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
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Neil, R. B.
Right arrow Articles by Apicella, M. A.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Neil, R. B.
Right arrow Articles by Apicella, M. A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, June 2009, p. 2285-2293, Vol. 77, No. 6
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01502-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of HrpA in Biofilm Formation of Neisseria meningitidis and Regulation of the hrpBAS Transcripts{triangledown} ,{dagger}

R. Brock Neil and Michael A. Apicella*

Department of Microbiology, 3-401 BSB, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242

Received 9 December 2008/ Returned for modification 29 January 2009/ Accepted 4 March 2009

Two-partner secretion systems of gram-negative organisms are utilized in adherence, invasion, and biofilm formation. The HrpAB proteins of Neisseria meningitidis are members of a two-partner secretion system, and HrpA is established as being important to adherence and intracellular escape. This study set out to determine the expression pattern of members of the hrpBAS putative operon and to find a functional role for the HrpA protein. The upregulation of these genes was found in situations of anaerobiosis and cell contact. These observations prompted the study of the function of HrpA in biofilms on human bronchial epithelial cells. HrpA mutants in encapsulated and unencapsulated NMB strains demonstrated biofilm growth equivalent to that of the wild-type strain at 6 h but a decreased ability to form biofilms at 48 h. Biofilms formed by hrpA mutants for 48 h on collagen-coated coverslips demonstrated significant reductions compared to those of wild-type strains. Taken together, these observations imply a role for HrpA in the biofilm structure. Further analysis demonstrated the presence of HrpA on the surface of the bacterium.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, 3-401 BSB University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242. Phone: (319) 335-7807. Fax: (319) 335-9006. E-mail: michael-apicella{at}uiowa.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 16 March 2009.

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

Editor: J. N. Weiser

Infection and Immunity, June 2009, p. 2285-2293, Vol. 77, No. 6
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01502-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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