Identification of BolA protein reveals a novel virulence factor in Klebsiella pneumoniae that contributes to liver abscess in mice

ABSTRACT:

BolA has been characterized as an important transcriptional regulator, which is induced in the stationary phase of growth and is often associated with bacterial virulence. This study was initiated to elucidate the role of the BolA in the virulence of K. pneumoniae. Using a mouse infection model, we revealed bolA mutant strain yielded significantly decreased bacterial loads in liver, spleen, lung and kidney, and failed to form liver abscesses. Gene deletion demonstrated that the bolA is required for siderophore production, biofilm formation and adhesion to human colon cancer epithelial cells HCT116. Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-qPCR) indicated that BolA is able to impact the expression of pulK, pulF, pulE, clpV, vgrG, entE, relA and spoT genes on a genome-wide scale, which are related to type II secretion system (T2SS), type VI secretion system (T6SS), guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp) and siderophore synthesis and contributes to fitness in the host. Furthermore, the metabolome analysis showed that the deletion of the bolA gene led to decreased pools of 5 metabolites: biotin, spermine, cadaverine, guanosine and flavin adenine dinucleotide, all of which are involved in pathways related to virulence and stress resistance. Taken together, we provided evidence that BolA is a significant virulence factor in the ability of K. pneumoniae to survive and this is an important step in progress to an understanding of the pathways underlying bacterial virulence.

INSTRUMENT(S): Liquid Chromatography MS - negative - reverse phase, Liquid Chromatography MS - positive - reverse phase

PROVIDER: MTBLS2712 | MetaboLights | 2022-09-13

REPOSITORIES: MetaboLights