Project description:Francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis consists of two separate populations A1 and A2. This report describes the complete genome sequence of NE061598, an F. tularensis subspecies tularensis A1 isolated in 1998 from a human with clinical disease in Nebraska, United States of America. The genome sequence was compared to Schu S4, an F. tularensis subspecies tularensis A1a strain originally isolated in Ohio in 1941. It was determined that there were 25 nucleotide polymorphisms (22 SNPs and 3 indels) between Schu S4 and NE061598; two of these polymorphisms were in potential virulence loci. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated that NE061598 was an A1a genotype. Other differences included repeat sequences (n = 11 separate loci), four of which were contained in coding sequences, and an inversion and rearrangement probably mediated by insertion sequences and the previously identified direct repeats I, II, and III. Five new variable-number tandem repeats were identified; three of these five were unique in NE061598 compared to Schu S4. Importantly, there was no gene loss or gain identified between NE061598 and Schu S4. Interpretation of these data suggests there is significant sequence conservation and chromosomal synteny within the A1 population. Further studies are needed to determine the biological properties driving the selective pressure that maintains the chromosomal structure of this monomorphic pathogen.
Project description:Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium utilizing macrophages as its primary intracellular habitat and is therefore highly capable of resisting the effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS), potent mediators of the bactericidal activity of macrophages. We investigated the roles of enzymes presumed to be important for protection against ROS. Four mutants of the highly virulent SCHU S4 strain with deletions of the genes encoding catalase (katG), glutathione peroxidase (gpx), a DyP-type peroxidase (FTT0086), or double deletion of FTT0086 and katG showed much increased susceptibility to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and slightly increased susceptibility to paraquat but not to peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) and displayed intact intramacrophage replication. Nevertheless, mice infected with the double deletion mutant showed significantly longer survival than SCHU S4-infected mice. Unlike the aforementioned mutants, deletion of the gene coding for alkyl-hydroperoxide reductase subunit C (ahpC) generated a mutant much more susceptible to paraquat and ONOO(-) but not to H2O2. It showed intact replication in J774 cells but impaired replication in bone marrow-derived macrophages and in internal organs of mice. The live vaccine strain, LVS, is more susceptible than virulent strains to ROS-mediated killing and possesses a truncated form of FTT0086. Expression of the SCHU S4 FTT0086 gene rendered LVS more resistant to H2O2, which demonstrates that the SCHU S4 strain possesses additional detoxifying mechanisms. Collectively, the results demonstrate that SCHU S4 ROS-detoxifying enzymes have overlapping functions, and therefore, deletion of one or the other does not critically impair the intracellular replication or virulence, although AhpC appears to have a unique function.
Project description:Francisella tularensis (Ft), the etiological agent of tularemia and a Tier 1 select agent, has been previously weaponized and remains a high priority for vaccine development. Ft tularensis (type A) and Ft holarctica (type B) cause most human disease. We selected six attenuating genes from the live vaccine strain (LVS; type B), F. novicida and other intracellular bacteria: FTT0507, FTT0584, FTT0742, FTT1019c (guaA), FTT1043 (mip) and FTT1317c (guaB) and created unmarked deletion mutants of each in the highly human virulent Ft strain Schu S4 (Type A) background. FTT0507, FTT0584, FTT0742 and FTT1043 Schu S4 mutants were not attenuated for virulence in vitro or in vivo. In contrast, Schu S4 gua mutants were unable to replicate in murine macrophages and were attenuated in vivo, with an i.n. LD50 > 10(5) CFU in C57BL/6 mice. However, the gua mutants failed to protect mice against lethal challenge with WT Schu S4, despite demonstrating partial protection in rabbits in a previous study. These results contrast with the highly protective capacity of LVS gua mutants against a lethal LVS challenge in mice, and underscore differences between these strains and the animal models in which they are evaluated, and therefore have important implications for vaccine development.
Project description:Strains of Francisella tularensis secrete a siderophore in response to iron limitation. Siderophore production is dependent on fslA, the first gene in an operon that appears to encode biosynthetic and export functions for the siderophore. Transcription of the operon is induced under conditions of iron limitation. The fsl genes lie adjacent to the fur homolog on the chromosome, and there is a canonical Fur box sequence in the promoter region of fslA. We generated a Deltafur mutant of the Schu S4 strain of F. tularensis tularensis and determined that siderophore production was now constitutive and no longer regulated by iron levels. Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR analysis with RNA from Schu S4 and the mutant strain showed that Fur represses transcription of fslA under iron-replete conditions. We determined that fslE (locus FTT0025 in the Schu S4 genome), located downstream of the siderophore biosynthetic genes, is also under Fur regulation and is transcribed as part of the fslABCDEF operon. We generated a defined in-frame deletion of fslE and found that the mutant was defective for growth under iron limitation. Using a plate-based growth assay, we found that the mutant was able to secrete a siderophore but was defective in utilization of the siderophore. FslE belongs to a family of proteins that has no known homologs outside of the Francisella species, and the fslE gene product has been previously localized to the outer membrane of F. tularensis strains. Our data suggest that FslE may function as the siderophore receptor in F. tularensis.
Project description:Sequencing of Francisella tularensis susp. tulatrensis SCHU S4 strain used in a Natural History and Model Characterization Study of an inhalational tularemia model in Cynomolgus macaques.