Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), 518 Ziyue Road, Shanghai, 200241, People's Republic of China.
College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People's Republic of China.
Vet Res. 2019 Dec 12;50(1):109. doi: 10.1186/s13567-019-0725-0.
The function of Autoinducer-2 (AI-2) which acts as the signal molecule of LuxS-mediated quorum sensing, is regulated through the lsr operon (which includes eight genes: lsrK, lsrR, lsrA, lsrC, lsrD, lsrB, lsrF, and lsrG). However, the functions of the lsr operon remain unclear in avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC), which causes severe respiratory and systemic diseases in poultry. In this study, the presence of the lsr operon in 60 APEC clinical strains (serotypes O1, O2, and O78) was investigated and found to be correlated with serotype and has the highest detection rate in O78. The AI-2 binding capacity of recombinant protein LsrB of APEC (APEC-LsrB) was verified and was found to bind to AI-2 in vitro. In addition, the lsr operon was mutated in an APEC strain (APEC94Δlsr(Cm)) and the mutant was found to be defective in motility and AI-2 uptake. Furthermore, deletion of the lsr operon attenuated the virulence of APEC, with the LD of APEC94Δlsr(Cm) decreasing 294-fold compared with wild-type strain APEC94. The bacterial load in the blood, liver, spleen, and kidneys of ducks infected with APEC94Δlsr(Cm) decreased significantly (p < 0.0001). The results of transcriptional analysis showed that 62 genes were up-regulated and 415 genes were down-regulated in APEC94Δlsr(Cm) compared with the wild-type strain and some of the down-regulated genes were associated with the virulence of APEC. In conclusion, our study suggests that lsr operon plays a role in the pathogenesis of APEC.
自诱导物-2(AI-2)作为 LuxS 介导的群体感应信号分子的功能,通过 lsr 操纵子(包含 8 个基因:lsrK、lsrR、lsrA、lsrC、lsrD、lsrB、lsrF 和 lsrG)进行调节。然而,lsr 操纵子在引起家禽严重呼吸道和全身疾病的禽致病性大肠杆菌(APEC)中的功能仍不清楚。在本研究中,检测了 60 株 APEC 临床分离株(血清型 O1、O2 和 O78)中 lsr 操纵子的存在情况,发现其与血清型相关,在 O78 中检测率最高。验证了 APEC 重组蛋白 LsrB(APEC-LsrB)对 AI-2 的结合能力,并发现其在体外与 AI-2 结合。此外,在 APEC 菌株(APEC94Δlsr(Cm))中突变 lsr 操纵子,发现突变株在运动性和 AI-2 摄取方面存在缺陷。此外,lsr 操纵子的缺失削弱了 APEC 的毒力,与野生型 APEC94 相比,APEC94Δlsr(Cm)的 LD 降低了 294 倍。感染 APEC94Δlsr(Cm)的鸭子血液、肝脏、脾脏和肾脏中的细菌载量显著减少(p < 0.0001)。转录分析结果表明,与野生型菌株相比,APEC94Δlsr(Cm)中有 62 个基因上调,415 个基因下调,一些下调基因与 APEC 的毒力有关。总之,我们的研究表明 lsr 操纵子在 APEC 的发病机制中起作用。