Abstract
In extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) strains, mutation in the PstSCAB inorganic phosphate transporter results in multiple sensitivity phenotypes and loss of virulence. Here, we show that a pst mutant is subject to an increased outer membrane permeability and that pst copy number influences fatty acids regulation. Such perturbations are likely to participate in the impaired response of pst mutants to their environment.
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Acknowledgements
We thank C. Uhland, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, for using the GC facilities and his technical advice during this study and Céline Forget for preliminary work on GC. We also thank Philippe Garneau and Nicolas Bertrand for their work on qRT-PCR and antibiogram assays respectively. We are grateful to M. Mourez, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, for his critical reading of the manuscript and technical advice during this study. M.G. Lamarche was supported by the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT). This work was supported by grants to J. Harel from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN-25120).
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Lamarche, M.G., Harel, J. Membrane Homeostasis Requires Intact pst in Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli . Curr Microbiol 60, 356–359 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-009-9549-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-009-9549-x