Open AccessIdentification and role in virulence of putative iron acquisition genes from Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis
Author(s) -
Billington Stephen J.,
Esmay Paula A.,
Songer J.Glenn,
Jost B.Helen
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2002.tb11058.x
Subject(s) - corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis , caseous lymphadenitis , virulence , operon , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , mutant , yersinia pseudotuberculosis , bacteria , genetics
Four genes, fagA , B , C and D , encoding products with 32–47% identity to proteins involved in bacterial iron uptake systems, were identified immediately downstream of the Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis phospholipase D gene. β‐Galactosidase assays on a C. pseudotuberculosis strain carrying a fagA ‐ lacZ fusion indicated that the putative fagABC operon was poorly expressed in iron‐rich media. However, similar experiments in iron‐limited media resulted in an approximately three‐fold increase in β‐galactosidase activity, suggesting that this operon is regulated by iron in vitro. Although no defect in iron utilization could be determined for a C. pseudotuberculosis fagB ( C ) mutant in vitro, this mutant showed reduced virulence compared to wild‐type in a goat model of caseous lymphadenitis. Thus, expression of the fag genes in the host appears to contribute to virulence.