Analysis of the role of the QseBC two-component sensory system in epinephrine-induced motility and intracellular replication of Burkholderia pseudomallei.
Chatruthai MeethaiMuthita VanapornNarin IntarakVarintip LerdsittikulPatoo WithatanungSujintana JanesomboonPaiboon VattanaviboonSorujsiri ChareonsudjaiToby WilkinsonMark P StevensJoanne M StevensSunee KorbsrisatePublished in: PloS one (2023)
Burkholderia pseudomallei is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen that causes melioidosis, a severe invasive disease of humans. We previously reported that the stress-related catecholamine hormone epinephrine enhances motility of B. pseudomallei, transcription of flagellar genes and the production of flagellin. It has been reported that the QseBC two-component sensory system regulates motility and virulence-associated genes in other Gram-negative bacteria in response to stress-related catecholamines, albeit disparities between studies exist. We constructed and whole-genome sequenced a mutant of B. pseudomallei with a deletion spanning the predicted qseBC homologues (bpsl0806 and bpsl0807). The ΔqseBC mutant exhibited significantly reduced swimming and swarming motility and reduced transcription of fliC. It also exhibited a defect in biofilm formation and net intracellular survival in J774A.1 murine macrophage-like cells. While epinephrine enhanced bacterial motility and fliC transcription, no further reduction in these phenotypes was observed with the ΔqseBC mutant in the presence of epinephrine. Plasmid-mediated expression of qseBC suppressed bacterial growth, complicating attempts to trans-complement mutant phenotypes. Our data support a role for QseBC in motility, biofilm formation and net intracellular survival of B. pseudomallei, but indicate that it is not essential for epinephrine-induced motility per se.
Keyphrases
- biofilm formation
- pseudomonas aeruginosa
- candida albicans
- escherichia coli
- staphylococcus aureus
- cystic fibrosis
- high glucose
- reactive oxygen species
- diabetic rats
- drug induced
- crispr cas
- wild type
- wastewater treatment
- healthcare
- adipose tissue
- machine learning
- oxidative stress
- electronic health record
- stress induced
- early onset
- dna methylation
- artificial intelligence
- genome wide identification
- soft tissue