The effect of iron on the invasiveness of Escherichia coli carrying the inv gene of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.
The effect of growth in iron-excess or iron-limitation conditions on the invasiveness for HeLa cells of Escherichia coli HB101 carrying plasmid pRI203 which bears the invasion gene of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was examined. Iron-limitation reduced adhesion and the number of organisms internalised by HeLa cells by about 100-fold. The reduced adhesion of iron-starved bacteria correlated with reduced hydrophobicity and the reduced invasiveness appeared to depend on the plasmid copy number, which was 3.5-fold less than in bacteria grown in iron excess.
Conte
M P
MP
Institute of Microbiology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.
Longhi
C
C
Buonfiglio
V
V
Polidoro
M
M
Seganti
L
L
Valenti
P
P
D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010957:Plasmids; D012692:Serial Passage; D013499:Surface Properties; D015011:Yersinia pseudotuberculosis / Q000235:genetics*
D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D007501:Iron