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PMID: 9501228 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

A Vibrio cholerae pathogenicity island associated with epidemic and pandemic strains.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 95 ·No. 6 ·1998-03-17 ·Pages 3134-9

Karaolis DK, Johnson JA, Bailey CC, Boedeker EC, Kaper JB, Reeves PR

Abstract

The bacterial species Vibrio cholerae includes harmless aquatic strains as well as strains capable of causing epidemics and global pandemics of cholera. While investigating the relationship between pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains, we identified a chromosomal pathogenicity island (PAI) that is present in epidemic and pandemic strains but absent from nonpathogenic strains. Initially, two ToxR-regulated genes (aldA and tagA) were studied and were found to be associated with epidemic and pandemic strains but absent in nontoxigenic strains. The region containing aldA and tagA comprises 13 kb of previously unidentified DNA and is part of a PAI that contains a regulator of virulence genes (ToxT) and a gene cluster encoding an essential colonization factor and the cholera toxin phage receptor (toxin-coregulated pilus; TCP). The PAI is 39.5 kb in size, has low %G+C (35%), contains putative integrase and transposase genes, is flanked by att sites, and inserts near a 10Sa RNA gene (ssrA), suggesting it may be of bacteriophage origin. We found this PAI in two clinical non-O1/non-O139 cholera toxin-positive strains, suggesting that it can be transferred within V. cholerae. The sequence within this PAI includes an ORF with homology to a gene associated with the type IV pilus gene cluster of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, a transposase from Vibrio anguillarum, and several ORFs with no known homology. As the PAI contains the CTXPhi receptor, it may represent the initial genetic factor required for the emergence of epidemic and pandemic cholera. We propose to call this island VPI (V. cholerae pathogenicity island).

MeSH Terms
Aldehyde Dehydrogenase/genetics Bacterial Proteins/genetics Base Composition Cholera/epidemiology,etiology DNA Transposable Elements Disease Outbreaks Fimbriae, Bacterial/genetics Genes, Bacterial Humans Lipoproteins/genetics Molecular Sequence Data Multigene Family Sequence Analysis, DNA Transcription Factors/genetics United States Vibrio cholerae/classification,genetics,pathogenicity Virulence/genetics
Chemicals
AcfA protein, Vibrio cholerae Bacterial Proteins DNA Transposable Elements Lipoproteins TagA protein, bacteria Transcription Factors tcpN protein, Vibrio cholerae Aldehyde Dehydrogenase
Authors & Affiliations
6 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Karaolis D K
Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. karaolis@umaryland.edu
Johnson J A
Bailey C C
Boedeker E C
Kaper J B
Reeves P R
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Article Info
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbr.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.95.6.3134
Email
karaolis@umaryland.edu
Published
1998-03-17
Pages
3134-9
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7505876
PMCID
PMC19707
Subset
IM
Grants
NIAID NIH HHS · R01 AI019716 · United States
NIAID NIH HHS · AI19716 · United States
NIAID NIH HHS · AI35729 · United States
Databases
GENBANK
AF034434
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.6.3134 PMC Full Text View journal details
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