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Infection and Immunity, October 1999, p. 5306-5314, Vol. 67, No. 10
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification of Genes in an Extraintestinal
Isolate of Escherichia coli with Increased Expression after
Exposure to Human Urine
Thomas A.
Russo,1,2,3,*
Ulrike B.
Carlino,1,3
Andrew
Mong,1,3 and
Stephen T.
Jodush1,3
Department of
Medicine,1 Department of
Microbiology,2 and The Center for
Microbial Pathogenesis,3 State University of New
York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214
Received 23 March 1999/Returned for modification 4 May
1999/Accepted 27 July 1999
The identification of genes with increased expression in vivo may
lead to the identification of novel or unrecognized virulence traits
and/or recognition of environmental signals involved in modulating gene
expression. Our laboratory is studying an extraintestinal isolate of
Escherichia coli as a model pathogen. We had previously used human urine ex vivo to identify the unrecognized urovirulence genes guaA and argC and to establish that
arginine and guanine (or derivatives) were limiting in this body fluid
(T. A. Russo et al., Mol. Microbiol. 22:217-229, 1996). In this
study, we have continued with this approach and identified three
additional genes that have increased expression in human urine relative
to Luria-Bertani (LB) medium. Expression of ure1
(urine-responsive element) is increased a mean of 47.6-fold in urine
but completely suppressed by exogenous glucose. This finding suggests
that ure1 is regulated by catabolite repression and that
limiting glucose in urine is a regulatory signal. ure1 is
present in the E. coli K-12 genome, but its function is
unknown. Although disruption of ure1 results in diminished
growth in human urine, limiting concentrations of amino acids,
nucleosides, or iron (Fe), or changes in osmolarity or pH do not affect
the expression of ure1. Therefore, Ure1 appears to have a
role independent of the synthesis or uptake of these nutrients and does
not appear to be involved in osmoprotection. iroNE.
coli is a novel E. coli gene with 77% DNA
homology to a catecholate siderophore receptor gene recently identified in Salmonella. Its expression is increased a mean of
27.2-fold in urine and is repressed by exogenous Fe and a urinary pH of 5.0. This finding supports the contention that Fe is a limiting element
in urine and that alteration of pH can affect gene expression. It is
linked to the P-pilus (prs) and F1C fimbrial
(foc) gene clusters on a pathogenicity island and appears
to have been acquired by IS1230-mediated horizontal
transmission. The homologous iroNE. coli sequence is significantly more prevalent in urinary tract and blood
isolates of E. coli compared to fecal isolates. Last, the expression of ArtJ, an arginine periplasmic binding protein, is increased a mean of 16.6-fold in urine. This finding implicates arginine concentrations as limited in urine and, in combination with
previous data demonstrating that argC is important for
urovirulence, suggests that the ability of E. coli to
synthesize or acquire arginine is important for urovirulence.
ure1, iroNE. coli, and artJ all have increased expression in human blood and
ascites relative to LB medium as well. The identification of these
genes increases our understanding of regulatory signals present in
human urine, blood, and ascites. Ure1, IroNE.
coli, and ArtJ also warrant further evaluation as
virulence traits both within and outside the urinary tract.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, 3435 Main St., Biomedical Research Building, Room 141, Buffalo, NY 14214. Phone: (716) 829-2674. Fax: (716) 829-3889. E-mail: trusso{at}acsu.buffalo.edu.
Infection and Immunity, October 1999, p. 5306-5314, Vol. 67, No. 10
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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