Iron Acquisition of Urinary Tract Infection <i>Escherichia coli</i> Involves Pathogenicity in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>
Uropathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (UPEC) is a major bacterial pathogen that causes urinary tract infections (UTIs). The mouse is an available UTI model for studying the pathogenicity; however, <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> represents as an alternative surrogate host with...
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MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Microorganisms |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/9/2/310 |
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| author | Masayuki Hashimoto Yi-Fen Ma Sin-Tian Wang Chang-Shi Chen Ching-Hao Teng |
| author_facet | Masayuki Hashimoto Yi-Fen Ma Sin-Tian Wang Chang-Shi Chen Ching-Hao Teng |
| author_sort | Masayuki Hashimoto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Uropathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (UPEC) is a major bacterial pathogen that causes urinary tract infections (UTIs). The mouse is an available UTI model for studying the pathogenicity; however, <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> represents as an alternative surrogate host with the capacity for high-throughput analysis. Then, we established a simple assay for a UPEC infection model with <i>C. elegans</i> for large-scale screening. A total of 133 clinically isolated <i>E. coli</i> strains, which included UTI-associated and fecal isolates, were applied to demonstrate the simple pathogenicity assay. From the screening, several virulence factors (VFs) involved with iron acquisition (<i>chuA</i>, <i>fyuA,</i> and <i>irp2</i>) were significantly associated with high pathogenicity. We then evaluated whether the VFs in UPEC were involved in the pathogenicity. Mutants of <i>E. coli</i> UTI89 with defective iron acquisition systems were applied to a solid killing assay with <i>C. elegans</i>. As a result, the survival rate of <i>C. elegans</i> fed with the mutants significantly increased compared to when fed with the parent strain. The results demonstrated, the simple assay with <i>C. elegans</i> was useful as a UPEC infectious model. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the involvement of iron acquisition in the pathogenicity of UPEC in a <i>C</i>. <i>elegans</i> model. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:01:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b9b4a8a75eb74ba2a481846b1657de99 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:01:36Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj.art-b9b4a8a75eb74ba2a481846b1657de992023-12-03T12:09:10ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072021-02-019231010.3390/microorganisms9020310Iron Acquisition of Urinary Tract Infection <i>Escherichia coli</i> Involves Pathogenicity in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>Masayuki Hashimoto0Yi-Fen Ma1Sin-Tian Wang2Chang-Shi Chen3Ching-Hao Teng4Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, TaiwanInstitute of Molecular Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, TaiwanInstitute of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, TaiwanInstitute of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, TaiwanInstitute of Molecular Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, TaiwanUropathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (UPEC) is a major bacterial pathogen that causes urinary tract infections (UTIs). The mouse is an available UTI model for studying the pathogenicity; however, <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> represents as an alternative surrogate host with the capacity for high-throughput analysis. Then, we established a simple assay for a UPEC infection model with <i>C. elegans</i> for large-scale screening. A total of 133 clinically isolated <i>E. coli</i> strains, which included UTI-associated and fecal isolates, were applied to demonstrate the simple pathogenicity assay. From the screening, several virulence factors (VFs) involved with iron acquisition (<i>chuA</i>, <i>fyuA,</i> and <i>irp2</i>) were significantly associated with high pathogenicity. We then evaluated whether the VFs in UPEC were involved in the pathogenicity. Mutants of <i>E. coli</i> UTI89 with defective iron acquisition systems were applied to a solid killing assay with <i>C. elegans</i>. As a result, the survival rate of <i>C. elegans</i> fed with the mutants significantly increased compared to when fed with the parent strain. The results demonstrated, the simple assay with <i>C. elegans</i> was useful as a UPEC infectious model. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the involvement of iron acquisition in the pathogenicity of UPEC in a <i>C</i>. <i>elegans</i> model.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/9/2/310Uropathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (UPEC)<i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>high-throughput screeningpathogenicity assayiron acquisition |
| spellingShingle | Masayuki Hashimoto Yi-Fen Ma Sin-Tian Wang Chang-Shi Chen Ching-Hao Teng Iron Acquisition of Urinary Tract Infection <i>Escherichia coli</i> Involves Pathogenicity in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> Microorganisms Uropathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (UPEC) <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> high-throughput screening pathogenicity assay iron acquisition |
| title | Iron Acquisition of Urinary Tract Infection <i>Escherichia coli</i> Involves Pathogenicity in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> |
| title_full | Iron Acquisition of Urinary Tract Infection <i>Escherichia coli</i> Involves Pathogenicity in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> |
| title_fullStr | Iron Acquisition of Urinary Tract Infection <i>Escherichia coli</i> Involves Pathogenicity in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Iron Acquisition of Urinary Tract Infection <i>Escherichia coli</i> Involves Pathogenicity in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> |
| title_short | Iron Acquisition of Urinary Tract Infection <i>Escherichia coli</i> Involves Pathogenicity in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> |
| title_sort | iron acquisition of urinary tract infection i escherichia coli i involves pathogenicity in i caenorhabditis elegans i |
| topic | Uropathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (UPEC) <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> high-throughput screening pathogenicity assay iron acquisition |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/9/2/310 |
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