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Infection and Immunity, June 2005, p. 3758-3763, Vol. 73, No. 6
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/IAI.73.6.3758-3763.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Genetic and Functional Analyses of the Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans AfeABCD Siderophore-Independent Iron Acquisition System
Eric R. Rhodes,
Andrew P. Tomaras,
Glen McGillivary,
Pamela L. Connerly, and
Luis A. Actis*
Department of Microbiology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
Received 8 October 2004/
Returned for modification 3 December 2004/
Accepted 19 January 2005

ABSTRACT
The
Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans afeABCD iron transport
system, the expression of which is controlled by iron and Fur,
was identified in three different isolates. The protein products
of this locus are related to bacterial ABC transporters involved
in metal transport. Transformation of the
Escherichia coli 1017
iron acquisition mutant with a plasmid harboring
afeABCD promoted
cell growth under iron-chelated conditions. However, insertion
disruption of each of the
afeABCD coding regions abolished this
growth-relieving effect. The replacement of the parental
afeA allele with the derivative
afeA::EZ::TN<KAN-2> drastically
reduced the ability of
A. actinomycetemcomitans cells to grow
under iron-chelated conditions.

TEXT
Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans has been associated with
adult periodontitis (
31) and localized juvenile periodontitis,
recently renamed localized aggressive periodontitis (LAP) (
3,
4).
A. actinomycetemcomitans acquires iron from compounds found
in the human host, such as hemoglobin and hemin (
20), or synthetic
chelators (
17,
30). The strains tested neither used human lactoferrin
or transferrin (
20) nor produced siderophores (
30). Thus, this
pathogen seems to acquire iron through a periplasmic binding
protein-dependent transport (PBT) system that functions independently
of the TonB-ExbBD energy transducing system and requires neither
an outer membrane receptor nor a specific ligand. The
Serratia marcescens SfuABC PBT system was the first described (
1,
2),
and similar systems have been found in other bacteria, including
the
A. actinomycetemcomitans afuA-Aa system described previously
(
29). Another type of PBT system is that encoded by the
Yersinia pestis yfe locus that contains the
yfeABCD and
yfeE coding regions
(
7). Although functionally and organizationally related, YfeABCD
is an independent system that shows no significant similarity
with the SfuABC-related systems. Here, we report the characterization
of an
A. actinomycetemcomitans iron acquisition system related
to the YfeABCD ABC transporter, which was named AfeABCD to distinguish
it from the
Y. pestis system and to be consistent with the naming
of the AfuABC system already described (
29).
Cloning and analysis of the afeABCD iron acquisition system.
A 3,473-bp segment containing four open reading frames (ORFs), the products of which are highly similar to the Y. pestis YfeA, -B, -C, and -D proteins, respectively, was identified by computer analysis of the genome of A. actinomycetemcomitans HK1651, a serotype b strain of the JP2 clone that expresses high leukotoxin activity (19). PCR and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analyses of total DNA and RNA with the primers listed in Table 2 showed that the serotype f CU1000 and serotype a DF2200N strains, both of which are not JP2-like isolates (22), also contain and express transcriptionally these four ORFs when cultured in AAGM broth (15) containing 100 µM 2,2'-dipyridyl (DIP) (iron-chelated condition). We focused our work on the two latter strains because they are rough, aggregate, and adhere tenaciously to solid surfaces, properties that must be expressed to reproduce the human LAP symptoms in a rat experimental model (27).
The cognate CU1000 genome fragment was PCR amplified with
Pfu DNA polymerase, total DNA, and the primers listed in Table
2;
cloned into pCR-BluntII-TOPO; and sequenced. Computer analysis
of the nucleotide sequence of the amplicon cloned in pMU375
and pMU376 (Table
1), two independent clones with identical
sequences, showed the presence of four ORFs (Fig.
1A). The nucleotide
sequence of this CU1000 genomic region has 99% identity with
the HK1651 equivalent region, with none of the nucleotide differences
affecting the length of the four predicted HK1651 and CU1000
ORFs. RT-PCR analysis of CU1000 RNA isolated from cells cultured
under iron-chelated conditions and the appropriate primers (Fig.
1A and Table
2) showed that
afeABCD is a polycistronic locus.
The cognate amplicons were obtained when either HK1651 or DF2200N
RNA was used as a template in the RT-PCR assays.
The product of ORF1 is related to the
Haemophilus influenzae Rd KW20 HI0362 protein (
14), which was annotated as the YfeA
iron periplasmic binding protein. AfeA contains domains found
in bacterial periplasmic metal-binding proteins including the
Y. pestis YfeA protein (
8), with which AfeA shows 66.5% identity.
The production of AfeA is supported by our previous work (
16)
showing that
A. actinomycetemcomitans Y4 cells produce a heme-
and iron-regulated periplasmic protein that is immunologically
related to
H. influenzae YfeA. The latter protein was originally
described as a 31-kDa iron-regulated periplasmic protein (
18)
that most likely represents the
H. influenzae Rd KW20 HI0362
protein (
14). ORF2 codes for a protein with the highest similarity
to
H. influenzae Rd KW20 HI0361 (
14), which was annotated as
the YfeB ATP-binding iron transport protein. AfeB is a predicted
cytoplasmic protein with 65.6% identity to
Y. pestis YfeB, and
it contains Walker A and B ATP-binding motifs found in ABC metal
transport proteins (
21). The products of ORF3 and ORF4 have
the highest similarity to the
Pasteurella multocida Pm70 YfeC
and YfeD proteins, respectively (
24), and contain motifs found
in the permease components of ABC-type metal transporters. Accordingly,
the AfeC and AfeD proteins are putative integral cytoplasmic
membrane proteins with transmembrane helices that contain the
EAA motif, which is conserved among the cytoplasmic membrane
permeases of ABC transporters (
26). In addition to sharing conserved
domains, AfeC and AfeD proteins have 67.3% and 57.9% identity
with the cognate
Y. pestis permeases.
Functional role of the CU1000 AfeABCD transport system in a heterologous bacterial host.
Transformation of the Escherichia coli 1017 enterobactin-deficient strain with pMU402, a pACYC184 derivative harboring the CU1000 afeABCD locus (Table 1), significantly increased the growth of this strain in nutrient broth (NB) containing 25 µM DIP (Fig. 2A). In contrast, the empty cloning vector pACYC184 and pMU461, a pMU402 derivative with an EZ::TN<KAN-2> insertion in afeA, only very poorly enhanced cell growth under iron-chelated conditions (Fig. 2A). A similar defect was observed with E. coli 1017 cells harboring either pMU509, pMU510, or pMU511 (Table 1), in which EZ::TN<KAN-2> disrupted afeB, afeC, and afeD, respectively (data not shown). Immunoblot analysis showed that a 32-kDa protein related to the H. influenzae YfeA protein could be detected in E. coli 1017 cells harboring an intact afeA ORF but not in cells in which the transposon disrupted this coding region (Fig. 2B, lanes 3 and 4, respectively). Supplementation of chelated NB with 100 µM FeCl3 rescued the growth of E. coli 1017 cells harboring pACYC184, pMU402, or pMU461. In contrast, no rescue effect was observed when chelated NB was supplemented with 100 µM ZnCl2 or MnCl2 (data not shown).
Phenotype of an A. actinomycetemcomitans isogenic afeA insertion derivative.
Transformation of
A. actinomycetemcomitans MB1237, a derivative
of DF2200N that harbors the plasmid pMB7 encoding isopropyl-ß-
D-thiogalactopyranoside
(IPTG)-inducible competence functions (M. K. Bhattacharjee,
B. A. Perez, S. C. Kachlany, and D. H. Figurski, unpublished
data), with pMU467 (Table
1) resulted in the isolation of Km
r transformants. The presence of a 4.2-kbp HindIII-NcoI fragment
in MB1237-MU1 but its absence in MB1237 chromosomal DNA (Fig.
3A, lanes 3 and 4) was detected with the
aph probe. The same
fragment was detected when the MB1237-MU1 DNA was hybridized
with the
afeA probe (Fig.
3B, lane 4). In contrast, a 1.2-kbp
shorter HindIII-NcoI fragment was detected in the DNA of the
MB1237 parental strain (Fig.
3B, lane 3), a difference that
is consistent with the generation of the
afeA::EZ::TN<KAN-2>
derivative by allelic exchange. RT-PCR analysis of RNAs isolated
from MB1237 and MB1237-MU1 showed that the ORFs located downstream
of the transposon insertion site were transcribed as in the
parental strain (data not shown), indicating that EZ::TN<KAN-2>
did not cause transcriptional polar effects.
The addition of 175 µM DIP to AAGM agar reduced drastically
the growth of MB1237-MU1 while the parental strains DF2200N
and MB1237 each grew as a dense lawn similar to that produced
by these strains in the absence of DIP (compare the cognate
samples in Fig.
3C and D). Overall, the two parental strains
grew on plates containing DIP up to 300 µM, while MB1237-MU1
did not grow in AAGM containing 200 µM DIP (data not shown).
The strains DF2200N and MB1237 grew around filter disks containing
either heme or FeCl
3 when plated on AAGM containing 325 µM
DIP. These two strains did not show any detectable growth when
the filter disks were saturated with human transferrin, human
lactoferrin, or hemoglobin. The same response was detected when
MB1237-MU1 cells were plated on AAGM agar containing 200 µM
DIP and provided with the same iron sources. No effect was observed
when the filter disks were saturated with 100 µM ZnCl
2 or MnCl
2 (data not shown). Immunoblot analysis with anti-
H. influenzae YfeA antibodies showed that a 32-kDa protein was
present in the cell lysates of the DF2200N and MB1237 (Fig.
2B, lanes 5 and 6) parental strains but not in the cell lysate
of the
afeA insertion derivative MB1237-MU1 (Fig.
2B, lane 7).
Molecular and functional analyses of the afe promoter region.
The afe transcription initiation site was mapped to the C located 47 nucleotides upstream of the afeA initiation codon (Fig. 1B) using total RNA isolated from cells cultured under iron-chelated conditions, the 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends system (Invitrogen), and the primers listed in Table 2. However, the G located at position 48 could not be excluded as the initiation site due to the C tailing of the cDNA. Transformation of E. coli DH5
with pMU404, a derivative of pKK232-8 (Table 1) in which this intergenic region was cloned upstream of the promoterless cat gene in the orientation shown in Fig. 1B, resulted in the isolation of ampicillin- and chloramphenicol-resistant colonies.
Figure 4 shows that the addition of increasing concentrations of CU1000 Fur to a mixture containing a 32P-labeled fragment harboring the afeA promoter region decreased the mobility of the probe (lanes 1 to 5), with no free probe being detected in the presence of 250 ng of Fur (lane 5). Addition of increasing amounts of unlabeled probe to reaction mixtures containing either 100 ng (lanes 6 to 8) or 250 ng (lanes 9 to 11) of Fur resulted in the gradual disappearance of probe-Fur complexes with a concomitant increase in the amount of free probe. The increase in Fur concentration also resulted in the formation of complexes that displayed increasing sizes, an observation consistent with the formation of different Fur-DNA complexes at different Fur-probe ratios (6).
The iron and Fur regulation of transcription initiation from
the
afe promoter was tested by measuring chloramphenicol acetyltransferase
(CAT) production in
E. coli BN4020 (
fur) harboring the promoter
reporter construct pMU404 (Table
1). Figure
5A shows a representative
immunoblot of total lysates prepared from BN4020 cells harboring
pMU404 together with either pMU500, a pACYC184 derivative with
no
fur, or pMU433, a pACYC184 derivative harboring the CU1000
fur gene (Table
1). Densitometry of the signals produced by
undiluted samples (samples 1 and 2) showed that BN4020 cells
harboring pMU404 and pMU500 produced more CAT (A and C, sample
1) than cells harboring pMU404 and pMU433 (A and C, sample 2)
when both cell samples were cultured in the presence of 100
µM FeCl
3. In contrast, more CAT was produced in BN4020
cells harboring pMU404 and pMU433 (B and D, samples 2) than
in cells containing pMU404 and pMU500 (B and D, sample 1) when
cultured in the presence of 100 µM DIP. Analysis of 1:2
and 7:10 dilutions produced results similar to those obtained
with the undiluted cell lysates (Fig.
5). The addition of 50
µM heme to the culture medium produced a regulatory effect
similar to that observed with the addition of FeCl
3 (data not
shown).
Conclusions.
The AfeABCD system is present and expressed in three different
serotype strains of
A. actinomycetemcomitans, two of which do
not belong to the JP2 clone. The expression of this metal transporter,
which is regulated by FeCl
3 and heme, in either an isogenic
or a nonisogenic background relieves the cell growth inhibition
imposed by iron-chelated conditions. It is apparent that, under
the conditions used in this work, AfeABCD transports Fe
3+ but
not other divalent metals, unlike the YfeABCD (
7) and SitABCD
(
9,
23) related systems. Taken together, these observations
suggest that AfeABCD could play a role in the pathogenesis of
LAP by allowing
A. actinomycetemcomitans to prosper under the
iron-limiting conditions of the human oral cavity, imposed mainly
by the apo-lactoferrin present in saliva (
12). While it is evident
that AfeABCD is required for iron acquisition under the laboratory
conditions we used, it is possible that other systems such as
AfuABC, either by itself or in conjunction with AfeABCD, could
be involved in iron acquisition during the different stages
of LAP. Furthermore, computer analysis of the HK1651 genome
showed the presence of at least eight genes or gene clusters
coding for putative iron transport functions, including two
afuABC-like gene clusters. This redundancy in genes coding for
iron acquisition functions most likely underscores the biological
importance of this metal and the possibility that these systems
are differentially expressed during the colonization and infection
of the human host as it has been described for other bacterial
pathogens. These possibilities can be tested now that a representative
animal model (
27) and the genetic methods to obtain isogenic
derivatives of rough strains have been developed.
Nucleotide sequence accession number.
The nucleotide sequence of the A. actinomycetemcomitans CU1000 genomic region described in this work was deposited in GenBank under the accession number AY762615.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Miami University research funds and Public Health Service grant
DE13657-02 supported the research work presented in this report.
We are grateful to D. Dyer, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, for making available the nucleotide sequence of the A. actinomycetemcomitans HK 1651 genome (http://www.stdgen.lanl.gov/oralgen/). We also thank D. Figurski (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University) and D. Fine and S. Kachlany (University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) for giving us the A. actinomycetemcomitans strains and plasmid constructs used in this work. We thank C. Wood, coordinator of the Miami University Center of Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics, for support and assistance with automated DNA sequencing and nucleotide sequence analysis.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Miami University, 40 Pearson Hall, Oxford, OH 45056. Phone: (513) 529-5424. Fax: (513) 529-2431. E-mail:
actisla{at}muohio.edu.

Editor: F. C. Fang
Present address: Columbus Children's Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, Columbus, Ohio. 

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Infection and Immunity, June 2005, p. 3758-3763, Vol. 73, No. 6
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/IAI.73.6.3758-3763.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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