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Infection and Immunity, February 2004, p. 629-636, Vol. 72, No. 2
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.2.629-636.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A K+ Uptake Protein, TrkA, Is Required for Serum, Protamine, and Polymyxin B Resistance in Vibrio vulnificus

Yu-Chung Chen,1 Yin-Ching Chuang,2 Chun-Chin Chang,3 Chii-Ling Jeang,1 and Ming-Chung Chang3*

Department of Food Science, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung,1 Department of Medical Research, Chi-Mei Medical Center,2 Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan3

Received 13 May 2003/ Returned for modification 14 July 2003/ Accepted 4 November 2003

Vibrio vulnificus, a highly virulent marine bacterium, is the causative agent of both serious wound infections and fatal septicemia in many areas of the world. To identify the genes required for resistance to human serum, we constructed a library of transposon mutants of V. vulnificus and screened them for hypersensitivity to human serum. Here we report that one of the isolated serum-susceptible mutants had a mutation in an open reading frame identified as trkA, a gene encoding an amino acid sequence showing high identity to that of TrkA of Vibrio alginolyticus, a protein required for the uptake of potassium. A trkA isogenic mutant was constructed via insertional inactivation, and it was significantly more easily killed by human serum, protamine, or polymyxin B than was the wild type. At K+ concentrations of 1 to 20 mM, this isogenic mutant showed attenuated growth compared to the wild-type strain. In addition, infection experiments demonstrated virulence attenuation when this mutant was administered intraperitoneally or subcutaneously to both normal and iron-treated mice, indicating that TrkA may modulate the transport of potassium and resistance to host innate defenses and that it is important for virulence in mice.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan. Phone and fax: (886-6) 2754697. E-mail: mcchang{at}mail.ncku.edu.tw.

Editor: F. C. Fang

Infection and Immunity, February 2004, p. 629-636, Vol. 72, No. 2
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.2.629-636.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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