Analysis of Listeria monocytogenes ptsH, hprK, and ccpA mutants defective in carbon catabolite repression (CCR) control revealed significant alterations in the expression of PrfA-dependent genes. The hprK mutant showed high up-regulation of PrfA-dependent virulence genes upon growth in glucose-containing medium whereas expression of these genes was even slightly down-regulated in the ccpA mutant compared to the wild-type strain. The ptsH mutant could only grow in a rich culture medium, and here the PrfA-dependent genes were up-regulated as in the hprK mutant. As expected, HPr-Ser-P was not produced in the hprK and ptsH mutants and synthesized at a similar level in the ccpA mutant as in the wild-type strain. However, no direct correlation was found between the level of HPr-Ser-P or HPr-His-P and PrfA activity when L. monocytogenes was grown in minimal medium with different phosphotransferase system (PTS) carbohydrates. Comparison of the transcript profiles of the hprK and ccpA mutants with that of the wild-type strain indicates that the up-regulation of the PrfA-dependent virulence genes in the hprK mutant correlates with the down-regulation of genes known to be controlled by the efficiency of PTS-mediated glucose transport. Furthermore, growth in the presence of the non-PTS substrate glycerol results in high PrfA activity. These data suggest that it is not the component(s) of the CCR or the common PTS pathway but, rather, the component(s) of subsequent steps that seem to be involved in the modulation of PrfA activity.Listeria monocytogenes, a gram-positive, facultative intracellular human pathogen, escapes from the primary phagosome, replicates efficiently in the host cell's cytosol, and spreads from cell to cell. These processes, which are of major importance for pathogenesis of an L. monocytogenes infection, require several, well-characterized virulence factors (for recent reviews, see references 17, 32 and 63), like internalins (InlA, InlB, and
Listeria monocytogenes strains expressing high levels of the virulence regulator PrfA (mutant PrfA* or wild-type PrfA) show strong growth inhibition in minimal media when they are supplemented with glucose but not when they are supplemented with glucose-6-phosphate compared to the growth of isogenic strains expressing low levels of PrfA. A significantly reduced rate of glucose uptake was observed in a PrfA*-overexpressing strain growing in LB supplemented with glucose. Comparative transcriptome analyses were performed with RNA isolated from a prfA mutant and an isogenic strain carrying multiple copies of prfA or prfA* on a plasmid. These analyses revealed that in addition to high transcriptional up-regulation of the known PrfA-regulated virulence genes (group I), there was less pronounced up-regulation of the expression of several phage and metabolic genes (group II) and there was strong down-regulation of several genes involved mainly in carbon and nitrogen metabolism in the PrfA*-overexpressing strain (group III). Among the latter genes are the nrgAB, gltAB, and glnRA operons (involved in nitrogen metabolism), the ilvB operon (involved in biosynthesis of the branched-chain amino acids), and genes for some ABC transporters. Most of the down-regulated genes have been shown previously to belong to a class of genes in Bacillus subtilis whose expression is negatively affected by impaired glucose uptake. Our results lead to the conclusion that excess PrfA (or PrfA*) interferes with a component(s) essential for phosphotransferase system-mediated glucose transport.
PrfA, the master regulator of LIPI-1, is indispensable for the pathogenesis of the human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes and the animal pathogen Listeria ivanovii. PrfA is also present in the apathogenic species Listeria seeligeri, and in this study, we elucidate the differences between PrfA proteins from the pathogenic and apathogenic species of the genus Listeria. PrfA proteins of L. monocytogenes (PrfA Lm and PrfA* Lm ), L. ivanovii (PrfA Li ), and L. seeligeri (PrfA Ls ) were purified, and their equilibrium constants for binding to the PrfA box of the hly promoter (Phly Lm ) were determined by surface plasmon resonance. In addition, the capacities of these PrfA proteins to bind to the PrfA-dependent promoters Phly and PactA and to form ternary complexes together with RNA polymerase were analyzed in electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and their abilities to initiate transcription in vitro starting at these promoters were compared. The results show
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.