Previous Article | Next Article 
Infection and Immunity, July 2001, p. 4257-4267, Vol. 69, No. 7
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.7.4257-4267.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Motility and the Polar Flagellum Are Required for Aeromonas
caviae Adherence to HEp-2 Cells
Ali A.
Rabaan,1
Ioannis
Gryllos,1,
Juan M.
Tomás,2 and
Jonathan G.
Shaw1,*
Division of Molecular and Genetic Medicine,
University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield S10 2RX, United
Kingdom,1 and Departamento
Microbiología, Facultad Biología, Universidad
Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08071 Barcelona, Spain2
Received 27 September 2000/Returned for modification 15 January
2001/Accepted 19 March 2001
Aeromonas caviae is increasingly being recognized as a
cause of gastroenteritis, especially among the young. The adherence of
aeromonads to human epithelial cells in vitro has been correlated with
enteropathogenicity, but the mechanism is far from well understood. Initial investigations demonstrated that adherence of A. caviae to HEp-2 cells was significantly reduced by either
pretreating bacterial cells with an antipolar flagellin antibody
or by pretreating HEp-2 cells with partially purified flagella. To
precisely define the role of the polar flagellum in aeromonad
adherence, we isolated the A. caviae polar flagellin locus
and identified five polar flagellar genes, in the order flaA,
flaB, flaG, flaH, and flaJ. Each gene was inactivated
using a kanamycin resistance cartridge that ensures the transcription
of downstream genes, and the resulting mutants were tested for
motility, flagellin expression, and adherence to HEp-2 cells.
N-terminal amino acid sequencing, mutant analysis, and Western blotting
demonstrated that A. caviae has a complex flagellum
filament composed of two flagellin subunits encoded by flaA
and flaB. The predicted molecular mass of both flagellins was ~31,700 Da; however, their molecular mass estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was ~35,500 Da.
This aberrant migration was thought to be due to their glycosylation, since the proteins were reactive in glycosyl group
detection assays. Single mutations in either flaA or
flaB did not result in loss of flagella but did result in
decreased motility and adherence by approximately 50%. Mutation of
flaH, flaJ, or both flagellin genes resulted in the
complete loss of motility, flagellin expression, and adherence.
However, mutation of flaG did not affect motility but did
significantly reduce the level of adherence. Centrifugation of the
flagellate mutants (flaA, flaB, and flaG) onto
the cell monolayers did not increase adherence, whereas centrifugation of the aflagellate mutants (flaH, flaJ, and flaA
flaB) increased adherence slightly. We conclude that maximum
adherence of A. caviae to human epithelial cells in vitro
requires motility and optimal flagellar function.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of
Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Floor F, University of Sheffield
Medical School, Beach Hill Rd., Sheffield S10 2RX, United Kingdom.
Phone: 44-114-2713517. Fax: 44-114-2739926. E-mail:
j.g.shaw{at}sheffield.ac.uk.

Present address: Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's
Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
02115.
Infection and Immunity, July 2001, p. 4257-4267, Vol. 69, No. 7
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.7.4257-4267.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Howard, S. L., Jagannathan, A., Soo, E. C., Hui, J. P. M., Aubry, A. J., Ahmed, I., Karlyshev, A., Kelly, J. F., Jones, M. A., Stevens, M. P., Logan, S. M., Wren, B. W.
(2009). Campylobacter jejuni Glycosylation Island Important in Cell Charge, Legionaminic Acid Biosynthesis, and Colonization of Chickens. Infect. Immun.
77: 2544-2556
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Tabei, S. M. B., Hitchen, P. G., Day-Williams, M. J., Merino, S., Vart, R., Pang, P.-C., Horsburgh, G. J., Viches, S., Wilhelms, M., Tomas, J. M., Dell, A., Shaw, J. G.
(2009). An Aeromonas caviae Genomic Island Is Required for both O-Antigen Lipopolysaccharide Biosynthesis and Flagellin Glycosylation. J. Bacteriol.
191: 2851-2863
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Wilhelms, M., Vilches, S., Molero, R., Shaw, J. G., Tomas, J. M., Merino, S.
(2009). Two Redundant Sodium-Driven Stator Motor Proteins Are Involved in Aeromonas hydrophila Polar Flagellum Rotation. J. Bacteriol.
191: 2206-2217
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Claret, L., Miquel, S., Vieille, N., Ryjenkov, D. A., Gomelsky, M., Darfeuille-Michaud, A.
(2007). The Flagellar Sigma Factor FliA Regulates Adhesion and Invasion of Crohn Disease-associated Escherichia coli via a Cyclic Dimeric GMP-dependent Pathway. J. Biol. Chem.
282: 33275-33283
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Vilches, S., Canals, R., Wilhelms, M., Salo, M. T., Knirel, Y. A., Vinogradov, E., Merino, S., Tomas, J. M.
(2007). Mesophilic Aeromonas UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (GalU) mutants show two types of lipopolysaccharide structures and reduced virulence. Microbiology
153: 2393-2404
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Canals, R., Vilches, S., Wilhelms, M., Shaw, J. G., Merino, S., Tomas, J. M.
(2007). Non-structural flagella genes affecting both polar and lateral flagella-mediated motility in Aeromonas hydrophila. Microbiology
153: 1165-1175
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Canals, R., Jimenez, N., Vilches, S., Regue, M., Merino, S., Tomas, J. M.
(2007). Role of Gne and GalE in the Virulence of Aeromonas hydrophila Serotype O34. J. Bacteriol.
189: 540-550
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Seshadri, R., Joseph, S. W., Chopra, A. K., Sha, J., Shaw, J., Graf, J., Haft, D., Wu, M., Ren, Q., Rosovitz, M. J., Madupu, R., Tallon, L., Kim, M., Jin, S., Vuong, H., Stine, O. C., Ali, A., Horneman, A. J., Heidelberg, J. F.
(2006). Genome Sequence of Aeromonas hydrophila ATCC 7966T: Jack of All Trades. J. Bacteriol.
188: 8272-8282
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Logan, S. M.
(2006). Flagellar glycosylation - a new component of the motility repertoire?. Microbiology
152: 1249-1262
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Canals, R., Altarriba, M., Vilches, S., Horsburgh, G., Shaw, J. G., Tomas, J. M., Merino, S.
(2006). Analysis of the Lateral Flagellar Gene System of Aeromonas hydrophila AH-3. J. Bacteriol.
188: 852-862
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Canals, R., Ramirez, S., Vilches, S., Horsburgh, G., Shaw, J. G., Tomas, J. M., Merino, S.
(2006). Polar Flagellum Biogenesis in Aeromonas hydrophila. J. Bacteriol.
188: 542-555
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Canals, R., Jimenez, N., Vilches, S., Regue, M., Merino, S., Tomas, J. M.
(2006). The UDP N-Acetylgalactosamine 4-Epimerase Gene Is Essential for Mesophilic Aeromonas hydrophila Serotype O34 Virulence. Infect. Immun.
74: 537-548
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Bigot, A., Pagniez, H., Botton, E., Frehel, C., Dubail, I., Jacquet, C., Charbit, A., Raynaud, C.
(2005). Role of FliF and FliI of Listeria monocytogenes in Flagellar Assembly and Pathogenicity. Infect. Immun.
73: 5530-5539
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Dons, L., Eriksson, E., Jin, Y., Rottenberg, M. E., Kristensson, K., Larsen, C. N., Bresciani, J., Olsen, J. E.
(2004). Role of Flagellin and the Two-Component CheA/CheY System of Listeria monocytogenes in Host Cell Invasion and Virulence. Infect. Immun.
72: 3237-3244
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Carrillo, C. D., Taboada, E., Nash, J. H. E., Lanthier, P., Kelly, J., Lau, P. C., Verhulp, R., Mykytczuk, O., Sy, J., Findlay, W. A., Amoako, K., Gomis, S., Willson, P., Austin, J. W., Potter, A., Babiuk, L., Allan, B., Szymanski, C. M.
(2004). Genome-wide Expression Analyses of Campylobacter jejuni NCTC11168 Reveals Coordinate Regulation of Motility and Virulence by flhA. J. Biol. Chem.
279: 20327-20338
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Kirov, S. M., Castrisios, M., Shaw, J. G.
(2004). Aeromonas Flagella (Polar and Lateral) Are Enterocyte Adhesins That Contribute to Biofilm Formation on Surfaces. Infect. Immun.
72: 1939-1945
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Inglis, T. J. J., Robertson, T., Woods, D. E., Dutton, N., Chang, B. J.
(2003). Flagellum-Mediated Adhesion by Burkholderia pseudomallei Precedes Invasion of Acanthamoeba astronyxis. Infect. Immun.
71: 2280-2282
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Merino, S., Gavin, R., Vilches, S., Shaw, J. G., Tomas, J. M.
(2003). A Colonization Factor (Production of Lateral Flagella) of Mesophilic Aeromonas spp. Is Inactive in Aeromonas salmonicida Strains. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
69: 663-667
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Szymanski, C. M., Burr, D. H., Guerry, P.
(2002). Campylobacter Protein Glycosylation Affects Host Cell Interactions. Infect. Immun.
70: 2242-2244
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Kirov, S. M., Tassell, B. C., Semmler, A. B. T., O'Donovan, L. A., Rabaan, A. A., Shaw, J. G.
(2002). Lateral Flagella and Swarming Motility in Aeromonas Species. J. Bacteriol.
184: 547-555
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Tasteyre, A., Barc, M.-C., Collignon, A., Boureau, H., Karjalainen, T.
(2001). Role of FliC and FliD Flagellar Proteins of Clostridium difficile in Adherence and Gut Colonization. Infect. Immun.
69: 7937-7940
[Abstract]
[Full Text]