title: Coordinate regulation of virulence genes in Listeria monocytogenes requires the product of the prfA gene.
abstract: The prfA gene of Listeria monocytogenes encodes a protein that activates transcription of the listeriolysin gene (lisA). In order to explore the role of the prfA gene product in the pathogenesis of listerial infection, we constructed a site-directed insertion mutation in prfA by the chromosomal integration of a novel suicide vector containing a portion of the prfA coding region. This mutation not only transcriptionally silenced the listeriolysin (lisA) gene but also abrogated production of specific RNA transcripts corresponding to the phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (pic) and metalloprotease (mpl) genes, two further virulence gene products expressed only by pathogenic Listeria strains. The strain was also found to be avirulent when tested in a mouse model of listerial infection. The concomitant loss of multiple characteristics such as production of LisA, Pic, Mpl, and loss of virulence in a mouse infection model is the result of a mutation in a single gene and demonstrates that the prfA gene product is a positive regulator of multiple virulence determinants in L. monocytogenes.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Universitäts Klinik, Klinische Biochemie, Würzburg, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leimeister-Wächter
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Domann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hartl
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Goebel
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nichterlein
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Notermans
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010957:Plasmids; D013154:Spleen; D014774:Virulence