Journal article
The fslE homolog, FTL_0439 (fupA/B), mediates siderophore-dependent iron uptake in Francisella tularensis LVS
Infection and immunity, v 78(10), pp 4276-4285
01 Oct 2010
PMID: 20696823
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
The Gram-negative pathogen Francisella tularensis secretes a siderophore to obtain essential iron by a TonB-independent mechanism. The fslABCDE locus, encoding siderophore-related functions, is conserved among different Francisella strains. In the virulent strain Schu S4, fslE is essential for siderophore utilization and for growth under conditions of iron limitation. In contrast, we found that deletion of fslE did not affect siderophore utilization by the attenuated live vaccine strain (LVS). We found that one of the fslE paralogs encoded in the LVS genome, FTL_0439 (fupA/B), was able to partially complement a Schu S4 ΔfslE mutant for siderophore utilization. We generated a deletion of fupA/B in LVS and in the LVS ΔfslE background. The ΔfupA/B mutant showed reduced growth under conditions of iron limitation. It was able to secrete but was unable to utilize siderophore. Mutation of both fupA/B and fslE resulted in a growth defect of greater severity. The ΔfupA/B mutants showed a replication defect in J774.1A cells and decreased virulence following intraperitoneal infection in mice. Complementation of the ΔfupA/B mutation in cis restored the ability to utilize siderophore and concomitantly restored virulence. Our results indicate that fupA/B plays a significant role in the siderophore-mediated iron uptake mechanism of LVS whereas fslE appears to play a secondary role. Variation in iron acquisition mechanisms may contribute to virulence differences between the strains.
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Details
- Title
- The fslE homolog, FTL_0439 (fupA/B), mediates siderophore-dependent iron uptake in Francisella tularensis LVS
- Creators
- Bhaswati Sen - University of VirginiaAlexis Meeker - University of VirginiaGirija Ramakrishnan - University of Virginia
- Publication Details
- Infection and immunity, v 78(10), pp 4276-4285
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
- Grant note
- R01 AI067823 / NIAID NIH HHS AI067823 / NIAID NIH HHS
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Microbiology and Immunology; College of Medicine
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000282004200020
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-77957730038
- Other Identifier
- 991021448063004721
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Immunology
- Infectious Diseases