Development of a mariner-based transposon and identification of Listeria monocytogenes determinants, including the peptidyl-prolyl isomerase PrsA2, that contribute to its hemolytic phenotype

J Bacteriol. 2009 Jun;191(12):3950-64. doi: 10.1128/JB.00016-09. Epub 2009 Apr 17.

Abstract

Listeriolysin O (LLO) is a pore-forming toxin that mediates phagosomal escape and cell-to-cell spread of the intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. In order to identify factors that control the production, activity, or secretion of this essential virulence factor, we constructed a Himar1 mariner transposon delivery system and screened 50,000 mutants for a hypohemolytic phenotype on blood agar plates. Approximately 200 hypohemolytic mutants were identified, and the 51 most prominent mutants were screened ex vivo for intracellular growth defects. Eight mutants with a phenotype were identified, and they contained insertions in the following genes: lmo0964 (similar to yjbH), lmo1268 (clpX), lmo1401 (similar to ymdB), lmo1575 (similar to ytqI), lmo1695 (mprF), lmo1821 (similar to prpC), lmo2219 (prsA2), and lmo2460 (similar to cggR). Some of these genes are involved in previously unexplored areas of research with L. monocytogenes: the genes yjbH and clpX regulate the disulfide stress response in Bacillus subtilis, and the prpC phosphatase has been implicated in virulence in other gram-positive pathogens. Here we demonstrate that prsA2, an extracytoplasmic peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase, is critical for virulence and contributes to the folding of LLO and to the activity of another virulence factor, the broad-range phospholipase C (PC-PLC). Furthermore, although it has been shown that prsA2 expression is linked to PrfA, the master virulence transcription factor in L. monocytogenes pathogenesis, we demonstrate that prsA2 is not directly controlled by PrfA. Finally, we show that PrsA2 is involved in flagellum-based motility, indicating that this factor likely serves a broad physiological role.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Bacterial Toxins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Toxins / genetics
  • Bacterial Toxins / metabolism*
  • Cyclophilin A / genetics
  • Cyclophilin A / metabolism*
  • DNA Transposable Elements*
  • Heat-Shock Proteins / chemistry
  • Heat-Shock Proteins / genetics
  • Heat-Shock Proteins / metabolism*
  • Hemolysin Proteins / chemistry
  • Hemolysin Proteins / genetics
  • Hemolysin Proteins / metabolism*
  • Hemolysis
  • Humans
  • Listeria monocytogenes / enzymology
  • Listeria monocytogenes / genetics*
  • Listeriosis / microbiology
  • Mutagenesis, Insertional / methods*
  • Peptide Termination Factors / genetics
  • Peptide Termination Factors / metabolism
  • Phenotype
  • Protein Folding
  • Sheep
  • Type C Phospholipases / genetics
  • Type C Phospholipases / metabolism

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Bacterial Toxins
  • DNA Transposable Elements
  • Heat-Shock Proteins
  • Hemolysin Proteins
  • Peptide Termination Factors
  • Type C Phospholipases
  • Cyclophilin A
  • hlyA protein, Listeria monocytogenes