Similarity to Peroxisomal-Membrane Protein Family Reveals That Sinorhizobium and Brucella BacA Affect Lipid-A Fatty Acids

Sinorhizobium meliloti, a legume symbiont, and Brucella abortus, a phylogenetically related mammalian pathogen, both require the bacterial-encoded BacA protein to establish chronic intracellular infections in their respective hosts. We found that the bacterial BacA proteins share sequence similarity...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2004-04, Vol.101 (14), p.5012-5017
Main Authors: Ferguson, Gail P., Datta, Anup, Baumgartner, John, Roop, R. Martin, Carlson, Russ W., Walker, Graham C., Robbins, Phillips W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Bacteria
Bacterial Proteins - chemistry
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Biological Sciences
Brucella
Brucella - metabolism
Brucella abortus
Comparative analysis
Cytoplasm
Fatty acids
Fatty Acids - metabolism
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Infections
Lipid A - metabolism
Lipids
Membrane Proteins - metabolism
Membrane Transport Proteins - chemistry
Membrane Transport Proteins - metabolism
Microbiology
Molecular Sequence Data
Molecules
Pathogens
Peroxisomes - metabolism
Plasmids
Proteins
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Sinorhizobium
Sinorhizobium - metabolism
Sinorhizobium meliloti
Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
Symbiosis
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Summary:Sinorhizobium meliloti, a legume symbiont, and Brucella abortus, a phylogenetically related mammalian pathogen, both require the bacterial-encoded BacA protein to establish chronic intracellular infections in their respective hosts. We found that the bacterial BacA proteins share sequence similarity with a family of eukaryotic peroxisomal-membrane proteins, including the human adrenoleukodystrophy protein, required for the efficient transport of very-long-chain fatty acids out of the cytoplasm. This insight, along with the increased sensitivity of BacA-deficient mutants to detergents and cell envelope-disrupting agents, led us to discover that BacA affects the very-long-chain fatty acid (27-OHC28:0 and 29-OHC30:0) content of both Sinorhizobium and Brucella lipid A. We discuss models for how BacA function affects the lipid-A fatty-acid content and why this activity could be important for the establishment of chronic intracellular infections.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0307137101