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Streamlined copper defenses make Bordetella pertussis reliant on custom-made operon.

ABSTRACT: Copper is both essential and toxic to living beings, which tightly controls its intracellular concentration. At the host-pathogen interface, copper is used by phagocytic cells to kill invading microorganisms. We investigated copper homeostasis in Bordetella pertussis, which lives in the human respiratory mucosa and has no environmental reservoir. B. pertussis has considerably streamlined copper homeostasis mechanisms relative to other Gram-negative bacteria. Its single remaining defense line consists of a metallochaperone diverted for copper passivation, CopZ, and two peroxide detoxification enzymes, PrxGrx and GorB, which together fight stresses encountered in phagocytic cells. Those proteins are encoded by an original, composite operon assembled in an environmental ancestor, which is under sensitive control by copper. This system appears to contribute to persistent infection in the nasal cavity of B. pertussis-infected mice. Combining responses to co-occurring stresses in a tailored operon reveals a strategy adopted by a host-restricted pathogen to optimize survival at minimal energy expenditure.

SUBMITTER: Rivera-Millot A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7794356 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Streamlined copper defenses make Bordetella pertussis reliant on custom-made operon.

Rivera-Millot Alex A Slupek Stéphanie S Chatagnon Jonathan J Roy Gauthier G Saliou Jean-Michel JM Billon Gabriel G Alaimo Véronique V Hot David D Salomé-Desnoulez Sophie S Locht Camille C Antoine Rudy R Jacob-Dubuisson Françoise F

Communications biology 20210108 1

Copper is both essential and toxic to living beings, which tightly controls its intracellular concentration. At the host-pathogen interface, copper is used by phagocytic cells to kill invading microorganisms. We investigated copper homeostasis in Bordetella pertussis, which lives in the human respiratory mucosa and has no environmental reservoir. B. pertussis has considerably streamlined copper homeostasis mechanisms relative to other Gram-negative bacteria. Its single remaining defense line con ...[more]

PMID: 33420409

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Project description:Purpose: Within the past 20 years, outbreaks of whooping cough, caused by Bordetella pertussis, have led to respiratory disease and infant mortalities, despite good vaccination coverage. This is due at least in part to the introduction of a less effective acellular vaccine in the 1990’s. It is crucial then to understand the molecular basis of B. pertussis growth and infection. The two-component system BvgA/BvgS is the B. pertussis master regulator that regulates the expression of various virulence genes. Previous genome wide studies to identify the bvgAS regulon in B. pertussis have been limited to microarray analyses. The goal of this study is to define the bvgAS regulon using NGS based RNA-seq analysis and RT-qPCR and to compare the differences with the previous microarray data. Method: To define the bvgAS regulon, transcriptomes were generated using B. pertussis Tohama I BP536 (WT) and a ΔbvgAS derivative in the presence and absence of phosphorylated BvgA. Bacteria were grown either under modulating (50 mM MgSO4) conditions, in which phosphorylated BvgA is undetectable (Bvg- mode), or non-modulating (no MgSO4) conditions in which BvgA is phosphorylated (Bvg+ mode). After total RNA extraction and rRNA removal, strand-specific DNA libraries were prepared for Illumina sequencing using the ScriptSeq 2.0 kit (Illumina) in duplicates. Libraries were sequenced using a HiSeq 2000 sequencer (Illumina; University of Buffalo Next Generation Sequencing Core Facility). Sequence reads were mapped to the reference genome (NC_002929.2) and normalized against total reads. Differential expression analyses were performed using CLC Biomedical Genomic Workbench version 3.5.4 with default parameters. Differential gene expression profiles were obtained after Empirical DGE statistical test with FDR p-value. RT–qPCR validation was performed using SYBR Green assays. Result: Using CLC Biomedical Genomic Workbench version 3.5.4, ~ 20-25 million reads per sample were mapped to the reference B. pertussis genome (NC_002929.2). RNA-seq analyses identified >550 genes (15% of genome) that were regulated in a bvgAS-dependent manner with a fold difference ≥ 1.6 and FDR p-value < 0.05. RT-qPCR was used for confirmatory analyses for 80 genes. Overall, we identified 245 genes that were positively regulated and 326 genes that were negatively regulated by bvgAS. 362 members of the bvgAS regulon were newly identified by our study. Most importantly, our analyses indicated that the expression of dozens of transcriptional regulators increases, while the expression of multiple metabolic genes decreases in the presence of BvgA~P. Conclusion: We report here the first RNA-seq analysis of the bvgAS regulon in B. pertussis, revealing that > 550 genes are regulated by bvgAS. Our results suggest that metabolic changes in the Bvg- mode (absence of BvgA phosphorylation) may be participating in bacterial survival, transmission, and/or persistence and identify over 200 new genes negatively regulated by bvgAS that can be tested for function.

Project description:Nearly all virulence factors in Bordetella pertussis are activated by a master two-component system, BvgAS, composed of the sensor kinase BvgS and the response regulator BvgA. When BvgS is active, BvgA is phosphorylated (BvgA~P), and virulence-activated genes (vags) are expressed [Bvg(+) mode]. When BvgS is inactive and BvgA is not phosphorylated, virulence-repressed genes (vrgs) are induced [Bvg(-) mode]. Here, we have used transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to define the BvgAS-dependent regulon of B. pertussis Tohama I. Our analyses reveal more than 550 BvgA-regulated genes, of which 353 are newly identified. BvgA-activated genes include those encoding two-component systems (such as kdpED), multiple other transcriptional regulators, and the extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factor brpL, which is needed for type 3 secretion system (T3SS) expression, further establishing the importance of BvgA~P as an apex regulator of transcriptional networks promoting virulence. Using in vitro transcription, we demonstrate that the promoter for brpL is directly activated by BvgA~P. BvgA-FeBABE cleavage reactions identify BvgA~P binding sites centered at positions -41.5 and -63.5 in bprL Most importantly, we show for the first time that genes for multiple and varied metabolic pathways are significantly upregulated in the B. pertussis Bvg(-) mode. These include genes for fatty acid and lipid metabolism, sugar and amino acid transporters, pyruvate dehydrogenase, phenylacetic acid degradation, and the glycolate/glyoxylate utilization pathway. Our results suggest that metabolic changes in the Bvg(-) mode may be participating in bacterial survival, transmission, and/or persistence and identify over 200 new vrgs that can be tested for function.IMPORTANCE Within the past 20 years, outbreaks of whooping cough, caused by Bordetella pertussis, have led to respiratory disease and infant mortalities, despite good vaccination coverage. This is due, at least in part, to the introduction of a less effective acellular vaccine in the 1990s. It is crucial, then, to understand the molecular basis of B. pertussis growth and infection. The two-component system BvgA (response regulator)/BvgS (histidine kinase) is the master regulator of B. pertussis virulence genes. We report here the first RNA-seq analysis of the BvgAS regulon in B. pertussis, revealing that more than 550 genes are regulated by BvgAS. We show that genes for multiple and varied metabolic pathways are highly regulated in the Bvg(-) mode (absence of BvgA phosphorylation). Our results suggest that metabolic changes in the Bvg(-) mode may be participating in bacterial survival, transmission, and/or persistence.

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Streamlined copper defenses make Bordetella pertussis reliant on custom-made operon.

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Streamlined copper defenses make Bordetella pertussis reliant on custom-made operon.

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