Ferric Citrate Uptake is a Virulence Factor in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli
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ABSTRACT: More than half of women will experience a urinary tract infection (UTI) with uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) causing ~80% of uncomplicated cases. Iron acquisition systems are essential for uropathogenesis, and UPEC encode functionally redundant iron acquisition systems, underlining their importance. However, a recent UPEC clinical isolate, HM7 lacks this functional redundancy and instead encodes a sole siderophore, enterobactin. To determine if E. coli HM7 possesses unidentified iron acquisition systems, we performed RNA-sequencing under iron-limiting conditions and demonstrated the ferric citrate uptake system (fecABCDE and fecIR) was highly upregulated. Importantly, there are high levels of citrate within urine, some of which is bound to iron, and the fec system is highly enriched in UPEC isolates compared to commensal or fecal strains. Therefore, we hypothesized that HM7 and other similar strains use the fec system to acquire iron in the host. Deletion of both enterobactin biosynthesis and ferric citrate uptake (ΔentB/ΔfecA) abrogates use of ferric citrate as an iron source and fecA provides an advantage in pooled human urine in absence of enterobactin. However, in a UTI mouse model, fecA is a fitness factor independent of enterobactin production, likely due to the action of host Lipocalin-2 chelating ferrienterobactin. These findings indicate that ferric citrate uptake is used as an iron source when siderophore efficacy is limited, such as in the host during UTI. Defining these novel compensatory mechanisms and understanding the nutritional hierarchy of preferred iron sources within the urinary tract are important in the search for new approaches to combat UTI.
ORGANISM(S): Escherichia coli
PROVIDER: GSE188170 | GEO | 2021/11/06
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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