Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1988 Nov;170(11):5059–5066. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.11.5059-5066.1988

Two trans-acting regulatory genes (vir and mod) control antigenic modulation in Bordetella pertussis.

S Knapp 1, J J Mekalanos 1
PMCID: PMC211571  PMID: 2903140

Abstract

Expression of virulence factors by Bordetella pertussis is altered by environmental signals (antigenic modulation) and is dependent on an activator encoded by a gene called vir. We have used TnphoA (Tn5 IS50L::phoA) gene fusions to define two sets of genes whose expression is either activated (vag loci) or repressed (vrg loci) by modulation signals. Both groups of genes appear to be regulated by the vir gene product in that, in the absence of modulators, null mutations in vir lead to the repression of vag gene fusions and derepression of vrg gene fusions. Mutants of B. pertussis were isolated that constitutively express virulence factors in the presence of the modulator MgSO4, nicotinic acid, or low incubation temperature. We designate the gene that carries such mutations mod (modulation) and have characterized one (mod-1) of these mod constitutive mutations. A method was developed for the insertional inactivation of the vir gene by using the integration of a suicide replicon. Inactivation of the vir gene in the mod-1 mutant, followed by transcomplementation with the cloned wild-type vir gene, gives the Mod-1 constitutive phenotype, showing that the mod-1 mutation defines a gene distinct from vir. The gene carrying the mod-1 mutation is linked to vir and was cloned on a recombinant cosmid (pLAF-C1) which transcomplements the vir-1::Tn5 mutation in B. pertussis 347. Introduction of pLAF-C1 into vir mutant and vir+ B. pertussis strains also gives the Mod-1 constitutive phenotype, indicating that mod-1 is a dominant allele. These data suggest that the mod gene product could have sensory functions for the environmental signals that affect the expression of vir-regulated genes of B. pertussis. The mod constitutive strains and plasmids described here also have applications in pertussis vaccine development.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

5062Image
on p.5062

Selected References

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

  1. Betley M. J., Miller V. L., Mekalanos J. J. Genetics of bacterial enterotoxins. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1986;40:577–605. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.40.100186.003045. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Calderwood S. B., Mekalanos J. J. Iron regulation of Shiga-like toxin expression in Escherichia coli is mediated by the fur locus. J Bacteriol. 1987 Oct;169(10):4759–4764. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.10.4759-4764.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Friedman A. M., Long S. R., Brown S. E., Buikema W. J., Ausubel F. M. Construction of a broad host range cosmid cloning vector and its use in the genetic analysis of Rhizobium mutants. Gene. 1982 Jun;18(3):289–296. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90167-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hochschild A., Irwin N., Ptashne M. Repressor structure and the mechanism of positive control. Cell. 1983 Feb;32(2):319–325. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90451-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Idigbe E. O., Parton R., Wardlaw A. C. Rapidity of antigenic modulation of Bordetella pertussis in modified Hornibrook medium. J Med Microbiol. 1981 Nov;14(4):409–418. doi: 10.1099/00222615-14-4-409. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. KASUGA T., NAKASE Y., UKISHIMA K., TAKATSU K. Studies on Haemophilus pertussis. V. Relation between the phase of bacilli and the progress of the whooping-cough. Kitasato Arch Exp Med. 1954 Sep;27(3):57–62. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. LACEY B. W. Antigenic modulation of Bordetella pertussis. J Hyg (Lond) 1960 Mar;58:57–93. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400038134. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. 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]
  9. 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]
  10. Miller V. L., Mekalanos J. J. A novel suicide vector and its use in construction of insertion mutations: osmoregulation of outer membrane proteins and virulence determinants in Vibrio cholerae requires toxR. J Bacteriol. 1988 Jun;170(6):2575–2583. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.6.2575-2583.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Miller V. L., Taylor R. K., Mekalanos J. J. Cholera toxin transcriptional activator toxR is a transmembrane DNA binding protein. Cell. 1987 Jan 30;48(2):271–279. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90430-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Peppler M. S. Isolation and characterization of isogenic pairs of domed hemolytic and flat nonhemolytic colony types of Bordetella pertussis. Infect Immun. 1982 Mar;35(3):840–851. doi: 10.1128/iai.35.3.840-851.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Recsei P., Kreiswirth B., O'Reilly M., Schlievert P., Gruss A., Novick R. P. Regulation of exoprotein gene expression in Staphylococcus aureus by agar. Mol Gen Genet. 1986 Jan;202(1):58–61. doi: 10.1007/BF00330517. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sato Y., Cowell J. L., Sato H., Burstyn D. G., Manclark C. R. Separation and purification of the hemagglutinins from Bordetella pertussis. Infect Immun. 1983 Jul;41(1):313–320. doi: 10.1128/iai.41.1.313-320.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Shaw W. V. Chloramphenicol acetyltransferase from chloramphenicol-resistant bacteria. Methods Enzymol. 1975;43:737–755. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(75)43141-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Stachel S. E., Zambryski P. C. virA and virG control the plant-induced activation of the T-DNA transfer process of A. tumefaciens. Cell. 1986 Aug 1;46(3):325–333. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90653-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Stibitz S., Weiss A. A., Falkow S. Genetic analysis of a region of the Bordetella pertussis chromosome encoding filamentous hemagglutinin and the pleiotropic regulatory locus vir. J Bacteriol. 1988 Jul;170(7):2904–2913. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.7.2904-2913.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Straley S. C., Bowmer W. S. Virulence genes regulated at the transcriptional level by Ca2+ in Yersinia pestis include structural genes for outer membrane proteins. Infect Immun. 1986 Feb;51(2):445–454. doi: 10.1128/iai.51.2.445-454.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. 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]
  20. Weiss A. A., Falkow S. Genetic analysis of phase change in Bordetella pertussis. Infect Immun. 1984 Jan;43(1):263–269. doi: 10.1128/iai.43.1.263-269.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Weiss A. A., Hewlett E. L., Myers G. A., Falkow S. Tn5-induced mutations affecting virulence factors of Bordetella pertussis. Infect Immun. 1983 Oct;42(1):33–41. doi: 10.1128/iai.42.1.33-41.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Weiss A. A., Hewlett E. L. Virulence factors of Bordetella pertussis. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1986;40:661–686. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.40.100186.003305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. de Crombrugghe B., Busby S., Buc H. Cyclic AMP receptor protein: role in transcription activation. Science. 1984 May 25;224(4651):831–838. doi: 10.1126/science.6372090. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES