Skip to main content
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1987 Oct;169(10):4861–4864. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.10.4861-4864.1987

Transport of Ca2+ by Yersinia pestis.

R D Perry 1, R R Brubaker 1
PMCID: PMC213871  PMID: 3654586

Abstract

Low-calcium-response, or Lcr, plasmids of yersiniae are known to promote an in vitro nutritional requirement for 2.5 mM Ca2+ at 37 degrees C which, if not fulfilled, results in cessation of growth with induction of virulence functions (Lcr+). The mechanism whereby Ca2+ regulates this metabolic shift is unknown. Radioactive Ca2+ was not actively accumulated by yersiniae but was excluded by an exit reaction analogous to those described for other bacteria. Nevertheless, cultivation at 37 degrees C with 0.1 mM Ca2+, a level insufficient to prevent restriction of cell division, promoted significantly more binding of the cation by Lcr+ organisms than by plasmid-deficient Lcr- mutants. According, Lcr+ yersiniae may possess unique ligands capable of recognizing Ca2+.

Full text

PDF
4861

Selected References

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

  1. Ambudkar S. V., Zlotnick G. W., Rosen B. P. Calcium efflux from Escherichia coli. Evidence for two systems. J Biol Chem. 1984 May 25;259(10):6142–6146. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BURROWS T. W., BACON G. A. The effects of loss of different virulence determinants on the virulence and immunogenicity of strains of Pasteurella pestis. Br J Exp Pathol. 1958 Jun;39(3):278–291. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brubaker R. R. Interconversion of Purine Mononucleotides in Pasteurella pestis. Infect Immun. 1970 May;1(5):446–454. doi: 10.1128/iai.1.5.446-454.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brubaker R. R. The Vwa+ virulence factor of yersiniae: the molecular basis of the attendant nutritional requirement for Ca++. Rev Infect Dis. 1983 Sep-Oct;5 (Suppl 4):S748–S758. doi: 10.1093/clinids/5.supplement_4.s748. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bölin I., Portnoy D. A., Wolf-Watz H. Expression of the temperature-inducible outer membrane proteins of yersiniae. Infect Immun. 1985 Apr;48(1):234–240. doi: 10.1128/iai.48.1.234-240.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Carter P. B., Collins F. M. Experimental Yersinia enterocolitica infection in mice: kinetics of growth. Infect Immun. 1974 May;9(5):851–857. doi: 10.1128/iai.9.5.851-857.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Charnetzky W. T., Brubaker R. R. RNA synthesis in Yersinia pestis during growth restriction in calcium-deficient medium. J Bacteriol. 1982 Mar;149(3):1089–1095. doi: 10.1128/jb.149.3.1089-1095.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Cornelis G., Laroche Y., Balligand G., Sory M. P., Wauters G. Yersinia enterocolitica, a primary model for bacterial invasiveness. Rev Infect Dis. 1987 Jan-Feb;9(1):64–87. doi: 10.1093/clinids/9.1.64. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HIGUCHI K., KUPFERBERG L. L., SMITH J. L. Studies on the nutrition and physiology of Pasteurella pestis. III. Effects of calcium ions on the growth of virulent and avirulent strains of Pasteurella pestis. J Bacteriol. 1959 Mar;77(3):317–321. doi: 10.1128/jb.77.3.317-321.1959. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pollack C., Straley S. C., Klempner M. S. Probing the phagolysosomal environment of human macrophages with a Ca2+-responsive operon fusion in Yersinia pestis. 1986 Aug 28-Sep 3Nature. 322(6082):834–836. doi: 10.1038/322834a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Portnoy D. A., Martinez R. J. Role of a plasmid in the pathogenicity of Yersinia species. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 1985;118:29–51. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-70586-1_3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Silver S., Toth K., Scribner H. Facilitated transport of calcium by cells and subcellular membranes of Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1975 Jun;122(3):880–885. doi: 10.1128/jb.122.3.880-885.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Zahorchak R. J., Brubaker R. R. Effect of exogenous nucleotides on Ca2+ dependence and V antigen synthesis in Yersinia pestis. Infect Immun. 1982 Dec;38(3):953–959. doi: 10.1128/iai.38.3.953-959.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Zahorchak R. J., Charnetzky W. T., Little R. V., Brubaker R. R. Consequences of Ca2+ deficiency on macromolecular synthesis and adenylate energy charge in Yersinia pestis. J Bacteriol. 1979 Sep;139(3):792–799. doi: 10.1128/jb.139.3.792-799.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES