Transmission of Yersinia pestis from an infectious biofilm in the flea vector

Transmission of plague by fleas depends on infection of the proventricular valve in the insect's foregut by a dense aggregate of Yersinia pestis. Proventricular infection requires the Y. pestis hemin storage (hms) genes; here, we show that the hms genes are also required to produce an extracell...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 2004-08, Vol.190 (4), p.782-792
Main Authors: Jarrett, Clayton O., Deak, Eszter, Isherwood, Karen E., Oyston, Petra C., Fischer, Elizabeth R., Whitney, Adeline R., Kobayashi, Scott D., DeLeo, Frank R., Hinnebusch, B. Joseph
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteria
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacteriology
Biofilms
Biofilms - growth & development
Biological and medical sciences
Disease transmission
Disease Transmission, Infectious
Evolution, Molecular
Extracellular matrix
Female
Fleas
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology
Immunity, Cellular
Infections
Infectious diseases
Insect Vectors - microbiology
Major Articles and Brief Reports
Male
Medical sciences
Microbiology
Midgut
Miscellaneous
Neutrophils - microbiology
Phenotypes
Plague - transmission
Proventriculus
Siphonaptera - microbiology
Siphonaptera - ultrastructure
Yersinia pestis
Yersinia pestis - genetics
Yersinia pestis - physiology
Yersinia pestis - ultrastructure
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Summary:Transmission of plague by fleas depends on infection of the proventricular valve in the insect's foregut by a dense aggregate of Yersinia pestis. Proventricular infection requires the Y. pestis hemin storage (hms) genes; here, we show that the hms genes are also required to produce an extracellular matrix and a biofilm in vitro, supporting the hypothesis that a transmissible infection in the flea depends on the development of a biofilm on the hydrophobic, acellular surface of spines that line the interior of the proventriculus. The development of biofilm and proventricular infection did not depend on the 3 Y. pestis quorum-sensing systems. The extracellular matrix enveloping the Y. pestis biofilm in the flea appeared to incorporate components from the flea's blood meal, and bacteria released from the biofilm were more resistant to human polymorphonuclear leukocytes than were in vitro-grown Y. pestis. Enabling arthropod-borne transmission represents a novel function of a bacterial biofilm.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1086/422695