In this study, the virulence potential of in-frame deletion mutants of ABC transporter genes in Listeria monocytogenes was investigated using in vitro and in vivo methods. The results showed that the deletion mutant LMOf2365_1875 had decreased invasion and cell-to-cell spread efficiency, indicating its potential role in virulence. The study also suggested that ABC transporters may negatively regulate virulence gene expression and be involved in the stress response.
Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen and the causative agent of listeriosis, a disease associated with high fatality (20-30%) and hospitalization rates (>95%). ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) transporters have been demonstrated to be involved in the general stress response. In previous studies, in-frame deletion mutants of the ABC transporter genes, LMOf2365_1875 and LMOf2365_1877, were constructed and analyzed; however, additional work is needed to investigate the virulence potential of these deletion mutants. In this study, two in vitro methods and one in vivo model were used to investigate the virulence potential of in-frame deletion mutants of ABC transporter genes. First, the invasion efficiency in host cells was measured using the HT-29 human cell line. Second, cell-to-cell spread activity was measured using a plaque forming assay. Lastly, virulence potential of the mutants was tested in the Galleria mellonella wax moth model. Our results demonstrated that the deletion mutant, LMOf2365_1875, displayed decreased invasion and cell-to-cell spread efficiency in comparison to the wild-type, LMOf2365, indicating that LMOf2365_1875 may be required for virulence. Furthermore, the reduced virulence of these mutants was confirmed using the Galleria mellonella wax moth model. In addition, the expression levels of 15 virulence and stress-related genes were analyzed by RT-PCR assays using stationary phase cells. Our results showed that virulence-related gene expression levels from the deletion mutants were elevated (15/15 genes from LMOf2365_1877 and 7/15 genes from LMOf2365_1875) compared to the wild type LMOf2365, suggesting that ABC transporters may negatively regulate virulence gene expression under specific conditions. The expression level of the stress-related gene, clpE, also was increased in both deletion mutants, indicating the involvement of ABC transporters in the stress response. Taken together, our findings suggest that ABC transporters may be used as potential targets to develop new therapeutic strategies to control L. monocytogenes.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据