Table 1.
Strains and plasmids used in this study
| Name | Description | Genotype/Resistancea | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strains | |||
| E. coli AL862 | Sepsis-associated ExPEC isolate | afa8+ | (30) |
| E. coli 536 | Pyelonephritis-associated ExPEC isolate (O6:K15:H31) | pap+, fim+ | (31) |
| E. coli 536 Δfim::cat | Deletion of the full fim gene cluster | CmR | (32) |
| E. coli 536 Δhfq::KmFRT | Allelic exchange of the hfq gene with kanamycin FRT cassette | KmR | This study |
| S. agalactiae NEM316 | Human septicaemia isolate | (33) | |
| E. coli TOP10 | Laboratory strain | fim- | (34) |
| E. coli TOP10Δhfq::KmFRT | Hfq-deficient strain JVS-2001 | KmR | (34) |
| E. coli TOP10Δhfq::FRT | Hfq-deficient strain JVS-2001 with the FRT flanked kanamycin resistance cassette removed by action of the FLP flipase from pCP20 plasmid | KmS | This study |
| Plasmids | |||
| pCP20 | Thermosensitive plasmid expressing the flp flippase gene | CbR, CmR | (35) |
| pKOBEG-Apra | Thermosensitive recombination plasmid used for allelic exchange | pSC101ts, ApraR | (36) |
| pZE21-gfp | gfp gene under the control of the PLtetO-1 promoter | ColE1, KmR | (37) |
| pZE2R-gfp | Replacement of the PLtetO-1 promoter from pZE21-gfp by the Pλ constitutive promoter | ColE1, KmR | (37) |
| pZE21-null | pZE1-gfp derivative expressing a non sense sRNA | ColE1, KmR | This study |
| pZE2R-null | pZE2R-gfp derivative expressing a non sense sRNA | ColE1, KmR | This study |
| pZE2R-fimR | Insertion of fimR gene into the EcoRI/XbaI sites of the pZE2R-gfp plasmid | ColE1, KmR | This study |
| pZE21-antifimR | Insertion of fimR antisense sequence into the EcoRI/XbaI sites of the pZE21-gfp plasmid | ColE1, KmR | This study |
| pZE2R-SQ18 | Insertion of SQ18 gene into the EcoRI/XbaI sites of the pZE2R-gfp plasmid | ColE1, KmR | This study |
| pXG-0 | Luciferase-expressing plasmid | pSC101*, CmR | (34) |
| pXG-10 | Translational fusion of lacZ and gfp genes | pSC101*, CmR | (34) |
| pXGfimD::gfp | pXG10 derivative with a fimD::gfp translational fusion | pSC101*, CmR | This study |
| pXGgbs0031::gfp | pXG10 derivative with a gbs0031::gfp translational fusion | pSC101*, CmR | This study |
| pTCV-erm-ΩPtet | Shuttle low-copy vector to analyze regulatory elements in Gram-positive bacteria under the control of the constitutive promoter Ptet | pAMβ1, ErmR | S. Dramsi |
| pTCV-SQ18 | Insertion of the SQ18 sRNA gene into the BamHI/PstI sites of pTCVerm-Ptet plasmid. | pAMβ1, ErmR | This study |
| pTCV-SQ485 | Insertion of the SQ485 sRNA gene into the BamHI/PstI sites of pTCVerm-Ptet plasmid. | pAMβ1, ErmR | This study |
| pTCV-SQ893 | Insertion of the SQ893 sRNA gene into the BamHI/PstI sites of pTCVerm-Ptet plasmid. | pAMβ1, ErmR | This study |
aApra, Cb, Cm, Erm, Km were resistance to apramycin, carbenicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin and kanamycin, respectively.