Dataset Information

Inactivation of the Lactobacillus reuteri 100-23 ureC gene affects in vitro acid tolerance, and impairs ecological fitness in vivo

ABSTRACT: Lactobacillus reuteri 100-23 is an autochthonous inhabitant of the rodent gastrointestinal system that adheres to the non-secretory epithelium of the forestomach and forms biofilms. Microarray analysis of the expression profile of L. reuteri 100-23 cells harvested from the stomach of ex-Lactobacillus-free mice, compared to those of L. reuteri 100-23 in laboratory culture, revealed an in vivo upregulation of a urease gene cluster by greater than 50-fold. Genes for urease production were absent in all publically available Lactobacillus genome sequences except L. reuteri 100-23 and have recently been identified as specific to rodent strains of L. reuteri (Frese et al. 2011). In the current study, the urease enzyme was shown to be functional. Supplementation with 2% urea allowed L. reuteri 100-23 to increase the pH of the culture medium. A mutant strain of L. reuteri 100-23 was developed by insertional inactivation of the ureC gene, which encodes the largest subunit of the urease enzyme. The mutant strain was unable to hydrolyze urea to increase the pH of culture medium, and did not survive acid stress at pH 2.5 for 6 h, even in the presence of urea. In contrast, the wild type strain was still viable after 6 h when 2% urea supplementation was included. When mice free of lactobacilli were inoculated with a mixture of equal numbers of wild type L. reuteri 100-23 and ureC mutant cells, the wild type constituted 99% of the resulting Lactobacillus population in the stomach, caecum and jejunum after one week (108 cells/gram of sample). This study has therefore shown the importance of a functional urease enzyme in the ecological fitness of L. reuteri 100-23.

ORGANISM(S): Limosilactobacillus reuteri subsp. rodentium

PROVIDER: GSE36286 | GEO | 2012/09/30

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA153021

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
		Other

Items per page:

1 - 1 of 1

Similar Datasets

Project description:Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) account for over 30% of acute nosocomial infections in the U.S. and generate $340 million in healthcare costs annually. A major causative agent of CAUTIs is Proteus mirabilis, an understudied Gram-negative pathogen noted for its ability to form urinary stones via the activity of urease. Urease mutants cannot induce stones and are attenuated in a murine UTI model, indicating this enzyme is essential to P. mirabilis pathogenesis. The ability to induce urinary stone formation requires an active urease, a nickel metalloenzyme that hydrolyzes urea. This reaction produces ammonia as a byproduct, which can serve as a nitrogen source and weak base that raises the local pH. The resulting alkalinity induces the precipitation of polyvalent cations and anions to form stones. Expression of urease genes is activated by transcriptional regulator UreR in a urea-dependent manner. Thus, urease genes are highly expressed in the urinary tract where urea is abundant (~400 mM in human urine). Production of mature urease also requires the import of nickel into the cytoplasm and its incorporation into the urease apoenzyme. Urease accessory proteins primarily acquire nickel from the Ynt transporter and facilitate the incorporation of nickel to form mature urease. P. mirabilis encodes a second, low-affinity transport system (Nik) that can provide nickel when this metal is abundant. In this study, we identified UreR as the first defined regulator of nickel transport in P. mirabilis. We also offer evidence for direct regulation of the ynt promoter by UreR. Using bioinformatics, we identified UreR-regulated urease loci in 15 Morganellaceae family species across three genera. Additionally, we located two mobilized UreR-regulated urease loci that also encode the ynt transporter, implying that UreR regulation of ynt is a conserved regulatory relationship. Our study demonstrates that UreR regulates all genes required to produce mature urease, an essential virulence factor for P. mirabilis uropathogenesis.

Dataset Information

Inactivation of the Lactobacillus reuteri 100-23 ureC gene affects in vitro acid tolerance, and impairs ecological fitness in vivo

Dataset's files

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets