Publications by Year: 1999

1999
Vokes SA, Reeves SA, Torres AG, Payne SM. The aerobactin iron transport system genes in Shigella flexneri are present within a pathogenicity island. Mol Microbiol. 33 (1) :63-73.Abstract
Genes encoding the synthesis and transport of aerobactin, a hydroxamate siderophore associated with increased virulence of enteric bacteria, were mapped within a pathogenicity island in Shigella flexneri. The island, designated SHI-2 for Shigella pathogenicity island 2, was located downstream of selC, the site of insertion of pathogenicity islands in several other enteric pathogens. DNA sequence analysis revealed the presence of multiple insertion sequences upstream and downstream of the aerobactin genes and an integrase gene that was nearly identical to an int gene found in Escherichia coli O157:H7. SHI-2 sequences adjacent to selC were similar to sequences at the junction between selC and pathogenicity islands found in E. coli O157:H7 and in enteropathogenic E. coli, but the junctions between the island and downstream yic genes were variable. SHI-2 also encoded immunity to the normally plasmid-encoded colicins I and V, suggesting a common origin for the aerobactin genes in both S. flexneri and E. coli pColV. Polymerase chain reaction and Southern hybridization data indicate that SHI-2 is present in the same location in Shigella sonnei, but the aerobactin genes are not located within SHI-2 in Shigella boydii or enteroinvasive E. coli. Shigella dysenteriae type 1 strains do not produce aerobactin but do contain sequences downstream of selC that are homologous to SHI-2. The presence of the aerobactin genes on plasmids in E. coli pColV and Salmonella, on a pathogenicity island in S. flexneri and S. sonnei and in a different chromosomal location in S. boydii and some E. coli suggests that these virulence-enhancing genes are mobile, and they may constitute an island within an island in S. flexneri.
O'Malley SM, Mouton SL, Occhino DA, Deanda MT, Rashidi JR, Fuson KL, Rashidi CE, Mora MY, Payne SM, Henderson DP. Comparison of the heme iron utilization systems of pathogenic Vibrios. J Bacteriol. 181 (11) :3594-8.Abstract
Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio fluvialis, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus utilized heme and hemoglobin as iron sources and contained chromosomal DNA similar to several Vibrio cholerae heme iron utilization genes. A V. parahaemolyticus gene that performed the function of V. cholerae hutA was isolated. A portion of the tonB1 locus of V. parahaemolyticus was sequenced and found to encode proteins similar in amino acid sequence to V. cholerae HutW, TonB1, and ExbB1. A recombinant plasmid containing the V. cholerae tonB1 and exbB1D1 genes complemented a V. alginolyticus heme utilization mutant. These data suggest that the heme iron utilization systems of the pathogenic vibrios tested, particularly V. parahaemolyticus and V. alginolyticus, are similar at the DNA level, the functional level, and, in the case of V. parahaemolyticus, the amino acid sequence or protein level to that of V. cholerae.
Wyckoff EE, Valle AM, Smith SL, Payne SM. A multifunctional ATP-binding cassette transporter system from Vibrio cholerae transports vibriobactin and enterobactin. J Bacteriol. 181 (24) :7588-96.Abstract
Vibrio cholerae uses the catechol siderophore vibriobactin for iron transport under iron-limiting conditions. We have identified genes for vibriobactin transport and mapped them within the vibriobactin biosynthetic gene cluster. Within this genetic region we have identified four genes, viuP, viuD, viuG and viuC, whose protein products have homology to the periplasmic binding protein, the two integral cytoplasmic membrane proteins, and the ATPase component, respectively, of other iron transport systems. The amino-terminal region of ViuP has homology to a lipoprotein signal sequence, and ViuP could be labeled with [(3)H]palmitic acid. This suggests that ViuP is a membrane lipoprotein. The ViuPDGC system transports both vibriobactin and enterobactin in Escherichia coli. In the same assay, the E. coli enterobactin transport system, FepBDGC, allowed the utilization of enterobactin but not vibriobactin. Although the entire viuPDGC system could complement mutations in fepB, fepD, fepG, or fepC, only viuC was able to independently complement the corresponding fep mutation. This indicates that these proteins usually function as a complex. V. cholerae strains carrying a mutation in viuP or in viuG were constructed by marker exchange. These mutations reduced, but did not completely eliminate, vibriobactin utilization. This suggests that V. cholerae contains genes in addition to viuPDGC that function in the transport of catechol siderophores.
Runyen-Janecky LJ, Hong M, Payne SM. The virulence plasmid-encoded impCAB operon enhances survival and induced mutagenesis in Shigella flexneri after exposure to UV radiation. Infect Immun. 67 (3) :1415-23.Abstract
Upon exposure to UV radiation, Shigella flexneri SA100 displayed survival and mutation frequencies comparable to those of Escherichia coli AB1157, which contains a functional UmuDC error-prone DNA repair system. Survival of SA100 after UV irradiation was associated with the presence of the 220-kb virulence plasmid, pVP. This plasmid encodes homologues of ImpA and ImpB, which comprise an error-prone DNA repair system encoded on plasmid TP110 that was initially identified in Salmonella typhimurium, and ImpC, encoded upstream of ImpA and ImpB. Although the impB gene was present in representatives of all four species of Shigella, not all isolates tested contained the gene. Shigella isolates that lacked impB were more sensitive to UV radiation than isolates that contained impB. The nucleotide sequence of a 2.4-kb DNA fragment containing the imp operon from S. flexneri SA100 pVP was 96% identical to the imp operon from the plasmid TP110. An SA100 derivative with a mutation in the impB gene had reduced survival following UV irradiation and less UV-induced mutagenesis relative to the parental strain. We also found that S. flexneri contained a chromosomally encoded umuDC operon; however, the umuDC promoter was not induced by exposure to UV radiation. This suggests that the imp operon but not the umuDC operon contributes to survival and induced mutagenesis in S. flexneri following exposure to UV radiation.