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Infection and Immunity, October 2001, p. 6271-6275, Vol. 69, No. 10
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.10.6271-6275.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Mimicry of a G Protein Mutation by Pertussis Toxin Expression in Transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans

Creg Darby* and Stanley Falkow

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California

Received 7 May 2001/Accepted 7 July 2001

Pathogens produce virulence factors that interact directly with host molecules, but in many cases the host targets are unknown. The genetic and molecular identification of these orphan targets is often not feasible with mammalian experimental models. However, a substantial number of known targets are molecules and pathways that are conserved among eukaryotes, and therefore the use of nonmammalian model hosts to identify orphan targets may prove useful. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, we transformed the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans with a gene encoding the catalytic subunit of pertussis toxin (PTX), which in mammals inactivates Go/ialpha proteins. Expression of PTX in C. elegans produced phenotypes almost identical to those of a null mutation in the nematode gene encoding Go/ialpha . Furthermore, PTX suppressed the phenotype of a constitutively active form of nematode Go/ialpha protein. These results indicate that PTX is functional in nematodes and acts specifically on the C. elegans homologue of the mammalian target.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 299 Campus Dr., Stanford, CA 94305-5124. Phone: (650) 723-2671. Fax: (650) 723-1837. E-mail: cdarby{at}stanford.edu.

Infection and Immunity, October 2001, p. 6271-6275, Vol. 69, No. 10
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.10.6271-6275.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.