Vences Ana, Rivas Amable J, Lemos Manuel L, Husmann Matthias, Osorio Carlos R
Departamento de Microbioloxía e Parasitoloxía, Instituto de Acuicultura, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.
Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2017 May 17;83(11). doi: 10.1128/AEM.00401-17. Print 2017 Jun 1.
subsp. is a pathogen of marine animals, including fish of importance in aquaculture. The virulence plasmid pPHDD1, characteristic of highly hemolytic isolates, encodes the hemolysins damselysin (Dly) and phobalysin (PhlyP). Strains lacking pPHDD1 constitute the vast majority of the isolates from fish outbreaks, but genetic studies to identify virulence factors in plasmidless strains are scarce. Here, we show that the chromosome I-encoded hemolysin PhlyC plays roles in virulence and cell toxicity in pPHDD1-negative isolates of this pathogen. By combining the analyses of whole genomes and of gene deletion mutants, we identified two hitherto uncharacterized chromosomal loci encoding a phospholipase (PlpV) and a collagenase (ColP). PlpV was ubiquitous in the subspecies and exerted hemolytic activity against fish erythrocytes, which was enhanced in the presence of lecithin. ColP was restricted to a fraction of the isolates and was responsible for the collagen-degrading activity in this subspecies. Consistent with the presence of signal peptides in PlpV and ColP sequences, mutants for the type II secretion system (T2SS) genes and exhibited impairments in phospholipase and collagenase activities. Sea bass virulence experiments and cell culture assays demonstrated major contributions of PhlyC and PlpV to virulence and toxicity. This study constitutes genetic and genomic analyses of plasmidless strains of an emerging pathogen in marine aquaculture, subsp. To date, studies on the genetic basis of virulence were restricted to the pPHDD1 plasmid-encoded toxins Dly and PhlyP. However, the vast majority of the recent isolates of this pathogen from fish farm outbreaks lack this plasmid. Here we demonstrate that the plasmidless strains produce two hitherto uncharacterized ubiquitous toxins encoded in chromosome I, namely, the hemolysin PhlyC and the phospholipase PlpV. We report the main roles of these two toxins in fish virulence and in cell toxicity. Our results constitute the basis for a better understanding of the virulence of a widespread marine pathogen.
亚种是海洋动物的病原体,包括水产养殖中重要的鱼类。毒力质粒pPHDD1是高溶血分离株的特征性质粒,编码溶血素damselysin(Dly)和phobalysin(PhlyP)。缺乏pPHDD1的菌株构成了鱼类疫情分离株的绝大多数,但鉴定无质粒菌株中毒力因子的遗传学研究很少。在这里,我们表明,染色体I编码的溶血素PhlyC在该病原体的pPHDD1阴性分离株的毒力和细胞毒性中起作用。通过结合全基因组分析和基因缺失突变体分析,我们鉴定了两个迄今未表征的染色体位点,它们编码磷脂酶(PlpV)和胶原酶(ColP)。PlpV在该亚种中普遍存在,并对鱼红细胞具有溶血活性,在卵磷脂存在下溶血活性增强。ColP仅限于部分分离株,并负责该亚种中的胶原降解活性。与PlpV和ColP序列中信号肽的存在一致,II型分泌系统(T2SS)基因和的突变体在磷脂酶和胶原酶活性方面表现出损伤。海鲈毒力实验和细胞培养试验证明了PhlyC和PlpV对毒力和毒性的主要贡献。本研究构成了对海水养殖中一种新兴病原体亚种无质粒菌株的遗传和基因组分析。迄今为止,关于毒力遗传基础的研究仅限于pPHDD1质粒编码的毒素Dly和PhlyP。然而,该病原体最近从养鱼场疫情中分离出的绝大多数菌株都缺乏这种质粒。在这里,我们证明无质粒菌株产生两种迄今未表征的普遍存在于染色体I中的毒素,即溶血素PhlyC和磷脂酶PlpV。我们报告了这两种毒素在鱼类毒力和细胞毒性中的主要作用。我们的结果构成了更好地理解一种广泛存在的海洋病原体毒力的基础。