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PMID: 20160020 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

The yersiniabactin transport system is critical for the pathogenesis of bubonic and pneumonic plague.

Infection and immunity ·Vol. 78 ·No. 5 ·2010-05-00 ·Pages 2045-52

Fetherston JD, Kirillina O, Bobrov AG, Paulley JT, Perry RD

Abstract

Iron acquisition from the host is an important step in the pathogenic process. While Yersinia pestis has multiple iron transporters, the yersiniabactin (Ybt) siderophore-dependent system plays a major role in iron acquisition in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we determined that the Ybt system is required for the use of iron bound by transferrin and lactoferrin and examined the importance of the Ybt system for virulence in mouse models of bubonic and pneumonic plague. Y. pestis mutants unable to either transport Ybt or synthesize the siderophore were both essentially avirulent via subcutaneous injection (bubonic plague model). Surprisingly, via intranasal instillation (pneumonic plague model), we saw a difference in the virulence of Ybt biosynthetic and transport mutants. Ybt biosynthetic mutants displayed an approximately 24-fold-higher 50% lethal dose (LD(50)) than transport mutants. In contrast, under iron-restricted conditions in vitro, a Ybt transport mutant had a more severe growth defect than the Ybt biosynthetic mutant. Finally, a Delta pgm mutant had a greater loss of virulence than the Ybt biosynthetic mutant, indicating that the 102-kb pgm locus encodes a virulence factor, in addition to Ybt, that plays a role in the pathogenesis of pneumonic plague.

MeSH Terms
Animals Female Iron/metabolism Lethal Dose 50 Mice Phenols/metabolism Plague/microbiology,pathology Survival Analysis Thiazoles/metabolism Virulence Virulence Factors/deficiency,metabolism Yersinia pestis/pathogenicity
Chemicals
Phenols Thiazoles Virulence Factors yersiniabactin Iron
Authors & Affiliations
5 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Fetherston Jacqueline D
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, MS415 Medical Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0298, USA.
Kirillina Olga
Bobrov Alexander G
Paulley James T
Perry Robert D
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Article Info
Journal
Infection and immunity
Abbr.
Infect Immun
ISSN
1098-5522
DOI
10.1128/IAI.01236-09
Published
2010-05-00
Epub
2010-00-16
Pages
2045-52
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0246127
PMCID
PMC2863531
Subset
IM
Grants
NIAID NIH HHS · R01 AI033481 · United States
NIAID NIH HHS · R56 AI033481 · United States
NIAID NIH HHS · AI-33481 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/IAI.01236-09 PMC Full Text View journal details
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