HtrA is a major virulence determinant of Bacillus anthracis

Abstract

SummaryWe demonstrate that disruption of the htrA (high temperature requirement A) gene in either the virulent Bacillus anthracis Vollum (pXO1

The HtrA-Like Protease CD3284 Modulates Virulence of Clostridium difficile

“…We show that an htrA mutant has enhanced virulence in the Golden Syrian hamster model of acute C. difficile infection. These data contrast with those reported for other pathogens, in which mutation of htrA results in attenuation (25)(26)(27). Furthermore, the htrA mutation displayed a pleiotropic effect in a transcriptome analysis.…”

Helicobacter pyloridefense against oxidative attack

“…Unusually, however, expression of HtrA by H. pylori is upregulated under conditions of oxidative stress (50,102), suggesting a potential additional role in combating oxidative damage. In other bacteria, deficiency of HtrA has been found to be associated with an increase in sensitivity to oxidative stress (21,88), although this has not been investigated for H. pylori. HtrA has been found to be membrane-associated (4) and present within outer membrane vesicles (77), indicating that the enzyme has a strong presence at the exterior of the bacterium, which may facilitate a role in defense against oxidative stress.…”

Novel Role for the yceGH Tellurite Resistance Genes in the Pathogenesis of Bacillus anthracis

“…Sequencing of the B. anthracis genome identified a number of genes that share homologies to known virulence factors of other pathogens (3). Subsequently, studies have coupled targeted mutagenesis with rodent infection models to identify chromosomal virulence genes, including the dltABCD operon for lipoteichoic acid modification (4), the asbAB siderophore (5), the ABC transporter mntA (6), the nitric oxide synthase nos (7), the ClpXP protease (8), the purine biosynthesis gene purH (9), and the stress resistance gene hrtA (10).…”