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A vir-repressed gene of Bordetella pertussis is required for virulence.

ABSTRACT: Coordinate regulation of gene expression in Bordetella pertussis is controlled by the products of the vir locus, BvgA and BvgS. In the presence of modulating signals such as MgSO4 and nicotinic acid, expression of vir-activated genes (vag) is reduced, while expression of vir-repressed genes (vrg) is maximal. We have cloned one of these vir-repressed genes, vrg-6, in Escherichia coli. DNA sequencing has shown that vrg-6 is contained on a single EcoRI restriction endonuclease fragment and is predicted to code for a protein of 105 amino acids with a molecular weight of 11,441. The predicted protein product appears to have two domains, one consisting of seven hydrophobic proline-rich pentameric repeats and the other consisting of five alkaline trimeric repeats. Southern blot analysis has revealed vrg-6-homologous sequences in the chromosomes of Bordetella bronchiseptica and Bordetella parapertussis, but, unlike Bordetella pertussis, these species do not express vrg-6-homologous RNA when grown under modulating conditions. In order to assess the role of vrg gene products in B. pertussis pathogenesis, two 18323 derivatives which harbor TnphoA insertions in vrg genes were analyzed in a mouse model of respiratory infection. Strain SK6, which carries a vrg-6::TnphoA mutation, failed to induce lymphocytosis and was significantly less able to colonize lungs and trachea than its parent strain 18323 or than SK18, which harbors a TnphoA fusion in the vrg-18 locus. This is the first evidence that a vir-repressed gene may play an important role in the virulence of B. pertussis and the pathogenesis of whooping cough.

SUBMITTER: Beattie DT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC257666 | biostudies-other | 1992 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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A vir-repressed gene of Bordetella pertussis is required for virulence.

Beattie D T DT Shahin R R Mekalanos J J JJ

Infection and immunity 19920201 2

Coordinate regulation of gene expression in Bordetella pertussis is controlled by the products of the vir locus, BvgA and BvgS. In the presence of modulating signals such as MgSO4 and nicotinic acid, expression of vir-activated genes (vag) is reduced, while expression of vir-repressed genes (vrg) is maximal. We have cloned one of these vir-repressed genes, vrg-6, in Escherichia coli. DNA sequencing has shown that vrg-6 is contained on a single EcoRI restriction endonuclease fragment and is predi ...[more]

PMID: 1730491

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Project description:The two-component response regulator RisA, encoded by open reading frame BP3554 in the Bordetella pertussis Tohama I genomic sequence, is a known activator of vrg genes, a set of genes whose expression is increased under the same environmental conditions (known as modulation) that result in repression of the bvgAS virulence regulon. Here we demonstrate that RisA is phosphorylated in vivo and that RisA phosphorylation is required for activation of vrg genes. An adjacent histidine kinase gene, risS, is truncated by frameshift mutation in B. pertussis but not in Bordetella bronchiseptica or Bordetella parapertussis Neither deletion of risS' or bvgAS nor phenotypic modulation with MgSO4 affected levels of phosphorylated RisA (RisA?P) in B. pertussis However, RisA phosphorylation did require the histidine kinase encoded by BP3223, here named RisK (cognate histidine kinase of RisA). RisK was also required for expression of the vrg genes. This requirement could be obviated by the introduction of the phosphorylation-mimicking RisAD60E mutant, indicating that an active conformation of RisA, but not phosphorylation per se, is crucial for vrg activation. Interestingly, expression of vrg genes is still modulated by MgSO4 in cells harboring the RisAD60E mutation, suggesting that the activated RisA senses additional signals to control vrg expression in response to environmental stimuli.IMPORTANCE In B. pertussis, the BvgAS two-component system activates the expression of virulence genes by binding of BvgA?P to their promoters. Expression of the reciprocally regulated vrg genes requires RisA and is also repressed by the Bvg-activated BvgR. RisA is an OmpR-like response regulator, but RisA phosphorylation was not expected because the gene for its presumed, cooperonic, histidine kinase is inactivated by mutation. In this study, we demonstrate phosphorylation of RisA in vivo by a noncooperonic histidine kinase. We also show that RisA phosphorylation is necessary but not sufficient for vrg activation but, importantly, is not affected by BvgAS status. Instead, we propose that vrg expression is controlled by BvgAS through its regulation of BvgR, a cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) phosphodiesterase.

Dataset Information

A vir-repressed gene of Bordetella pertussis is required for virulence.

Publications

A vir-repressed gene of Bordetella pertussis is required for virulence.

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