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Infection and Immunity, October 2001, p. 6209-6216, Vol. 69, No. 10
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.10.6209-6216.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Identification of a New Iron-Regulated Virulence Gene, ireA, in an Extraintestinal Pathogenic Isolate of Escherichia coli

Thomas A. Russo,1,2,3,4,* Ulrike B. Carlino,1,3 and James R. Johnson5

Department of Medicine,1 Department of Microbiology,2 The Center for Microbial Pathogenesis,3 and VA Medical Center,4 University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214, and Medical Service, VA Medical Center, and Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota5

Received 8 January 2001/Returned for modification 8 May 2001/Accepted 11 July 2001

Our laboratory is studying an extraintestinal pathogenic isolate of Escherichia coli (CP9) as a model pathogen. We have been using human urine, ascites, and blood ex vivo to identify genes with increased expression in these media relative to expression in Luria-Bertani (LB) broth. Such genes may represent new or unrecognized virulence traits. In this study, we report the identification of a new gene, ireA (iron-responsive element). This gene has an open reading frame of 2,049 nucleotides, and its peptide has a molecular mass of 75.3 kDa on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Its expression is increased a mean of 3.6-fold in human urine, 16.2-fold in human ascites, and 6.6-fold in human blood relative to expression in LB medium, and it is Fe repressible. IreA also exhibits peptide similarities (48 to 56%) to previously identified proteins that function as siderophore receptors, suggesting that IreA is involved in iron acquisition. PCR-based analysis of ireA's phylogenetic distribution detected ireA in none (0%) of 14 fecal isolates that represented probable commensal strains, but in 13 (26%) of 50 random urine and blood clinical isolates (P = 0.05) and in 5 (100%) of 5 representatives of the J96-like, clonal group of which CP9 is a member (P < 0.001). In a mouse urinary tract infection model, the presence of ireA contributed significantly to CP9's ability to colonize the bladder (P < 0.02), evidence that IreA is a urovirulence factor. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that ireA encodes a new virulence factor, which is likely involved in Fe acquisition.


* 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 2001, p. 6209-6216, Vol. 69, No. 10
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.10.6209-6216.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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