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Characterization and differential gene expression between two phenotypic phase variants in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.

ABSTRACT: Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain 798 has previously been shown to undergo phenotypic phase variation. One of the phenotypes expresses virulence traits such as adhesion, while the other phenotype does not. Phenotypic phase variation appears to correlate with the ability of this strain to cause persistent, asymptomatic infections of swine. A new method to detect cells in either phenotypic phase was developed using Evans Blue-Uranine agar plates. Using this new assay, rates of phenotypic phase variation were obtained. The rate of phase variation from non-adhesive to adhesive phenotype was approximately 10(-4) per cell per generation while phase variation from the adhesive to the non-adhesive phenotype was approximately 10(-6) per cell per generation. Two highly virulent S. Typhimurium strains, SL1344 and ATCC 14028, were also shown to undergo phase variation. However, while the rate from adhesive to non-adhesive phenotype was approximately the same as for strain 798, the non-adhesive to adhesive phenotype shift was 37-fold higher. Differential gene expression was measured using RNA-Seq. Eighty-three genes were more highly expressed by 798 cells in the adhesive phenotype compared to the non-adhesive cells. Most of the up-regulated genes were in virulence genes and in particular all genes in the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 were up-regulated. When compared to the virulent strain SL1344, expression of the virulence genes was approximately equal to those up-regulated in the adhesive phenotype of strain 798. A comparison of invasive ability demonstrated that strain SL1344 was the most invasive followed by the adhesive phenotype of strain 798, then the non-adhesive phenotype of strain 798. The least invasive strain was ATCC 14028. The genome of strain 798 was sequenced and compared to SL1344. Both strains had very similar genome sequences and gene deletions could not readily explain differences in the rates of phase variation from non-adhesive to the adhesive phenotype.

SUBMITTER: Patterson SK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3427373 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Characterization and differential gene expression between two phenotypic phase variants in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.

Patterson Sheila K SK Borewicz Klaudyna K Johnson Timothy T Xu Wayne W Isaacson Richard E RE

PloS one 20120824 8

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain 798 has previously been shown to undergo phenotypic phase variation. One of the phenotypes expresses virulence traits such as adhesion, while the other phenotype does not. Phenotypic phase variation appears to correlate with the ability of this strain to cause persistent, asymptomatic infections of swine. A new method to detect cells in either phenotypic phase was developed using Evans Blue-Uranine agar plates. Using this new assay, rates of phenoty ...[more]

PMID: 22937065

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Project description:As part of a longitudinal study of antimicrobial resistance among salmonellae isolated from swine, we studied 484 Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium (including serovar Typhimurium var. Copenhagen) isolates. We found two common pentaresistant phenotypes. The first was resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, and tetracycline (the AmCmStSuTe phenotype; 36.2% of all isolates), mainly of the definitive type 104 (DT104) phage type (180 of 187 isolates). The second was resistance to ampicillin, kanamycin, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, and tetracycline (the AmKmStSuTe phenotype; 44.6% of all isolates), most commonly of the DT193 phage type (77 of 165 isolates), which represents an unusual resistance pattern for DT193 isolates. We analyzed 64 representative isolates by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis, which revealed DNA fingerprint similarities that correlated with both resistance patterns and phage types. To investigate the genetic basis for resistance among DT193 isolates, we characterized three AmKmStSuTe pentaresistant strains and one hexaresistant strain, which also expressed resistance to gentamicin (Gm phenotype), all of which had similar DNA fingerprints and all of which were collected during the same sampling. We found that the genes encoding the pentaresistance pattern were different from those from isolates of the DT104 phage type. We also found that all strains encoded all of their resistance genes on plasmids, unlike the chromosomally encoded genes of DT104 isolates, which could be transferred to Escherichia coli via conjugation, but that the plasmid compositions varied among the isolates. Two strains (strains UT08 and UT12) had a single, identical plasmid carrying bla(TEM) (which encodes ampicillin resistance), aphA1-Iab (which encodes kanamycin resistance), strA and strB (which encode streptomycin resistance), class B tetA (which encodes tetracycline resistance), and an unidentified sulfamethoxazole resistance allele. The third pentaresistant strain (strain UT20) was capable of transferring by conjugation two distinct resistance patterns, AmKmStSuTe and KmStSuTe, but the genes were carried on plasmids with slightly different restriction patterns (differing by a single band of 15 kb). The hexaresistant strain (strain UT30) had the same plasmid as strains UT08 and UT12, but it also carried a second plasmid that conferred the AmKmStSuGm phenotype. The second plasmid harbored the gentamicin resistance methylase (grm), which has not previously been reported in food-borne pathogenic bacteria. It also carried the sul1 gene for sulfamethoxazole resistance and a 1-kb class I integron bearing aadA for streptomycin resistance. We also characterized isolates of the DT104 phage type. We found a number of isolates that expressed resistance only to streptomycin and sulfamethoxazole (the StSu phenotype; 8.3% of serovar Typhimurium var. Copenhagen strains) but that had AFLP DNA fingerprints similar or identical to those of strains with genes encoding the typical AmCmStSuTe pentaresistance phenotype of DT104. These atypical StSu DT104 isolates were predominantly cultured from environmental samples and were found to carry only one class I integron of 1.0 kb, in contrast to the typical two integrons (InC and InD) of 1.0 and 1.2 kb, respectively, of the pentaresistant DT104 isolates. Our findings show the widespread existence of multidrug-resistant Salmonella strains and the diversity of multidrug resistance among epidemiologically related strains. The presence of resistance genes on conjugative plasmids and duplicate genes on multiple plasmids could have implications for the spread of resistance factors and for the stability of multidrug resistance among Salmonella serovar Typhimurium isolates.

Project description:Salmonella enterica is one of the most common bacterial foodborne pathogens in the United States, causing illnesses that range from self-limiting gastroenteritis to more severe, life threatening invasive disease. Many Salmonella strains contain plasmids that carry virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and/or transfer genes which allow them to adapt to diverse environments, and these can include incompatibility group (Inc) FIB plasmids. This study was undertaken to evaluate the genomic and phenotypic characteristics of IncFIB-positive Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolates from food animal sources, to identify their plasmid content, assess antimicrobial resistance and virulence properties, and compare their genotypic isolates with more recently isolated S. Typhimurium isolates from food animal sources. Methods: We identified 71 S. Typhimurium isolates that carried IncFIB plasmids. These isolates were subjected to whole genome sequencing and evaluated for bacteriocin production, antimicrobial susceptibility, the ability to transfer resistance plasmids, and a subset was evaluated for their ability to invade and persist in intestinal human epithelial cells. Results: Approximately 30% of isolates (n = 21) displayed bacteriocin inhibition of Escherichia coli strain J53. Bioinformatic analyses using PlasmidFinder software confirmed that all isolates contained IncFIB plasmids along with multiple other plasmid replicon types. Comparative analyses showed that all strains carried multiple antimicrobial resistance genes and virulence factors including iron acquisition genes, such as iucABCD (75%), iutA (94%), sitABCD (76%) and sitAB (100%). In 17 cases (71%), IncFIB plasmids, along with other plasmid replicon types, were able to conjugally transfer antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes to the susceptible recipient strain. For ten strains, persistence cell counts (27%) were noted to be significantly higher than invasion bacterial cell counts. When the genome sequences of the study isolates collected from 1998-2003 were compared to those published from subsequent years (2005-2018), overlapping genotypes were found, indicating the perseverance of IncFIB positive strains in food animal populations. This study confirms that IncFIB plasmids can play a potential role in disseminating antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes amongst bacteria from several food animal species.

Project description:Galactitol degradation by salmonellae remains underinvestigated, although this metabolic capability contributes to growth in animals (R. R. Chaudhuri et al., PLoS Genet 9:e1003456, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003456). The genes responsible for this metabolic capability are part of a 9.6-kb gene cluster that spans from gatY to gatR (STM3253 to STM3262) and encodes a phosphotransferase system, four enzymes, and a transporter of the major facilitator superfamily. Genome comparison revealed the presence of this genetic determinant in nearly all Salmonella strains. The generation time of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain ST4/74 was higher in minimal medium with galactitol than with glucose. Knockout of STM3254 and gatC resulted in a growth-deficient phenotype of S Typhimurium, with galactitol as the sole carbon source. Partial deletion of gatR strongly reduced the lag phase of growth with galactitol, whereas strains overproducing GatR exhibited a near-zero growth phenotype. Luciferase reporter assays demonstrated strong induction of the gatY and gatZ promoters, which control all genes of this cluster except gatR, in the presence of galactitol but not glucose. Purified GatR bound to these two main gat gene cluster promoters as well as to its own promoter, demonstrating that this autoregulated repressor controls galactitol degradation. Surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy revealed distinct binding properties of GatR toward the three promoters, resulting in a model of differential gat gene expression. The cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP) bound these promoters with similarly high affinities, and a mutant lacking crp showed severe growth attenuation, demonstrating that galactitol utilization is subject to catabolite repression. Here, we provide the first genetic characterization of galactitol degradation in Salmonella, revealing novel insights into the regulation of this dissimilatory pathway. IMPORTANCE:The knowledge of how pathogens adapt their metabolism to the compartments encountered in hosts is pivotal to our understanding of bacterial infections. Recent research revealed that enteropathogens have adapted specific metabolic pathways that contribute to their virulence properties, for example, by helping to overcome limitations in nutrient availability in the gut due to colonization resistance. The capability of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium to degrade galactitol has already been demonstrated to play a role in vivo, but it has not been investigated so far on the genetic level. To our knowledge, this is the first molecular description of the galactitol degradation pathway of a pathogen.

Dataset Information

Characterization and differential gene expression between two phenotypic phase variants in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.

Publications

Characterization and differential gene expression between two phenotypic phase variants in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.

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