YfbA, a Yersinia pestis Regulator Required for Colonization and Biofilm Formation in the Gut of Cat Fleas

• Published in: Journal of Bacteriology 2014-03, Vol.196 (6), p.1165-1173
• Main Authors: Tam, Christina, Demke, Owen, Hermanas, Timothy, Mitchell, Anthony, Hendrickx, Antoni P. A, Schneewind, Olaf
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Bacteriology; biofilm; Biofilms; Biofilms - growth & development; cats; Ctenocephalides - microbiology; Ctenocephalides felis; Digestive system; DNA Transposable Elements; foregut; Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology; Gram-negative bacteria; hosts; humans; Insects; Matrix; Membrane Proteins - genetics; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Mutagenesis, Insertional; mutants; plague; rats; transcription factors; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; transposons; Yersinia pestis; Yersinia pestis - genetics; Yersinia pestis - physiology
• ISSN: 0021-9193; 1098-5530; 1067-8832
• DOI: 10.1128/JB.01187-13

For transmission to new hosts, Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, replicates as biofilm in the foregut of fleas that feed on plague-infected animals or humans. Y. pestis biofilm formation has been studied in the rat flea; however, little is known about the cat flea, a species that may bridge zoonotic and anthroponotic plague cycles. Here, we show that Y. pestis infects and replicates as a biofilm in the foregut of cat fleas in a manner requiring hmsFR, two determinants for extracellular biofilm matrix. Examining a library of transposon insertion mutants, we identified the LysR-type transcriptional regulator YfbA, which is essential for Y. pestis colonization and biofilm formation in cat fleas.