This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Deng, K.
Right arrow Articles by Hansen, E. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Deng, K.
Right arrow Articles by Hansen, E. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, July 2006, p. 4224-4236, Vol. 74, No. 7
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01975-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Identification of Francisella tularensis Genes Affected by Iron Limitation{dagger}

Kaiping Deng, Robert J. Blick, Wei Liu, and Eric J. Hansen*

Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390-9048

Received 6 December 2005/ Returned for modification 17 January 2006/ Accepted 1 May 2006

Cells of an attenuated live vaccine strain (LVS) of F. tularensis grown under iron-restricted conditions were found to contain increased quantities of several proteins relative to cells of this same strain grown under iron-replete conditions. Mass spectrometric analysis identified two of these proteins as IglC and PdpB, both of which are encoded by genes located in a previously identified pathogenicity island in F. tularensis LVS. Regions with homology to the consensus Fur box sequence were located immediately in front of the iglC and pdpB open reading frames (ORFs), and in silico analysis of the F. tularensis Schu4 genome detected a number of predicted 5' untranslated regions that contained putative Fur boxes. The putative Fur box preceding Francisella iron-regulated gene A (figA) had the highest degree of identity with the consensus Fur box sequence. DNA microarray analysis showed that nearly 80 of the genes in the F. tularensis LVS genome were up- or down-regulated at least twofold under iron-restricted growth conditions. When tested for possible siderophore production by means of the Chrome Azurol S assay, a wild-type F. novicida strain produced a large reaction zone whereas its figA mutant produced very little reactivity in this assay. In addition, a cross-feeding experiment demonstrated that this siderophore-like activity produced by the wild-type F. novicida strain could enhance the ability of the F. novicida figA mutant to grow under iron-restricted conditions. This study provides the first identification of iron-regulated genes in F. tularensis LVS and evidence for the production of a siderophore-like molecule by F. novicida.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9048. Phone: (214) 648-5974. Fax: (214) 648-5905. E-mail: eric.hansen{at}utsouthwestern.edu.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://iai.asm.org/.

Editor: J. L. Flynn

Infection and Immunity, July 2006, p. 4224-4236, Vol. 74, No. 7
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01975-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Allard, K. A., Dao, J., Sanjeevaiah, P., McCoy-Simandle, K., Chatfield, C. H., Crumrine, D. S., Castignetti, D., Cianciotto, N. P. (2009). Purification of Legiobactin and Importance of This Siderophore in Lung Infection by Legionella pneumophila. Infect. Immun. 77: 2887-2895 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Buchan, B. W., McCaffrey, R. L., Lindemann, S. R., Allen, L.-A. H., Jones, B. D. (2009). Identification of migR, a Regulatory Element of the Francisella tularensis Live Vaccine Strain iglABCD Virulence Operon Required for Normal Replication and Trafficking in Macrophages. Infect. Immun. 77: 2517-2529 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Schmerk, C. L., Duplantis, B. N., Wang, D., Burke, R. D., Chou, A. Y., Elkins, K. L., Ludu, J. S., Nano, F. E. (2009). Characterization of the pathogenicity island protein PdpA and its role in the virulence of Francisella novicida. Microbiology 155: 1489-1497 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Richards, M. I., Michell, S. L., Oyston, P. C. F. (2008). An intracellularly inducible gene involved in virulence and polyphosphate production in Francisella. J Med Microbiol 57: 1183-1192 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Brotcke, A., Monack, D. M. (2008). Identification of fevR, a Novel Regulator of Virulence Gene Expression in Francisella novicida. Infect. Immun. 76: 3473-3480 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Oyston, P. C. F. (2008). Francisella tularensis: unravelling the secrets of an intracellular pathogen. J Med Microbiol 57: 921-930 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ramakrishnan, G., Meeker, A., Dragulev, B. (2008). fslE Is Necessary for Siderophore-Mediated Iron Acquisition in Francisella tularensis Schu S4. J. Bacteriol. 190: 5353-5361 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Buchan, B. W., McLendon, M. K., Jones, B. D. (2008). Identification of Differentially Regulated Francisella tularensis Genes by Use of a Newly Developed Tn5-Based Transposon Delivery System. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 2637-2645 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zaini, P. A., Fogaca, A. C., Lupo, F. G. N., Nakaya, H. I., Vencio, R. Z. N., da Silva, A. M. (2008). The Iron Stimulon of Xylella fastidiosa Includes Genes for Type IV Pilus and Colicin V-Like Bacteriocins. J. Bacteriol. 190: 2368-2378 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Maier, T. M., Casey, M. S., Becker, R. H., Dorsey, C. W., Glass, E. M., Maltsev, N., Zahrt, T. C., Frank, D. W. (2007). Identification of Francisella tularensis Himar1-Based Transposon Mutants Defective for Replication in Macrophages. Infect. Immun. 75: 5376-5389 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, W., Reitzer, L., Rasko, D. A., Pearson, M. M., Blick, R. J., Laurence, C., Hansen, E. J. (2007). Metabolic Analysis of Moraxella catarrhalis and the Effect of Selected In Vitro Growth Conditions on Global Gene Expression. Infect. Immun. 75: 4959-4971 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Milne, T. S., Michell, S. L., Diaper, H., Wikstrom, P., Svensson, K., Oyston, P. C. F., Titball, R. W. (2007). A 55 kDa hypothetical membrane protein is an iron-regulated virulence factor of Francisella tularensis subsp. novicida U112. J Med Microbiol 56: 1268-1276 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»