Disrupting the luxS quorum sensing gene does not significantly affect Bacillus anthracis virulence in mice or guinea pigs

Many bacterial species use secreted quorum-sensing autoinducer molecules to regulate cell density- and growth phase-dependent gene expression, including virulence factor production, as sufficient environmental autoinducer concentrations are achieved. Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthra...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Virulence 2012-10, Vol.3 (6), p.504-509
Main Authors: Bozue, Joel, Powell, Bradford S, Cote, Christopher K, Moody, Krishna L, Gelhaus, H Carl, Vietri, Nicholas J, Rozak, David A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anthrax - genetics
Anthrax - immunology
Anthrax - pathology
Bacillus anthracis - genetics
Bacillus anthracis - growth & development
Bacillus anthracis - pathogenicity
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Brief Report
Carbon-Sulfur Lyases - genetics
Carbon-Sulfur Lyases - metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
Guinea Pigs
Homoserine - analogs & derivatives
Homoserine - genetics
Homoserine - metabolism
Lactones - metabolism
Mice
Quorum Sensing - genetics
Spores, Bacterial - pathogenicity
Virulence - genetics
Virulence Factors - genetics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Many bacterial species use secreted quorum-sensing autoinducer molecules to regulate cell density- and growth phase-dependent gene expression, including virulence factor production, as sufficient environmental autoinducer concentrations are achieved. Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, contains a functional autoinducer (AI-2) system, which appears to regulate virulence gene expression. To determine if the AI-2 system is necessary for disease, we constructed a LuxS AI-2 synthase-deficient mutant in the virulent Ames strain of B. anthracis. We found that growth of the LuxS-deficient mutant was inhibited and sporulation was delayed when compared with the parental strain. However, spores of the Ames luxS mutant remained fully virulent in both mice and guinea pigs.
ISSN:2150-5594
2150-5608
DOI:10.4161/viru.21934