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Infection and Immunity, May 2000, p. 2553-2559, Vol. 68, No. 5
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Superantigen YPMa Exacerbates the Virulence of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in Mice

Christophe Carnoy,1,* Chantal Mullet,1 Heide Müller-Alouf,2 Emmanuelle Leteurtre,3 and Michel Simonet1

Equipe Mixte INSERM (E9919)-Université (JE 2225), Institut de Biologie de Lille,1 Département de Microbiologie des Ecosystèmes, Institut Pasteur de Lille,2 and Laboratoire d'Anatomie et Cytologie Pathologique A, Faculté de Médecine,3 Lille, France

Received 23 August 1999/Returned for modification 5 October 1999/Accepted 17 January 2000

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, a gram-negative bacterium responsible for enteric and systemic infection in humans, produces a superantigenic toxin designated YPMa (Y. pseudotuberculosis-derived mitogen). To assess the role of YPMa in the pathogenesis of Y. pseudotuberculosis, we constructed a superantigen-deficient mutant and compared its virulence in a mouse model of infection to the virulence of the wild-type strain. Determination of the survival rate after intravenous (i.v.) bacterial inoculation of OF1 mice clearly showed that inactivation of ypmA, encoding YPMa, reduced the virulence of Y. pseudotuberculosis. Mice infected i.v. with 104 and 105 wild-type bacteria died within 9 days, whereas mice infected with the ypmA mutant survived 12 and 3 days longer, respectively. This decreased virulence of the ypmA mutant strain was not due to an impaired colonization of the spleen, liver, or lungs. In contrast to i.v. challenge, bacterial inoculation by the intragastric (i.g.) route did not reveal any difference in virulence between wild-type Y. pseudotuberculosis and the ypmA mutant since the 50% lethal doses were identical for both strains. Moreover, inactivation of ypmA gene did not affect the bacterial growth of Y. pseudotuberculosis in Peyer's patches, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), and spleen after oral infection. Histological studies of spleen, liver, lungs, heart, Peyer's patches, and MLNs after i.v. or i.g. challenge with the wild type or the ypmA mutant did not reveal any feature that can be specifically related to YPMa. Our data show that the superantigenic toxin YPMa contributes to the virulence of Y. pseudotuberculosis in systemic infection in mice.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Département de Pathogenèse des Maladies Infectieuses et Parasitaires, Institut de Biologie de Lille, 1 rue du Professeur Calmette, 59021 Lille Cedex, France. Phone: 33 3 20 87 11 81. Fax: 33 3 20 87 11 83. E-mail: christophe.carnoy{at}ibl.fr.

Infection and Immunity, May 2000, p. 2553-2559, Vol. 68, No. 5
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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