F9 Fimbriae of uropathogenic Escherichia coli are expressed at low temperature and recognise Gal beta 1-3GlcNAc-containing glycans
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the leading causative agent of urinary tract infections (UTI) in the developed world.
Among the major virulence factors of UPEC, surface expressed adhesins mediate attachment and tissue tropism. UPEC
strains typically possess a range of adhesins, with type 1 fimbriae and P fimbriae of the chaperone-usher class the best
characterised. We previously identified and characterised F9 as a new chaperone-usher fimbrial type that mediates biofilm
formation. However, the regulation and specific role of F9 fimbriae remained to be determined in the context of wild-type
clinical UPEC strains. In this study we have assessed the distribution and genetic context of the f9 operon among diverse E.
coli lineages and pathotypes and demonstrated that f9 genes are significantly more conserved in a UPEC strain collection in
comparison to the well-defined E. coli reference (ECOR) collection. In the prototypic UPEC strain CFT073, the global
regulator protein H-NS was identified as a transcriptional repressor of f9 gene expression at 37uC through its ability to bind
directly to the f9 promoter region. F9 fimbriae expression was demonstrated at 20uC, representing the first evidence of
functional F9 fimbriae expression by wild-type E. coli. Finally, glycan array analysis demonstrated that F9 fimbriae recognise
and bind to terminal Galb1-3GlcNAc structures.
Among the major virulence factors of UPEC, surface expressed adhesins mediate attachment and tissue tropism. UPEC
strains typically possess a range of adhesins, with type 1 fimbriae and P fimbriae of the chaperone-usher class the best
characterised. We previously identified and characterised F9 as a new chaperone-usher fimbrial type that mediates biofilm
formation. However, the regulation and specific role of F9 fimbriae remained to be determined in the context of wild-type
clinical UPEC strains. In this study we have assessed the distribution and genetic context of the f9 operon among diverse E.
coli lineages and pathotypes and demonstrated that f9 genes are significantly more conserved in a UPEC strain collection in
comparison to the well-defined E. coli reference (ECOR) collection. In the prototypic UPEC strain CFT073, the global
regulator protein H-NS was identified as a transcriptional repressor of f9 gene expression at 37uC through its ability to bind
directly to the f9 promoter region. F9 fimbriae expression was demonstrated at 20uC, representing the first evidence of
functional F9 fimbriae expression by wild-type E. coli. Finally, glycan array analysis demonstrated that F9 fimbriae recognise
and bind to terminal Galb1-3GlcNAc structures.
Date Issued
2014-03-26
Date Acceptance
2014-03-03
Citation
PLoS ONE, 2014, 9 (3)
ISSN
1932-6203
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Journal / Book Title
PLoS ONE
Volume
9
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2014 Wurpel et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000333677000124&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
COMPLETE GENOME SEQUENCE
H-NS
MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION
AUTOTRANSPORTER PROTEINS
BIOFILM FORMATION
CLONING VEHICLES
S-FIMBRIAE
E.-COLI
IDENTIFICATION
COMMENSAL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e93177
Date Publish Online
2014-03-26