Contribution of TAT system translocated PhoX to Campylobacter jejuni phosphate metabolism and resilience to environmental stresses.

Campylobacter jejuni is a common gastrointestinal pathogen that colonizes food animals; it is transmitted via fecal contamination of food, and infections in immune-compromised people are more likely to result in serious long-term illness. Environmental phosphate is likely an important sensor of envi...

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Main Authors: Mary Drozd, Dharanesh Gangaiah, Zhe Liu, Gireesh Rajashekara
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3197622?pdf=render
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author Mary Drozd
Dharanesh Gangaiah
Zhe Liu
Gireesh Rajashekara
author_facet Mary Drozd
Dharanesh Gangaiah
Zhe Liu
Gireesh Rajashekara
author_sort Mary Drozd
collection DOAJ
description Campylobacter jejuni is a common gastrointestinal pathogen that colonizes food animals; it is transmitted via fecal contamination of food, and infections in immune-compromised people are more likely to result in serious long-term illness. Environmental phosphate is likely an important sensor of environmental fitness and the ability to obtain extracellular phosphate is central to the bacteria's core metabolic responses. PhoX is the sole alkaline phosphatase in C. jejuni, a substrate of the TAT transport system. Alkaline phosphatases mediate the hydrolytic removal of inorganic phosphate (Pi) from phospho-organic compounds and thereby contribute significantly to the polyphosphate kinase 1 (ppk1) mediated formation of poly P, a molecule that regulates bacterial response to stresses and virulence. Similarly, deletion of the tatC gene, a key component of the TAT system, results in diverse phenotypes in C. jejuni including reduced stress tolerance and in vivo colonization. Therefore, here we investigated the contribution of phoX in poly P synthesis and in TAT-system mediated responses. The phoX deletion mutant showed significant decrease (P<0.05) in poly P accumulation in stationary phase compared to the wild-type, suggesting that PhoX is a major contributor to the inorganic phosphate pool in the cell which is essential for poly P synthesis. The phoX deletion is sufficient for a nutrient stress defect similar to the defect previously described for the ΔtatC mutant. Additionally, the phoX deletion mutant has increased resistance to certain antimicrobials. The ΔphoX mutant was also moderately defective in invasion and intracellular survival within human intestinal epithelial cells as well as in chicken colonization. Further, the ΔphoX mutant produced increased biofilm that can be rescued with 1 mM inorganic phosphate. The qRT-PCR of the ΔphoX mutant revealed transcriptional changes that suggest potential mechanisms for the increased biofilm phenotype.
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spelling doaj.art-d6c54e455a864b0883ca01b38f4c72bb2022-12-22T01:33:35ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-01610e2633610.1371/journal.pone.0026336Contribution of TAT system translocated PhoX to Campylobacter jejuni phosphate metabolism and resilience to environmental stresses.Mary DrozdDharanesh GangaiahZhe LiuGireesh RajashekaraCampylobacter jejuni is a common gastrointestinal pathogen that colonizes food animals; it is transmitted via fecal contamination of food, and infections in immune-compromised people are more likely to result in serious long-term illness. Environmental phosphate is likely an important sensor of environmental fitness and the ability to obtain extracellular phosphate is central to the bacteria's core metabolic responses. PhoX is the sole alkaline phosphatase in C. jejuni, a substrate of the TAT transport system. Alkaline phosphatases mediate the hydrolytic removal of inorganic phosphate (Pi) from phospho-organic compounds and thereby contribute significantly to the polyphosphate kinase 1 (ppk1) mediated formation of poly P, a molecule that regulates bacterial response to stresses and virulence. Similarly, deletion of the tatC gene, a key component of the TAT system, results in diverse phenotypes in C. jejuni including reduced stress tolerance and in vivo colonization. Therefore, here we investigated the contribution of phoX in poly P synthesis and in TAT-system mediated responses. The phoX deletion mutant showed significant decrease (P<0.05) in poly P accumulation in stationary phase compared to the wild-type, suggesting that PhoX is a major contributor to the inorganic phosphate pool in the cell which is essential for poly P synthesis. The phoX deletion is sufficient for a nutrient stress defect similar to the defect previously described for the ΔtatC mutant. Additionally, the phoX deletion mutant has increased resistance to certain antimicrobials. The ΔphoX mutant was also moderately defective in invasion and intracellular survival within human intestinal epithelial cells as well as in chicken colonization. Further, the ΔphoX mutant produced increased biofilm that can be rescued with 1 mM inorganic phosphate. The qRT-PCR of the ΔphoX mutant revealed transcriptional changes that suggest potential mechanisms for the increased biofilm phenotype.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3197622?pdf=render
spellingShingle Mary Drozd
Dharanesh Gangaiah
Zhe Liu
Gireesh Rajashekara
Contribution of TAT system translocated PhoX to Campylobacter jejuni phosphate metabolism and resilience to environmental stresses.
PLoS ONE
title Contribution of TAT system translocated PhoX to Campylobacter jejuni phosphate metabolism and resilience to environmental stresses.
title_full Contribution of TAT system translocated PhoX to Campylobacter jejuni phosphate metabolism and resilience to environmental stresses.
title_fullStr Contribution of TAT system translocated PhoX to Campylobacter jejuni phosphate metabolism and resilience to environmental stresses.
title_full_unstemmed Contribution of TAT system translocated PhoX to Campylobacter jejuni phosphate metabolism and resilience to environmental stresses.
title_short Contribution of TAT system translocated PhoX to Campylobacter jejuni phosphate metabolism and resilience to environmental stresses.
title_sort contribution of tat system translocated phox to campylobacter jejuni phosphate metabolism and resilience to environmental stresses
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3197622?pdf=render
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AT zheliu contributionoftatsystemtranslocatedphoxtocampylobacterjejuniphosphatemetabolismandresiliencetoenvironmentalstresses
AT gireeshrajashekara contributionoftatsystemtranslocatedphoxtocampylobacterjejuniphosphatemetabolismandresiliencetoenvironmentalstresses