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The type II secretion system and its ubiquitous lipoprotein substrate, SsIE are required for biofilm formation and virulence of enteropathogenic escherichia coli

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posted on 2012-06-01, 00:00 authored by Debbie BaldiDebbie Baldi, E Higginson, D Hocking, J Praszkier, R Cavaliere, C James, V Bennett-Wood, K Azzopardi, L Turnbull, T Lithgow, R Robins-Browne, C Whitchurch, M Tauschek
Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a major cause of diarrhea in infants in developing countries. We have identified a functional type II secretion system (T2SS) in EPEC that is homologous to the pathway responsible for the secretion of heat-labile enterotoxin by enterotoxigenic E. coli. The wild-type EPEC T2SS was able to secrete a heat-labile enterotoxin reporter, but an isogenic T2SS mutant could not. We showed that the major substrate of the T2SS in EPEC is SslE, an outer membrane lipoprotein (formerly known as YghJ), and that a functional T2SS is essential for biofilm formation by EPEC. T2SS and SslE mutants were arrested at the microcolony stage of biofilm formation, suggesting that the T2SS is involved in the development of mature biofilms and that SslE is a dominant effector of biofilm development. Moreover, the T2SS was required for virulence, as infection of rabbits with a rabbit-specific EPEC strain carrying a mutation in either the T2SS or SslE resulted in significantly reduced intestinal colonization and milder disease.

History

Journal

Infection and immunity

Volume

80

Pagination

2042-2052

Location

Washington, D. C.

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

0019-9567

eISSN

1098-5522

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2012, American Society for Microbiology

Issue

6

Publisher

American Society for Microbiology