Abstract
To identify virulence-associated genes of a fish pathogen Yersinia ruckeri, we screened a total of 1056 mini-Tn5-Km2 signature-tagged mutants in rainbow trout by immersion challenge. Of 1056, 25 mutants were found survival-defective as they could not be re-isolated from fish kidney 7 days after infection. Mutated gene in F2-4 mutant, one of the 25 mutants, was homologous to uvrY that encodes UvrY response regulator of BarA–UvrY two-component system (TCS). Mutant F2-4 was significantly more sensitive (P < 0.05) to H2O2-mediated killing and was less able to infect Epithelioma papulosum cyprini cells. However, UvrY mutation did not affect survival of F2-4 mutant in the presence of non-immune fish serum and its ability to grow under iron starvation. In a time-course co-infection, mutant F2-4 had lower bacterial loads on day 1 itself, and by day 5 there was nearly a 1,000-fold difference in infection levels of the parent and mutant strains. The barA homolog of Y. ruckeri was PCR-amplified and sequence analyses identified four domains that were characteristic of hybrid histidine kinases. To conclude, the BarA–UvrY TCS contributes to the pathogenesis of Y. ruckeri in its natural host rainbow trout, possibly by regulating invasion of epithelial cells and sensitivity to oxidative stress induced by immune cells.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Afonso A, Silva J, Lousada S, Ellis AE, Silva MT (1998) Uptake of neutrophils and neutrophilic components by macrophages in the inflamed peritoneal cavity of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Fish Shellf Immunol 8:319–338
Ahmer MMB, van Reeuwijk J, Watson PR, Wallis TS, Heffron F (1999) Salmonella SirA is a global regulator of genes mediating enteropathogenesis. Mol Microbiol 31:971–982
Charnetzky WT, Shuford WW (1985) Survival of Yersinia pestis within macrophages and an effect of the loss of the 47-Megadalton plasmid on growth in macrophages. Infect Immun 47:234–241
Fernandez L, Marquez I, Guijarro JA (2004) Identification of specific in vivo-induced (ivi) genes in Yersinia ruckeri and analysis of ruckerbactin, a catecholate siderophore iron-acquisition system. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:5199–5207
Fernandez L, Mendez J, Guijarro JA (2007a) Molecular virulence mechanisms of fish pathogen Yersinia ruckeri. Vet Microbiol 125:1–10
Fernandez L, Prieto M, Guijarro JA (2007b) The iron- and temperature-regulated hemolysin YhlA is a virulence factor for Yersinia ruckeri. Microbiology 153:483–489
Heroven KA, Böhme K, Rohde M, Dersch PA (2008) Csr-type regulatory system, including small non-coding RNAs, regulates the global virulence regulator RovA of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis through RovM. Mol Microbiol 68:1179–1195
Herren D, Mitra A, Palaniyandi SK, Coleman A, Elankumaran S, Mukhopadhyay S (2006) The BarA-UvrY two-component system regulates virulence in avian pathogenic Escherichia coli O78:K80:H9. Infect Immun 74:4900–4909
Indervesh D, Stevenson RMW (2010a) The ZnuABC operon is important for Yersinia ruckeri infections in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). J Fish Dis 33:331–340
Indervesh D, Stevenson RMW (2010b) Yersinia ruckeri genes that attenuate survival in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are identified by signature-tagged mutants. Vet Microbiol. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2010.02.003
Johnston C, Pegues DA, Hueck CJ, Lee CA, Miller SI (1996) Transcriptional activation of Salmonella typhimurium genes by a member of the phosphorylated response-regulator superfamily. Mol Microbiol 22:715–727
Kawula HT, Lelivelt MJ, Orndorff PE (1996) Using a new inbred fish model and cultured fish tissue cells to study Aeromonas hydrophila and Yersinia ruckeri pathogenesis. Microb Pathog 20:119–125
Kotetishvili M, Kreger A, Wauters G, Morris JG Jr, Sulakvelidze A, Stine OC (2005) Multilocus sequence typing for studying genetic relationship among Yersinia species. J Clin Microbiol 43:2674–2684
Landre JPB, Gravriel AA, Rust RC, Lamb AJ (2000) The response of Aeromonas hydrophila to oxidative stress induces by exposure to hydrogen peroxide. J Appl Microbiol 89:145–151
Lehoux D, Sanschagrin F, Levesque RC (1999) Defined oligonucleotide tag pools and PCR screening in signature-tagged mutagenesis of essential genes from bacteria. Biotechniques 26:473–480
Liao CH, McCallus DE, Wells JM, Tzean SS, Kang GY (1996) The repB gene required for production of extracellular enzymes and fluorescent siderophores in Pseudomonas viridiflava is an analog of the gacA gene of Pseudomonas syringae. Can J Microbiol 42:177–182
Mendez J, Fernandez L, Menendez A, Reimundo P, Perez-Pascual D, Navais R, Guijarro JA (2009) A chromosomally located traHIJKCLMN operon encoding a putative type IV secretion system is involved in the virulence of Yersinia ruckeri. Appl Environ Microbiol 75:937–945
Moolenaar GF, van Sluis CA, Backendorf C, van de Putte P (1987) Regulation of the Escherichia coli excision repair gene uvrC. Overlap between the uvrC structural gene and the region coding for a 24 kDa protein. Nucleic Acids Res 15:4273–4289
Pernestig AK, Normark SJ, Georgellis D, Melefors O (2000) The role of the AirS two-component system in uropathogenic Escherichia coli. In: Emody et al. (eds) Genes and proteins underlying microbial urinary tract virulence. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, pp 137–142
Pernestig AK, Melefors O, Georgellis D (2001) Identification of UvrY as the cognate response regulator for the BarA sensor kinase in Escherichia coli. J Biol Chem 276:225–231
Romalde JL, Toranzo AE (1993) Pathological activities of Yersinia ruckeri, the enteric redmouth (ERM) bacterium. FEMS Microbiol Lett 112:291–300
Sancar A (1996) DNA excision repair. Annu Rev Biochem 65:43–48
Shah DH, Lee M, Park J, Lee J, Eo S, Kwon J, Chae J (2005) Identification of Salmonella gallinarum virulence genes in a chicken infection model using PCR-based signature-tagged mutagenesis. Microbiol 151:3957–3968
Shivani O, Sirois M, MacInnes J (2005) Identification of Actinobacillus suis genes essential for the colonization of the upper respiratory tract of swine. Infect Immun 73:7032–7039
Stevenson RMW, Flett D, Raymond BT (1993) Bacterial disease of fish. In: Inglis V et al (eds) Enteric redmouth (ERM) and other enterobacterial infections of fish. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 80–105
Tobback E, Decostere A, Hermans K, Haesebrouck F, Chiers K (2007) Yersinia ruckeri infections in salmonid fish. J Fish Dis 30:257–268
Acknowledgments
Financial support for this study was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The pUTmini-Tn5-Km2 signature tags were kindly provided by Dr. R. Levesque, University of Laval, Québec, Canada. Authors thank Steve Lord for providing the EPC cells and other reagents for cell invasion assays.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by Jorge Membrillo-Hernández.
Accession numbers for DNA sequences: EU170243 (UvrY) and EU170244 (BarA).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dahiya, I., Stevenson, R.M.W. The UvrY response regulator of the BarA–UvrY two-component system contributes to Yersinia ruckeri infection of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Arch Microbiol 192, 541–547 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-010-0582-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-010-0582-8