title: Insertional mutation of orfD of the DCW cluster of Streptococcus pneumoniae attenuates virulence.
abstract: Mutational analysis of a 5.5 kb fragment of the genome Streptococcus pneumoniae led to the identification of a putative new virulence gene, designated orfD. Insertion mutagenesis of flanking genes on the fragment suggested that the corresponding gene products were required for in vitro growth. In contrast, insertion mutation of orfD did not alter in vitro growth or the transformability pattern of the mutated strain. However, it did reduce bacterial growth in mice and attenuated virulence in an intraperitoneal model of infection. orfD is flanked by orfC (63 codons) and ftsL (105 codons) and all three genes are upstream of pbpx. orfC showed no similarity with other known proteins. ftsL of S. pneumoniae exhibits minimal sequence similarity with ftsL of E. coli, but shares 16% identical residues with the ftsL homologue encoded by ylld of B. subtilis. Also, ftsL of S. pneumoniae has a predicted topology similar to that described for ftsL of E. coli. Putative promoters with an extended -10 box could be identified upstream of both orfC or orfD. The four open reading frames (including pbpx) are orientated in the same direction, and polycistronic transcription could theoretically start at either promoter. Interestingly, this region shows organizational and sequence homologies with genes controlling division and cell wall biosynthesis (DCW) in other bacteria. The attenuation of virulence in the orfD insertion mutant might be due to the loss of function of the orfD gene product or to an altered level of expression of downstream genes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Microbiologie, Centre Hospitalo Universitaire de Rangueil, Toulouse, 31403, Cedex 4, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palmen
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Ogunniyi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berroy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Larpin
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Paton
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Trombe
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics*; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C078387:ftsL protein, E coli; D008780:Methyltransferases