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Infect. Immun. doi:10.1128/IAI.00874-06
Copyright (c) 2006, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

A hierarchy of iron uptake systems: Yfu and Yiu are functional in Yersinia pestis

Department Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: rperry{at}pop.uky.edu.

	Abstract

In addition to the yersiniabactin (Ybt) siderophore-dependent system, two inorganic iron ABC transport systems of Y. pestis, Yfe and Yfu, have been characterized. Here we show that the Yfu system functions in Y. pestis: a Ybt^-Yfe^-Yfu^- mutant exhibited a greater growth defect under iron-deficient conditions than its Ybt^-Yfe^- parental strain. We also demonstrate that another putative Y. pestis iron uptake system, Yiu, which potentially encodes an outer membrane receptor YiuR and an ABC iron transport cassette, YiuABC, is functional. The cloned yiuABC operon restored growth of an enterobactin-deficient mutant Escherichia coli 1017 under iron-chelated conditions. Iron uptake by the Yiu system in Y. pestis was demonstrated only when the Ybt, Yfe, and Yfu systems were mutated. Using a yiuA::lacZ fusion we show that the yiuABC promoter is repressed by iron through Fur. A mouse model of bubonic plague failed to show a significant role for the Yiu system in the disease process. These results demonstrate that two additional iron transporters are functional in Y. pestis and indicate that there is a hierarchy of iron transporters, with Ybt being most effective and Yiu being the least effective of those systems which have been characterized.

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