Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Microbial Megaplasmids pp 151–170Cite as

The Virulence Plasmids of Shigella flexneri

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Microbiology Monographs ((MICROMONO,volume 11))

Abstract

Shigella species and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli possess a large virulence plasmid that carries the genes necessary for invasion and colonization of the epithelial cell layer of the human gut resulting in dysentery. The plasmid is a hybrid molecule with a complex evolutionary history. The genes required for expression of the type III secretion system and many of the effector proteins involved in the early stage of invasion are grouped within a segment of A + T-rich DNA known as the entry region. Other A + T-rich genes coding for additional effectors and regulatory proteins are scattered around the plasmid. There is a central role for the H—NS nucleoid-associated protein in repressing these genes and their expression is activated via a complicated regulatory cascade involving at least three plasmid-located genes (virF, virB and mxiE) and a multitude of chromosomally located regulatory loci. One of the regulatory proteins, VirB, is closely related to the family of ParB-like plasmid partitioning factors. The virulence plasmid possesses two complete plasmid partitioning systems (ParA—ParB—parS and StbA— StbB) and two toxin-antidote postsegregational killing systems (CcdA—CcdB and MvpT—MvpA). The modern virulence plasmid is incapable of self-transmission via conjugation but it retains vestiges of a now-defunct plasmid transfer system that is related to that of the F plasmid.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aderem A, Ulevitch RJ (2000) Toll-like receptors in the induction of the innate immune response. Nature 406:782–787

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Adler B, Sasakawa C, Tobe T, Makino S, Komatsu K, Yoshikawa M (1989) A dual transcriptional activation system for the 230 kb plasmid genes coding for virulence-associated antigens of Shigella flexneri. Mol Microbiol 3:627–635

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Afif H, Allali N, Couturier M, Van Melderen L (2001) The ratio between CcdA and CcdB modulates the transcriptional repression of the ccd poison-antidote system. Mol Microbiol 41:73–82

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allaoui A, Ménard R, Sansonetti PJ, Parsot C (1993a) Characterization of the Shigella flexneri ipgD and ipgF genes, which are located in the proximal part of the mxi locus. Infect Immun 61:1707–1714

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allaoui A, Sansonetti PJ, Parsot C (1993b) MxiD, an outer membrane protein necessary for the secretion of the Shigella flexneri Ipa invasins. Mol Microbiol 7:59–68

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews GP, Maurelli AT (1992) mxiA of Shigella flexneri 2a, which facilitates export of invasion plasmid antigens, encodes a homolog of the low-calcium-response protein, LcrD, of Yersinia pestis. Infect Immun 60:3287–3295

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Atlung T, Ingmer H (1997) H-NS: a modulator of environmentally regulated gene expression. Mol Microbiol 24:7–17

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bahrani FK, Sansonetti PJ, Parsot C (1997) Secretion of Ipa proteins by Shigella flexneri: inducer molecules and kinetics of activation. Infect Immun 65:4005–4010

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baudry B, Kaczorek M, Sansonetti PJ (1988) Nucleotide sequence of the invasion plasmid antigen B and C genes (ipaB and ipaC) of Shigella flexneri. Microb Pathog 4:345–357

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beloin C, Dorman CJ (2003) An extended role for the nucleoid structuring protein H-NS in the virulence gene regulatory cascade of Shigella flexneri. Mol Microbiol 47:825–838

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beloin C, McKenna S, Dorman CJ (2002) Molecular dissection of VirB, a key regulator of the virulence cascade of Shigella flexneri. J Biol Chem 277:15333–15344

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardini ML, Mounier J, d'Hauteville H, Coquis-Rondon M, Sansonetti PJ (1989) Identification of icsA, a plasmid locus of Shigella flexneri that governs bacterial intra- and intercellular spread through interaction with F-actin. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 86:3867–3871

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardini ML, Fontaine A, Sansonetti PJ (1990) The two-component regulatory system ompR-envZ controls the virulence of Shigella flexneri. J Bacteriol 172:6274–6281

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bertin P, Benhabiles N, Krin E, Laurent-Winter C, Tendeng C, Turlin E, Thomas A, Danchin A, vrasseur R (1999) The structural and functional organization of H-NS-like proteins is evolutionarily conserved in Gram-negative bacteria. Mol Microbiol 31: 319–329

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blocker A, Gounon P, Larquet E, Niebuhr K, Cabiaux V, Parsot C, Sansonetti P (1999) The tripartite type III secreton of Shigella flexneri inserts IpaB and IpaC into host membranes. J Cell Biol 147:683–693

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blocker A, Jouihri N, Larquet E, Gounon P, Ebel F, Parsot C, Sansonetti PJ, Allaoui A (2001) Structure and composition of the Shigella flexneri “needle complex”, a part of its type III secreton. Mol Microbiol 39:652–663

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bouffartigues E, Buckle M, Badaut C, Travers A, Rimsky S (2007) H-NS cooperative binding to high-affinity sites in a regulatory element results in transcriptional silencing. Nat Struct Mol Biol 14:441–448

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buchrieser C, Glaser P, Rusniok C, Nedjari H, D'Hauteville H, Kunst F, Sansonetti P, Parsot C (2000) The virulence plasmid pWR100 and the repertoire of proteins secreted by the type III secretion apparatus of Shigella flexneri. Mol Microbiol 38:760–771

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y, Smith MR, Thirumalai K, Zychlinsky A (1996) A bacterial invasin induces macrophage apoptosis by directly binding ICE. EMBO J 15:3853–3860

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colonna B, Casalino M, Fradiani PA, Zagaglia C, Naitza S, Leoni L, Prosseda G, Coppo A, Ghelardini P, Nicoletti M (1995) H-NS regulation of virulence gene expression in enteroinvasive Escherichia coli harboring the virulence plasmid integrated into the host chromosome. J Bacteriol 177:4703–4712

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dame RT (2005) The role of nucleoid-associated proteins in the organization and compaction of bacterial chromatin. Mol Microbiol 56:858–870

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dame RT, Noom MC, Wuite GJ (2006) Bacterial chromatin organization by H-NS protein unravelled using dual DNA manipulation. Nature 444:387–390

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Datta N, Kontomichalou P (1965) Penicillinase synthesis controlled by infectious R factors in Enterobacteriaceae. Nature 208:239–241

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dobrindt U, Hochhut B, Hentschel U, Hacker J (2004) Genomic islands in pathogenic and environmental microorganisms. Nat Rev Microbiol 2:414–424

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dorman CJ (2004a) Virulence gene regulation in Shigella. In: Curtiss III R, Ingraham JL, Kaper JB, Maloy S, Neidhardt FC, Riley MM, Squires CJ, Wanner BL, Bock A (eds) Escherichia coli and Salmonella: cellular and molecular biology, 3rd edn., EcoSal online. Posted 29th December, 2004 at http://www.ecosal.org. American Society for Microbiology, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorman CJ (2004b) H-NS: a universal regulator for a dynamic genome. Nature Rev Microbiol 2:391–400

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dorman CJ (2007a) H-NS, the genome sentinel. Nat Rev Microbiol 5:157–161

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dorman CJ (2007b) Probing bacterial nucleoid structure with optical tweezers. BioEssays 29:212–216

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dorman CJ, Porter ME (1998) The Shigella virulence gene regulatory cascade, a paradigm of bacterial gene control mechanisms. Mol Microbiol 29:677–684

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dorman CJ, Ní Bhriain N, Higgins CF (1990) DNA supercoiling and environmental regulation of virulence gene expression in Shigella flexneri. Nature 344:789–792

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dorman CJ, Hinton JCD, Free A (1999) Homo- and hetero-oligomerization among H-NS-like nucleoid-associated proteins in bacteria. Trends Microbiol 7:124–128

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dorman CJ, McKenna S, Beloin C (2001) Regulation of virulence gene expression in Shigella flexneri, a facultative intracellular pathogen. Int J Med Microbiol 291:89–96

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DuPont HL, Levine MM, Hornick RB, Formal SB (1989) Inoculum size in shigellosis and implications for expected mode of transmission. J Infect Dis 159:1126–1128

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durand JMB, Björk GR (2003) Putrescine or a combination of methionine and arginine restores virulence gene expression in a tRNA modification-deficient mutant of Shigella flexneri: a possible role in adaptation of virulence. Mol Microbiol 47:519–527

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durand JMB, Dagberg B, Uhlin BE, Björk GR (2000) Transfer RNA modification, temperature and DNA superhelicity have a common target in the regulatory network of the virulence of Shigella flexneri: the expression of the virF gene. Mol Microbiol 35:924–935

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Escobar-Paramo P, Giudicelli C, Parsot C, Denamur E (2003) The evolutionary history of Shigella and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli revised. J Mol Evol 57:140–148

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Esposito D, Petrovic A, Harris R, Ono S, Eccleston JF, Mbabaali A, Haq I, Higgins CF, Hinton JC, Driscoll PC, Ladbury JE (2002) H-NS oligomerization domain structure reveals the mechanism for high order self-association of the intact protein. J Mol Biol 324:841–850

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Falconi M, Colonna B, Prosseda G, Micheli G, Gualerzi CO (1998) Thermoregulation of Shigella and Escherichia coli EIEC pathogenicity. A temperature-dependent structural transition of DNA modulates accessibility of virF promoter to transcriptional repressor H-NS. EMBO J 17:7033–7043

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Falconi M, Prosseda G, Giangrossi M, Beghetto E, Colonna B (2001) Involvement of FIS in the H-NS-mediated regulation of virF gene of Shigella and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli. Mol Microbiol 42:439–452

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Prada CM, Hoover DL, Tall BD, Hartman AB, Kopelowitz J, Venkatesan MM (2000) Shigella flexneri IpaH 7.8 facilitates escape of virulent bacteria from the endocytic vacuoles of mouse and human macrophages. Infect Immun 68:3608–3619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg MB (2001) Actin-based motility of intracellular bacterial pathogens. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 65:595–626

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hacker J, Hochhut B, Middendorf B, Schneider G, Buchrieser C, Gottschalk G, Dobrindt U (2004) Pathogenomics of mobile genetic elements of toxigenic bacteria. Int J Med Microbiol 293:453–461

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hale TL, Sansonetti PJ, Schad PA, Austin S, Formal SB (1983) Characterization of virulence plasmids and plasmid-associated outer membrane proteins in Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, and Escherichia coli. Infect Immun 40:340–350

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hromockyj AE, Tucker SC, Maurelli AT (1992) Temperature regulation of Shigella virulence: identification of the repressor gene virR, an analogue of hns, and partial complementation by tyrosyl transfer RNA (tRNA1(Tyr)). Mol Microbiol 6:2113–2124

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe A, Ogura T, Hiraga S (1985) Effects of the ccd function of the F plasmid on growth. J Bacteriol 163:841–849

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang Y, Yang F, Zhang X, Yang J, Chen L, Yan Y, Nie H, Xiong Z, Wang J, Dong J, Xue Y, Xu X, Zhu Y, Chen S, Jin Q (2005) The complete sequence and analysis of the large virulence plasmid pSS of Shigella sonnei. Plasmid 54:149–159

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jin Q, Yuan Z, Xu J, Wang Y, Shen Y, Lu W, Wang J, Liu H, Yang J, Yang F, Zhang X, Zhang J, Yang G, Wu H, Qu D, Dong J, Sun L, Xue Y, Zhao A, Gao Y, Zhu J, Kan B, Ding K, Chen S, Cheng H, Yao Z, He B, Chen R, Ma D, Qiang B, Wen Y, Hou Y, Yu J (2002) Genome sequence of Shigella flexneri 2a: insights into pathogenicity through comparison with genomes of Escherichia coli K12 and O157. Nucleic Acids Res 30:4432–4441

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jung HC, Eckmann L, Yang SK, Panja A, Fierer J, Morzycka-Wroblewska E, Kagnoff MF (1995) A distinct array of proinflammatory cytokines is expressed in human epithelial cells in response to bacterial invasion. J Clin Invest 95:55–62

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kane CD, Schuch R, Day WA Jr, Maurelli AT (2002) MxiE regulates intracellular expression of factors secreted by the Shigella flexneri 2a type III secretion system. J Bacteriol 184:4409–4419

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kjemtrup S, Nimchuk Z, Dangl JL (2000) Effector proteins of phytopathogenic bacteria: bifunctional signals in virulence and host recognition. Curr Opin Microbiol 3:73–78

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kotloff KL, Winickoff JP, Ivanoff B, Clemens JD, Swerdlow DL, Sansonetti PJ, Adak GK, Levine MM (1999) Global burden of Shigella infections: implications for vaccine development and implementation of control strategies. Bull World Health Organ 77:651–666

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LaBrec EH, Schneider H, Mangani TJ, Formal SB (1964) Epithelial cell penetration as an essential step in the pathogenesis of bacillary dysentery. J Bacteriol 88:1503–1518

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lan R, Lumb B, Ryan D, Reeves PR (2001) Molecular evolution of large virulence plasmid in Shigella clones and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli. Infect. Immun. 69:6303–6309

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lan R, Stevenson G, Reeves PR (2003) Comparison of two major forms of the Shigella virulence plasmid pINV: positive selection is a major force driving the divergence. Infect Immun 71:6298–6306

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lan R, Alles MC, Donohue K, Martinez MB, Reeves PR (2004) Molecular evolutionary relationships of enteroinvasive Escherichia coli and Shigella spp. Infect Immun 72:5080–5088

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Le Gall T, Mavris M, Martino MC, Bernardini ML, Denamur E, Parsot C (2005) Analysis of virulence plasmid gene expression defines three classes of effectors in the type III secretion system of Shigella flexneri. Microbiol 151:951–962

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lucchini S, Liu H, Jin Q, Hinton JC, Yu J (2005) Transcriptional adaptation of Shigella flexneri during infection of macrophages and epithelial cells: insights into the strategies of a cytosolic bacterial pathogen. Infect Immun 73:88–102

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lucchini S, Rowley G, Goldberg MD, Hurd D, Harrison M, Hinton JCD (2006) H-NS mediates the silencing of laterally acquired genes in bacteria. PLoS Pathog 2:748–752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makino S, Sasakawa C, Yoshikawa M (1988) Genetic relatedness of the basic replicon of the virulence plasmid in shigellae and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli. Microb Pathog 5:267–274

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maurelli AT, Sansonetti PJ (1988) Identification of a chromosomal gene controlling temperature-regulated expression of Shigella virulence. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85:2820–2824

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maurelli AT, Blackmon B, Curtiss RIII (1984) Temperature-dependent expression of virulence genes in Shigella species. Infect Immun 43:195–201

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mavris M, Page AL, Tournebize R, Demers B, Sansonetti PJ, Parsot C (2002a) Regulation of transcription by the activity of the Shigella flexneri type III secretion apparatus. Mol Microbiol 43:1543–1553

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mavris M, Sansonetti PJ, Parsot C (2002b) Identification of the cis-acting site involved in activation of promoters regulated by activity of the type III secretion apparatus in Shigella flexneri J Bacteriol 184:6751–6759

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McNairn E, Ní Bhriain N, Dorman CJ (1995) Over-expression of the Shigella flexneri genes coding for DNA topoisomerase IV compensates for loss of DNA topoisomerase I: Effect on virulence gene expression. Mol Microbiol 15:507–517

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ménard R, Sansonetti P, Parsot C (1994a) The secretion of the Shigella flexneri Ipa invasins is activated by epithelial cells and controlled by IpaB and IpaD. EMBO J 13:5293–5302

    Google Scholar 

  • Ménard R, Sansonetti PJ, Parsot C, Vasselon T (1994b) Extracellular association and cytoplasmic partitioning of the IpaB and IpaC invasins of S flexneri. Cell 79:515–525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills JA, Venkatesan MM, Baron LS, Buysse JM (1992) Spontaneous insertion of an IS 1-like element into the virF gene is responsible for avirulence in opaque colonial variants of Shigella flexneri 2a. Infect Immun 60:175–182

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy ER, Payne SM (2007) RyhB, an iron-responsive small RNA molecule, regulates Shigella dysenteriae virulence. Infect Immun 75:3470–3477

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nakaya R, Nakamura A, Murata Y (1960) Resistance transfer agents in Shigella. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 3:654–659

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nakayama S, Watanabe H (1995) Involvement of cpxA, a sensor of a two-component regulatory system, in the pH-dependent regulation of expression of Shigella sonnei virF gene. J Bacteriol 177:5062–5069

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nakayama S, Watanabe H (1998) Identification of cpxR as a positive regulator essential for expression of the Shigella flexneri virF gene. J Bacteriol 180:3522–3528

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Navarre WW, Zychlinsky A (2000) Pathogen-induced apoptosis of macrophages: a common end for different pathogenic strategies. Cell Microbiol 2:265–273

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Navarre WW, Porwollik S, Wang Y, McClelland M, Rosen H, Libby SJ, Fang FC (2006) Selective silencing of foreign DNA with low GC content by the H-NS protein in Salmonella enterica Sv. Typhimurium. Science 313:236–238

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ni Bhriain N, Dorman CJ (1993) Identification and characterization of a topA mutation in Shigella flexneri. Mol Microbiol 7:351–358

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Niebuhr K, Jouihri N, Allaoui A, Gounon P, Sansonetti PJ, Parsot C (2000) IpgD, a protein secreted by the type III secretion machinery of Shigella flexneri, is chaperoned by IpgE and implicated in entry focus formation. Mol Microbiol 38:8–19

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Niyogi SK (2005) Shigellosis. J Microbiol 43:133–143

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nordstrom K (2006) Plasmid R1 — replication and its control. Plasmid 55:1–26

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oglesby AG, Murphy ER, Iyer VR, Payne SM (2005) Fur regulates acid resistance in Shigella flexneri via RyhB and ydeP. Mol Microbiol 58:1354–1367

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Page AL, Ohayon H, Sansonetti PJ, Parsot C (1999) The secreted IpaB and IpaC invasins and their cytoplasmic chaperone IpgC are required for intercellular dissemination of Shigella flexneri Cell Microbiol 1:183–193

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Page AL, Fromont-Racine M, Sansonetti PJ, Legrain P, Parsot C (2001) Characterization of the interaction partners of secreted proteins and chaperones of Shigella flexneri. Mol Microbiol 42:1133–1145

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parsot C (2005) Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli pathogenicity factors. FEMS Microbiol Lett 252:11–18

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parsot C, Ménard R, Gounon P, Sansonetti PJ (1995) Enhanced secretion through the Shigella flexneri Mxi-Spa translocon leads to assembly of extracellular proteins into macromolecular structures. Mol Microbiol 16:291–300

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Penno C, Parsot C (2006) Transcriptional slippage in mxiE controls transcription and translation of the downstream mxiD gene, which encodes a component of the Shigella flexneri type III secretion apparatus. J Bacteriol 188:1196–1198

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Penno C, Sansonetti P, Parsot C (2005) Frameshifting by transcriptional slippage is involved in production of MxiE, the transcription activator regulated by the activity of the type III secretion apparatus in Shigella flexneri. Mol Microbiol 56:204–214

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Penno C, Hachani A, Biskri L, Sansonetti P, Allaoui A, Parsot C (2006) Transcriptional slippage controls production of type III secretion apparatus components in Shigella flexneri. Mol Microbiol 62:1460–1468

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perdomo JJ, Gounon P, Sansonetti PJ (1994a) Polymorphonuclear leukocyte transmigration promotes invasion of colonic epithelial monolayer by Shigella flexneri. J Clin Invest 93:633–643

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perdomo OJ, Cavaillon JM, Huerre M, Ohayon H, Gounon P, Sansonetti PJ (1994b) Acute inflammation causes epithelial invasion and mucosal destruction in experimental shigellosis. J Exp Med 180:1307–1319

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Phalipon A, Sansonetti PJ (2007) Shigella's ways of manipulating the host intestinal innate and adaptive immune system: a tool box for survival? Immunol Cell Biol 85:119–129

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Philpott DJ, Edgeworth JD, Sansonetti PJ (2000) The pathogenesis of Shigella flexneri infection: lessons from in vitro and in vivo studies. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 355:575–586

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Porter ME, Dorman CJ (1994) A role for H-NS in the thermo-osmotic regulation of virulence gene expression in Shigella flexneri. J Bacteriol 176:4187–4191

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Porter ME, Dorman CJ (1997) Positive regulation of Shigella flexneri virulence genes by integration host factor. J Bacteriol 179:6537–6550

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Porter ME, Dorman CJ (2002) In vivo DNA-binding and oligomerization properties of the Shigella flexneri AraC-like transcriptional regulator VirF as identified by random and site-specific mutagenesis. J Bacteriol 184:531–539

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prévost MC, Lesourd M, Arpin M, Vernel F, Mounier J, Hellio R, Sansonetti PJ (1992) Unipolar reorganization of F-actin layer at bacterial division and bundling of actin filaments by plastin correlate with movement of Shigella flexneri within HeLa cells. Infect Immun 60:4088–4099

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prosseda G, Falconi M, Giangrossi M, Gualerzi CO, Micheli G, Colonna B (2004) The virF promoter in Shigella: more than just a curved DNA stretch. Mol Microbiol 51:523–537

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Radnedge L, David MA, Youngren B, Austin SJ (1997) Plasmid maintenance functions of the large virulence plasmid of Shigella flexneri. J Bacteriol 179:3670–3675

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rice PA, Yang S, Mizuuchi K, Nash HA (1996) Crystal structure of an IHF-DNA complex: a protein-induced DNA U-turn. Cell 87:1295–1306

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rimsky S (2004) Structure of the histone-like protein H-NS and its role in regulation and genome superstructure. Curr Opin Microbiol 7:109–114

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rimsky S, Zuber F, Buckle M, Buc H (2001) A molecular mechanism for the repression of transcription by the H-NS protein. Mol Microbiol 42:1311–1323

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sansonetti PJ (2006) Shigellosis: an old disease in new clothes? PLoS Med 3:e354

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sansonetti PJ, Phalipon A (1999) M cells as ports of entry for enteroinvasive pathogens: mechanisms of interaction, consequences for the disease process. Semin Immunol 11:193–203

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sansonetti PJ, Arondel J, Huerre M, Harada A, Matsushima K (1999) Interleukin-8 controls bacterial transepithelial translocation at the cost of epithelial destruction in experimental shigellosis. Infect Immun 67:1471–1480

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sansonetti PJ, Kopecko DJ, Formal SB (1982) Involvement of a plasmid in the invasive ability of Shigella flexneri. Infect Immun 35:852–860

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sansonetti PJ, Hale TL, Dammin GJ, Kapfer C, Collins HH Jr, Formal SB (1983) Alterations in the pathogenicity of Escherichia coli K-12 after transfer of plasmid and chromosomal genes from Shigella flexneri. Infect Immun 39:1392–1402

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sansonetti PJ, Mounier J, Prévost MC, Mege RM (1994) Cadherin expression is required for the spread of Shigella flexneri between epithelial cells. Cell 5:829–839

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sasakawa C, Kamata K, Sakai T, Murayama SY, Makino S, Yoshikawa M (1986) Molecular alteration of the 140-megadalton plasmid associated with loss of virulence and Congo red binding activity in Shigella flexneri. Infect Immun 51:470–475

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sasakawa C, Adler B, Tobe T, Okada N, Nagai S, Komatsu K, Yoshikawa M (1989) Functional organization and nucleotide sequence of virulence Region-2 on the large virulence plasmid in Shigella flexneri 2a. Mol Microbiol 3:1191–1201

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sasakawa C, Komatsu K, Tobe T, Suzuki T, Yoshikawa M (1993) Eight genes in region 5 that form an operon are essential for invasion of epithelial cells by Shigella flexneri 2a. J Bacteriol 175:2334–2346

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sayeed S, Reaves L, Radnedge L, Austin SJ (2000) The stability region of the large virulence plasmid of Shigella flexneri encodes an efficient postsegregational killing system. J Bacteriol 182:2416–2421

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sayeed S, Brendler T, Davis M, Reaves L, Austin S (2005) Surprising dependence on postsegre-gational killing of host cells for maintenance of the large virulence plasmid in Shigella flexneri J Bacteriol 187:2768–2773

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schuch R, Maurelli AT (1997) Virulence plasmid instability in Shigella flexneri 2a is induced by virulence gene expression. Infect Immun 65:3686–3692

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sergueev K, Dabrazhynetskaya A, Austin S (2005) Plasmid partition system of the P1par family from the pWR1000 virulence plasmid of Shigella flexneri. J Bacteriol 187:3369–3373

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silva RM, Saadi S, Maas WK (1988) A basic replicon of virulence-associated plasmids of Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli is homologous with a basic replicon in plasmids of IncF groups. Infect Immun 56:836–842

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stella S, Spurio R, Falconi M, Pon CL, Gualerzi CO (2005) Nature and mechanism of the in vivo oligomerization of nucleoid protein H-NS. EMBO J 24:2896–2905

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Taniya T, Mirobe J, Nakayama S-I, Mingshan Q, Okuda K, Watanabe H (2003) Determination of the InvE binding site required for expression of IpaB of the Shigella sonnei virulence plasmid: involvement of a ParB BoxA-like sequence. J Bacteriol 185:5158–5165

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tendeng C, Bertin PN (2003) H-NS in Gram-negative bacteria: a family of multifaceted proteins. Trends Microbiol 11:511–518

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tobe T, Yoshikawa M, Mizuno T, Sasakawa C (1993) Transcriptional control of the invasion regulatory gene virB of Shigella flexneri: activation by VirF and repression by H-NS. J Bacteriol 175:6142–6149

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tobe T, Yoshikawa M, Sasakawa C (1995) Thermoregulation of virB transcription in Shigella flexneri by sensing of changes in local DNA superhelicity. J Bacteriol 177:1094–1097

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turner EC, Dorman CJ (2007) H-NS antagonism in Shigella flexneri by VirB, a virulence gene transcription regulator that is closely related to plasmid partition factors. J Bacteriol 189:3403–3413

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Melderen L (2002) Molecular interactions of the CcdB poison with its bacterial target, the DNA gyrase. Int J Med Microbiol 291:537–544

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vasselon T, Mounier J, Hellio R, Sansonetti PJ (1992) Movement along actin filaments of the peri-junctional area and de novo polymerization of cellular actin are required for Shigella flexneri colonization of epithelial Caco-2 cell monolayers. Infect Immun 60:1031–1040

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Venkatesan MM, Buysse JM (1990) Nucleotide sequence of invasion plasmid antigen gene ipaA from Shigella flexneri 5. Nucleic Acids Res 18:1648

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Venkatesan MM, Buysse JM, Oaks EV (1992) Surface presentation of Shigella flexneri invasion plasmid antigens requires the products of the spa locus. J Bacteriol 174:1990–2001

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Venkatesan MM, Goldberg MB, Rose DJ, Grotbeck EJ, Burland V, Blattner FR (2001) Complete DNA sequence and analysis of the large virulence plasmid of Shigella flexneri. Infect Immun 69:3271–3285

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wassef JS, Keren DF, Mailloux JL (1989) Role of M cells in initial antigen uptake and in ulcer formation in the rabbit intestinal loop model of shigellosis. Infect Immun 57:858–863

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watarai M, Tobe T, Yoshikawa M, Sasakawa C (1995) Contact of Shigella with host cells triggers release of Ipa invasins and is an essential function of invasiveness. EMBO J 14:2461–2470

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wei J, Goldberg MB, Burland V, Venkatesan MM, Deng W, Fournier G, Mayhew GF, Plunkett G III, Rose DJ, Darling A, Mau B, Perna NT, Payne SM, Runyen-Janecky LJ, Zhou S, Schwartz DC, Blattner FR (2003) Complete genome sequence and comparative genomics of Shigella flexneri serotype 2a strain 2457T. Infect Immun 71:2775–2786

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Huan N, Chen L, Zhang X, Yang F, Xu X, Zhu Y, Yu J, Jin Q (2007) Revisiting the molecular evolutionary history of Shigella spp. J Mol Evol 64:71–79

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zagaglia C, Casalino M, Colonna B, Conti C, Calconi A, Nicoletti M (1991) Virulence plasmids of enteroinvasive Escherichia coli and Shigella flexneri integrate into a specific site on the host chromosome: integration greatly reduces expression of plasmid-carried virulence genes. Infect Immun 59:792–799

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zychlinsky A, Sansonetti PJ (1997) Apoptosis as a proinflammatory event: what can we learn from bacteria-induced cell death? Trends Microbiol. 5:201–204

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zychlinsky A, Kenny B, Ménard R, Prévost MC, Holland IB, Sansonetti PJ (1994) IpaB mediates macrophage apoptosis induced by Shigella flexneri. Mol Microbiol 11:619–627

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I thank Niamh Ní Bhriain for a critical reading of the manuscript. Research in my laboratory is supported by grants from Science Foundation Ireland, the Wellcome Trust, and the Health Research Board.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, School of Genetics and Microbiology, Moyne Institute of Preventive Medicine, University of Dublin,Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

    Charles J. Dorman

Authors
  1. Charles J. Dorman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut fuer Biologie, Mikrobiologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Chausseestr. 117, Berlin, 10115, Germany

    Edward Schwartz

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dorman, C.J. (2009). The Virulence Plasmids of Shigella flexneri . In: Schwartz, E. (eds) Microbial Megaplasmids. Microbiology Monographs, vol 11. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-85467-8_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation