An essential role of a ferritin-like protein in acid stress tolerance of Listeria monocytogenes

The expression of ten genes of Listeria monocytogenes previously identified as penicillin G-inducible was transcriptionally analyzed in the presence of 0.5 M KCl, pH 5.0 and 42 A degrees C. This study revealed that all the genes are upregulated by osmotic stress, seven by acid stress and four by temperature stress conditions. The contribution of a gene encoding a ferritin-like protein (fri), a two-component phosphate-response regulator (phoP) and an AraC/XylS family transcription regulator (axyR) to temperature, acid and osmotic stress tolerance was further examined by analysis of nonpolar deletion mutants. This revealed that a lack of PhoP or AxyR does not affect the ability to grow under the tested stress conditions. However, the Delta fri strain showed slightly delayed growth under osmotic and clearly impaired growth under acid stress conditions, indicating an important role of the ferritin-like protein in acid stress tolerance.