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Trimeric autotransporter adhesins contribute to Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae pathogenicity in mice and regulate bacterial gene expression during interactions between bacteria and porcine primary alveolar macrophages

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Abstract

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is an important pathogen that causes respiratory disease in pigs. Trimeric autotransporter adhesin (TAA) is a recently discovered bacterial virulence factor that mediates bacterial adhesion and colonization. Two TAA coding genes have been found in the genome of A. pleuropneumoniae strain 5b L20, but whether they contribute to bacterial pathogenicity is unclear. In this study, we used homologous recombination to construct a double-gene deletion mutant, ΔTAA, in which both TAA coding genes were deleted and used it in in vivo and in vitro studies to confirm that TAAs participate in bacterial auto-aggregation, biofilm formation, cell adhesion and virulence in mice. A microarray analysis was used to determine whether TAAs can regulate other A. pleuropneumoniae genes during interactions with porcine primary alveolar macrophages. The results showed that deletion of both TAA coding genes up-regulated 36 genes, including ene1514, hofB and tbpB2, and simultaneously down-regulated 36 genes, including lgt, murF and ftsY. These data illustrate that TAAs help to maintain full bacterial virulence both directly, through their bioactivity, and indirectly by regulating the bacterial type II and IV secretion systems and regulating the synthesis or secretion of virulence factors. This study not only enhances our understanding of the role of TAAs but also has significance for those studying A. pleuropneumoniae pathogenesis.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (No. 20130061110089) and from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31372447).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, People’s Republic of China

    Wanhai Qin, Lei Wang, Ruidong Zhai, Qiuyue Ma, Jianfang Liu, Chuntong Bao, Changjiang Sun, Xin Feng, Jingmin Gu, Chongtao Du, Wenyu Han & Liancheng Lei

  2. College of Animal Science, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, People’s Republic of China

    Lei Wang

  3. School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, People’s Republic of China

    Hu Zhang

  4. Section of Paediatrics, Imperial College London, London, UK

    P. R. Langford

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  1. Wanhai Qin
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  2. Lei Wang
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  3. Ruidong Zhai
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Wanhai Qin and Lei Wang are joint first authors.

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Qin, W., Wang, L., Zhai, R. et al. Trimeric autotransporter adhesins contribute to Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae pathogenicity in mice and regulate bacterial gene expression during interactions between bacteria and porcine primary alveolar macrophages. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 109, 51–70 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-015-0609-x

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