iron homeostasis, was affected, suggesting further relationships between virulence and central metabolism. Altogether, these data suggest that Pf4 phage variant infection results in complex networks dysregulations, leading to reducing acute virulence in P. aeruginosa. This work contributes to the comprehension of the bacterial response to filamentous phage infection.
Project description:In this experiment, we investigated how CbrA contributed to the expression of P. aeruginosa virulence factors in vivo using microarrays. Two independent microarray analyses were performed to identify the global gene expression of the cbrA mutant in comparison to PA14 wild type strain during D. discoideum infection.