The ability of a large number of bacterial pathogens to multiply in the infected host and cause disease is dependent on their ability to express high affinity zinc importers. In many bacteria, ZnuABC, a transporter of the ABC family, plays a central role in the process of zinc uptake in zinc poor environments, including the tissues of the infected host. To initiate an investigation into the relevance of the zinc uptake apparatus for Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenicity, we have generated a znuA mutant in the PA14 strain. We have found that this mutant strain displays a limited growth defect in zinc depleted media. The znuA mutant strain is more sensitive than the wild type strain to calprotectin-mediated growth inhibition, but both the strains are highly resistant to this zinc sequestering antimicrobial protein. Moreover, intracellular zinc content is not evidently affected by inactivation of the ZnuABC transporter. These findings suggest that P. aeruginosa is equipped with redundant mechanisms for the acquisition of zinc that might favor P. aeruginosa colonization of environments containing low levels of this metal. Nonetheless, deletion of znuA affects alginate production, reduces the activity of extracellular zinc-containing proteases, including LasA, LasB and protease IV, and decreases the ability of P. aeruginosa to disseminate during systemic infections. These results indicate that efficient zinc acquisition is critical for the expression of various virulence features typical of P. aeruginosa and that ZnuABC also plays an important role in zinc homeostasis in this microorganism.

D'Orazio, M., Mastropasqua, M., Cerasi, M., Pacello, F., Consalvo, A., Chirullo, B., et al. (2015). The capability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to recruit zinc under conditions of limited metal availability is affected by inactivation of the ZnuABC transporter. METALLOMICS, 7(6), 1023-1035 [10.1039/c5mt00017c].

The capability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to recruit zinc under conditions of limited metal availability is affected by inactivation of the ZnuABC transporter.

D'Orazio M;Mastropasqua M;Cerasi M;Pacello F;Battistoni A
2015-06-01

Abstract

The ability of a large number of bacterial pathogens to multiply in the infected host and cause disease is dependent on their ability to express high affinity zinc importers. In many bacteria, ZnuABC, a transporter of the ABC family, plays a central role in the process of zinc uptake in zinc poor environments, including the tissues of the infected host. To initiate an investigation into the relevance of the zinc uptake apparatus for Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenicity, we have generated a znuA mutant in the PA14 strain. We have found that this mutant strain displays a limited growth defect in zinc depleted media. The znuA mutant strain is more sensitive than the wild type strain to calprotectin-mediated growth inhibition, but both the strains are highly resistant to this zinc sequestering antimicrobial protein. Moreover, intracellular zinc content is not evidently affected by inactivation of the ZnuABC transporter. These findings suggest that P. aeruginosa is equipped with redundant mechanisms for the acquisition of zinc that might favor P. aeruginosa colonization of environments containing low levels of this metal. Nonetheless, deletion of znuA affects alginate production, reduces the activity of extracellular zinc-containing proteases, including LasA, LasB and protease IV, and decreases the ability of P. aeruginosa to disseminate during systemic infections. These results indicate that efficient zinc acquisition is critical for the expression of various virulence features typical of P. aeruginosa and that ZnuABC also plays an important role in zinc homeostasis in this microorganism.
giu-2015
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Articolo
Esperti anonimi
Settore BIO/10 - BIOCHIMICA
English
D'Orazio, M., Mastropasqua, M., Cerasi, M., Pacello, F., Consalvo, A., Chirullo, B., et al. (2015). The capability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to recruit zinc under conditions of limited metal availability is affected by inactivation of the ZnuABC transporter. METALLOMICS, 7(6), 1023-1035 [10.1039/c5mt00017c].
D'Orazio, M; Mastropasqua, M; Cerasi, M; Pacello, F; Consalvo, A; Chirullo, B; Mortensen, B; Skaar, E; Ciavardelli, D; Pasquali, P; Battistoni, A...espandi
Articolo su rivista
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Metallomics 2015 - D'Orazio et al.pdf

solo utenti autorizzati

Licenza: Non specificato
Dimensione 2.12 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
2.12 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/114786
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 52
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 50
social impact