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Background  In comparison to other bacterial pathogens, our knowledge of the molecular basis of the pathogenesis of leptospirosis is extremely limited. An improved understanding of leptospiral pathogenetic mechanisms requires reliable tools for functional genetic analysis. Leptospiral immunoglobulin-like (Lig) proteins are surface proteins found in pathogenic  Leptospira , but not in saprophytes. Here, we describe a system for heterologous expression of the  Leptospira interrogans  genes  ligA  and  ligB  in the saprophyte  Leptospira biflexa  serovar Patoc.    Results  The genes encoding LigA and LigB under the control of a constitutive spirochaetal promoter were inserted into the  L. biflexa  replicative plasmid. We were able to demonstrate expression and surface localization of LigA and LigB in  L. biflexa . We found that the expression of the  lig  genes significantly enhanced the ability of transformed  L. biflexa  to adhere  in vitro  to extracellular matrix components and cultured cells, suggesting the involvement of Lig proteins in cell adhesion.    Conclusions  This work reports a complete description of the system we have developed for heterologous expression of pathogen-specific proteins in the saprophytic  L. biflexa . We show that expression of LigA and LigB proteins from the pathogen confers a virulence-associated phenotype on  L. biflexa , namely adhesion to eukaryotic cells and fibronectin  in vitro . This study indicates that  L. biflexa  can serve as a surrogate host to characterize the role of key virulence factors of the causative agent of leptospirosis.

bmc microbiology

Heterologous expression of pathogen-specific genes ligA and ligB in the saprophyte Leptospira biflexaconfers enhanced adhesion to cultured cells and fibronectin