Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1992 Feb;174(3):1020–1028. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.3.1020-1028.1992

Identification of a Serratia entomophila genetic locus encoding amber disease in New Zealand grass grub (Costelytra zealandica).

N M Upadhyaya 1, T R Glare 1, H K Mahanty 1
PMCID: PMC206183  PMID: 1346262

Abstract

Serratia entomophila UC9 (A1MO2), which causes amber disease in the New Zealand grass grub Costelytra zealandica, was subjected to transposon (TnphoA)-induced mutagenesis. A mutant (UC21) was found to be nonpathogenic (Path-) to grass grub larvae in bioassays and was shown, by Southern hybridization, to contain a single TnphoA insertion. This mutant failed to adhere to the gut wall (Adn-) of the larvae and also failed to produce pili (Pil-). A comparative study of the total protein profiles of wild-type S. entomophila UC9 and mutant UC21 revealed that the mutant lacked an approximately 44-kDa protein and overexpressed an approximately 20-kDa protein. Transfer of cosmids containing homologous wild-type sequences into mutant strain UC21 restored wild-type phenotypes (Path+, Pil+, and Adn+). One of the complementing cosmids (pSER107) conferred piliation on Pil- Escherichia coli HB101. The TnphoA insertion in UC21 was mapped within an 8.6-kb BamHI fragment common to the complementing cosmids, and we designated this gene locus amb-1. Six gene products with molecular masses of 44, 36, 34, 33, 20, and 18 kDa were detected in E. coli minicells exclusive to the cloned 8.6-kb fragment (pSER201A). The 44-kDa gene product was not detected in E. coli minicells containing the cloned mutant fragment. Saturation mutagenesis of this fragment produced four unlinked insertional mutations with active fusions to TnphoA. These active fusions disrupted the expression of one or more gene products encoded by amb-1. The 8.6-kb fragment cloned in the opposite orientation (pSER201B) expressed only a 20-kDa protein. We propose that these are the products of structural and/or regulatory genes involved in adhesion and/or piliation which are prerequisites in the S. entomophila-grass grub interaction leading to amber disease.

Full text

PDF
1020

Images in this article

1023Image
on p.1023
1024Image
on p.1024
1025Image
on p.1025
1026Image
on p.1026
1026Image
on p.1026
1027Image
on p.1027

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adler H. I., Fisher W. D., Cohen A., Hardigree A. A. MINIATURE escherichia coli CELLS DEFICIENT IN DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 Feb;57(2):321–326. doi: 10.1073/pnas.57.2.321. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bolivar F., Rodriguez R. L., Greene P. J., Betlach M. C., Heyneker H. L., Boyer H. W., Crosa J. H., Falkow S. Construction and characterization of new cloning vehicles. II. A multipurpose cloning system. Gene. 1977;2(2):95–113. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ditta G., Stanfield S., Corbin D., Helinski D. R. Broad host range DNA cloning system for gram-negative bacteria: construction of a gene bank of Rhizobium meliloti. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Dec;77(12):7347–7351. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.12.7347. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fath M. J., Mahanty H. K., Kolter R. Characterization of a purF operon mutation which affects colicin V production. J Bacteriol. 1989 Jun;171(6):3158–3161. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.6.3158-3161.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Finlay B. B., Falkow S. Common themes in microbial pathogenicity. Microbiol Rev. 1989 Jun;53(2):210–230. doi: 10.1128/mr.53.2.210-230.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fuchs R. L., McPherson S. A., Drahos D. J. Cloning of a Serratia marcescens Gene Encoding Chitinase. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1986 Mar;51(3):504–509. doi: 10.1128/aem.51.3.504-509.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gutierrez C., Barondess J., Manoil C., Beckwith J. The use of transposon TnphoA to detect genes for cell envelope proteins subject to a common regulatory stimulus. Analysis of osmotically regulated genes in Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1987 May 20;195(2):289–297. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(87)90650-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kohara Y., Akiyama K., Isono K. The physical map of the whole E. coli chromosome: application of a new strategy for rapid analysis and sorting of a large genomic library. Cell. 1987 Jul 31;50(3):495–508. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90503-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Manoil C., Beckwith J. TnphoA: a transposon probe for protein export signals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Dec;82(23):8129–8133. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.23.8129. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Meagher R. B., Tait R. C., Betlach M., Boyer H. W. Protein expression in E. coli minicells by recombinant plasmids. Cell. 1977 Mar;10(3):521–536. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(77)90039-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Minion F. C., Abraham S. N., Beachey E. H., Goguen J. D. The genetic determinant of adhesive function in type 1 fimbriae of Escherichia coli is distinct from the gene encoding the fimbrial subunit. J Bacteriol. 1986 Mar;165(3):1033–1036. doi: 10.1128/jb.165.3.1033-1036.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Orndorff P. E., Falkow S. Organization and expression of genes responsible for type 1 piliation in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1984 Aug;159(2):736–744. doi: 10.1128/jb.159.2.736-744.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Overbury O., Brussell E. M., White C. W., Jackson W. B., Anderson P. Evaluating visual loss with multi-flash campimetry. Can J Ophthalmol. 1984 Oct;19(6):255–260. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Ruvkun G. B., Sundaresan V., Ausubel F. M. Directed transposon Tn5 mutagenesis and complementation analysis of Rhizobium meliloti symbiotic nitrogen fixation genes. Cell. 1982 Jun;29(2):551–559. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90171-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Starr M. P., Grimont P. A., Grimont F., Starr P. B. Caprylate-thallous agar medium for selectively isolating Serratia and its utility in the clinical laboratory. J Clin Microbiol. 1976 Sep;4(3):270–276. doi: 10.1128/jcm.4.3.270-276.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Staskawicz B., Dahlbeck D., Keen N., Napoli C. Molecular characterization of cloned avirulence genes from race 0 and race 1 of Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea. J Bacteriol. 1987 Dec;169(12):5789–5794. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.12.5789-5794.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Strom M. S., Nunn D., Lory S. Multiple roles of the pilus biogenesis protein pilD: involvement of pilD in excretion of enzymes from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J Bacteriol. 1991 Feb;173(3):1175–1180. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.3.1175-1180.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Taylor R. K., Manoil C., Mekalanos J. J. Broad-host-range vectors for delivery of TnphoA: use in genetic analysis of secreted virulence determinants of Vibrio cholerae. J Bacteriol. 1989 Apr;171(4):1870–1878. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.4.1870-1878.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Taylor R. K., Miller V. L., Furlong D. B., Mekalanos J. J. Use of phoA gene fusions to identify a pilus colonization factor coordinately regulated with cholera toxin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 May;84(9):2833–2837. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.9.2833. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES