Abstract
Streptococcus suis is a major bacterial pathogen of swine and an emerging zoonotic agent that has to date resulted in substantial economic losses to the swine industry worldwide, and can cause persistent infection by forming biofilms. GrpE and histidine protein kinase ComD are important proteins implicated in the pathogenicity of S. suis, although whether they play roles in adhesion and biofilm formation has yet to be sufficiently clarified. In this study, we constructed grpE and comD deletion strains of S. suis by homologous recombination, and examined their cell adhesion and biofilm formation capacities compared with those of the wild-type strain. The pathogenicity of the grpE and comD deletion strains was evaluated using a mouse infection model, which revealed that compared with the wild-type, these deletion strains induced milder symptoms and lower bacteremia, as well as comparatively minor organ (brain, spleen, liver, and lung) lesions, in the infected mice. Moreover, the deletion of grpE and comD significantly reduced the pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α) induction capacity of S. suis. Collectively, the findings of this study indicate that the GrpE and ComD proteins of Streptococcus suis play key roles in the adherence to PK-15 cells and the formation of biofilms, thereby contributing to the virulence of this pathogen.
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This work was supported by the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA, the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31772787) and the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province, China (Grant No. LH2020C024).
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YHL and GW designed the whole study. FY and CLD directed the completion of the experiment and drafted the manuscript. YFZ, RXC, CMX, YYL, ZYZ, LL, XYC, XHC were supportive during the experiment. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
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Communicated by Yusuf Akhter.
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Yu, F., Dong, C., Zhang, Y. et al. GrpE and ComD contribute to the adherence, biofilm formation, and pathogenicity of Streptococcus suis. Arch Microbiol 205, 159 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-023-03503-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-023-03503-1