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 Nakata, M.
Right arrow Articles by Kreikemeyer, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nakata, M.
Right arrow Articles by Kreikemeyer, B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, January 2009, p. 32-44, Vol. 77, No. 1
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00772-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Mode of Expression and Functional Characterization of FCT-3 Pilus Region-Encoded Proteins in Streptococcus pyogenes Serotype M49{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Masanobu Nakata,1,5 Thomas Köller,1 Karin Moritz,1 Deborah Ribardo,2 Ludwig Jonas,3 Kevin S. McIver,2,4 Tomoko Sumitomo,5 Yutaka Terao,5 Shigetada Kawabata,5 Andreas Podbielski,1 and Bernd Kreikemeyer1*

Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, Schillingallee 70, 18055 Rostock, Germany,1 UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Microbiology, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas,2 Electron Microscopy Centre, Department of Pathology, Medical Faculty, Strempelstrasse 14, 18055 Rostock, Germany,3 Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, Biosciences Research Bldg. (413), College Park, Maryland,4 Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, 1-8 Yamadaoka, Suita-Osaka 565-0871, Japan5

Received 19 June 2008/ Returned for modification 24 September 2008/ Accepted 6 October 2008

The human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus [GAS]) pilus components, suggested to play a role in pathogenesis, are encoded in the variable FCT (fibronectin- and collagen-binding T-antigen) region. We investigated the functions of sortase A (SrtA), sortase C2 (SrtC2), and the FctA protein of the most prevalent type 3 FCT region from a serotype M49 strain. Although it is considered a housekeeping sortase, SrtA's activity is involved in pilus formation in addition to its essentiality for GAS extracellular matrix protein binding, host cell adherence/internalization, survival in human blood, and biofilm formation. SrtC2 activity is crucial for pilus formation but dispensable for the other phenotypes tested in vitro. FctA is the major pilus backbone protein, simultaneously acting as the M49 T antigen, and requires SrtC2 and LepA, a signal peptidase I homologue, for monomeric surface expression and polymerization, respectively. Collagen-binding protein Cpa expression supports pilus formation at the pilus base. Immunofluorescence microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis revealed several unexpected expression patterns, as follows: (i) the monomeric pilus protein FctA was found exclusively at the old poles of GAS cells, (ii) FctA protein expression increased with lower temperatures, and (iii) FctA protein expression was restricted to 20 to 50% of a given GAS M49 population, suggesting regulation by a bistability mode. Notably, disruption of pilus assembly by sortase deletion rendered GAS serotype M49 significantly more aggressive in a dermonecrotic mouse infection model, indicating that sortase activity and, consequently, pilus expression allow a subpopulation of this GAS serotype to be less aggressive. Thus, pilus expression may not be a virulence attribute of GAS per se.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiolology and Hospital Hygiene, University Hospital, Schillingallee 70, D-18057 Rostock, Germany. Phone: 49-381-494-5912. Fax: 49-81-494-5902. E-mail: bernd.kreikemeyer{at}med.uni-rostock.de

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 13 October 2008.

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

Editor: V. J. DiRita

Infection and Immunity, January 2009, p. 32-44, Vol. 77, No. 1
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00772-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Mistou, M.-Y., Dramsi, S., Brega, S., Poyart, C., Trieu-Cuot, P. (2009). Molecular Dissection of the secA2 Locus of Group B Streptococcus Reveals that Glycosylation of the Srr1 LPXTG Protein Is Required for Full Virulence. J. Bacteriol. 191: 4195-4206 [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»