Three new serine-protease autotransporters of Enterobacteriaceae (SPATEs) from extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli and combined role of SPATEs for cytotoxicity and colonization of the mouse kidney. Issue 1 (1st January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Habouria, Hajer; Pokharel, Pravil; Maris, Segolène; Garénaux, Amélie; Bessaiah, Hicham; Houle, Sébastien; Veyrier, Frédéric J.; Guyomard-Rabenirina, Stéphanie; Talarmin, Antoine; Dozois, Charles M.
• Is Part Of: Virulence. Volume 10:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 568
• Page End: 587
• Publication Date: 2019-01-01
• Subjects: Escherichia coli -- Autotransporters -- serine protease autotransporter -- SPATE -- Toxins -- avian pathogenic E. coli -- mouse infection -- uropathogenic E. coli -- poultry; Virulence (Microbiology) -- Periodicals; Bacterial diseases -- Periodicals; Molecular microbiology -- Periodicals; 579.05
• DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2019.1624102
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2150-5608

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Serine protease autotransporters of Enterobacteriaceae (SPATEs) are secreted proteins that contribute to virulence and function as proteases, toxins, adhesins, and/or immunomodulators. An extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) O1:K1 strain, QT598, isolated from a turkey, was shown to contain vat, tsh, and three uncharacterized SPATE-encoding genes. Uncharacterized SPATEs: Sha ( S erine-protease h emagglutinin a utotransporter), TagB and TagC ( t andem a utotransporter g enes B and C ) were tested for activities including hemagglutination, autoaggregation, and cytotoxicity when expressed in E. coli K-12. Sha and TagB conferred autoaggregation and hemagglutination activities. TagB, TagC, and Sha all exhibited cytopathic effects on a bladder epithelial cell line. In QT598, tagB and tagC are tandemly encoded on a genomic island, and were present in 10% of UTI isolates and 4.7% of avian E. coli . Sha is encoded on a virulence plasmid and was present in 1% of UTI isolates and 20% of avian E. coli . To specifically examine the role of SPATEs for infection, the 5 SPATE genes were deleted from strain QT598 and tested for cytotoxicity. Loss of all five SPATEs abrogated the cytopathic effect on bladder epithelial cells, although derivatives producing any of the 5 SPATEs retained cytopathic activity. In mouse infections, sha gene-expression was up-regulated a mean of sixfold in the bladder compared to growth in vitro . Loss of either tagBC or sha did not reduce urinary tract colonization. Deletion of all 5 SPATEs, however, significantly reduced competitive colonization of the kidney supporting a cumulative role of SPATEs for QT598 in the mouse UTI model.