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Infection and Immunity, January 2003, p. 155-162, Vol. 71, No. 1
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.1.155-162.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Lipooligosaccharide-Deficient Neisseria meningitidis Shows Altered Pilus-Associated Characteristics

Barbara Albiger,1,2* Linda Johansson,1 and Ann-Beth Jonsson1

Microbiology and Tumor Biology Center, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm,1 Swedish Institute of Infectious Disease Control, SE-171 82 Solna, Sweden2

Received 28 May 2002/ Returned for modification 8 August 2002/ Accepted 16 October 2002

Molecular interaction between host mucosal surfaces and outer membrane components of microbes is crucial in the infection process. The outer membrane of pathogenic Neisseria contains surface molecules such as pili, PilC, and Opa and a monolayer of lipooligosaccharide (LOS), all of which are involved in the interaction with host cells. Pili mediate the initial attachment to human epithelial cells, which is followed by tight contact between bacteria and the eucaryotic cells, leading to bacterial invasion. To further examine the basis for bacterium-host cell contact, we constructed an LOS-deficient Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C mutant. LOS deficiency was without exception accompanied by altered colony opacity and morphology, which most likely represented an "on" switch for Opa540 expression, and by reduced levels of the iron-regulated proteins FetA and FbpA. We show here that LOS is essential for pilus-associated adherence but dispensable for fiber formation and twitching motility. The absence of attachment to epithelial cells could not be attributed to altered levels of piliation or defects in the pilus adhesion phenotype. Further, LOS mutants do not invade host cells and have lost the natural competence for genetic transformation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Swedish Institute of Infectious Disease Control, SE-171 82 Solna, Sweden. Phone: (46) 8 728 71 74. Fax: (46) 8 30 42 76. E-mail: Barbara.Albiger{at}mtc.ki.se.

Editor: V. J. DiRita

Infection and Immunity, January 2003, p. 155-162, Vol. 71, No. 1
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.1.155-162.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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