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Evolution and Virulence Contributions of the Autotransporter Proteins YapJ and YapK of Yersinia pestisCO92 and Their Homologs in Y. pseudotuberculosisIP32953

Authors :
Lenz, Jonathan D.
Temple, Brenda R. S.
Miller, Virginia L.
Source :
Infection and Immunity; July 2012, Vol. 80 Issue: 10 p3693-3705, 13p
Publication Year :
2012

Abstract

ABSTRACTYersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, evolved from the gastrointestinal pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Both species have numerous type Va autotransporters, most of which appear to be highly conserved. In Y. pestisCO92, the autotransporter genes yapKand yapJshare a high level of sequence identity. By comparing yapKand yapJto three homologous genes in Y. pseudotuberculosisIP32953 (YPTB0365, YPTB3285, and YPTB3286), we show that yapKis conserved in Y. pseudotuberculosis, while yapJis unique to Y. pestis. All of these autotransporters exhibit >96% identity in the C terminus of the protein and identities ranging from 58 to 72% in their N termini. By extending this analysis to include homologous sequences from numerous Y. pestisand Y. pseudotuberculosisstrains, we determined that these autotransporters cluster into a YapK (YPTB3285) class and a YapJ (YPTB3286) class. The YPTB3286-like gene of most Y. pestisstrains appears to be inactivated, perhaps in favor of maintaining yapJ. Since autotransporters are important for virulence in many bacterial pathogens, including Y. pestis, any change in autotransporter content should be considered for its impact on virulence. Using established mouse models of Y. pestisinfection, we demonstrated that despite the high level of sequence identity, yapKis distinct from yapJin its contribution to disseminated Y. pestisinfection. In addition, a mutant lacking both of these genes exhibits an additive attenuation, suggesting nonredundant roles for yapJand yapKin systemic Y. pestisinfection. However, the deletion of the homologous genes in Y. pseudotuberculosisdoes not seem to impact the virulence of this organism in orogastric or systemic infection models.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00199567 and 10985522
Volume :
80
Issue :
10
Database :
Supplemental Index
Journal :
Infection and Immunity
Publication Type :
Periodical
Accession number :
ejs28227072
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00529-12