Similar requirements of a plant symbiont and a mammalian pathogen for prolonged intracellular survival.
Brucella abortus, a mammalian pathogen, and Rhizobium meliloti, a phylogenetically related plant symbiont, establish chronic infections in their respective hosts. Here a highly conserved B. abortus homolog of the R. meliloti bacA gene, which encodes a putative cytoplasmic membrane transport protein required for symbiosis, was identified. An isogenic B. abortus bacA mutant exhibited decreased survival in macrophages and greatly accelerated clearance from experimentally infected mice compared to the virulent parental strain. Thus, the bacA gene product is critical for the maintenance of two very diverse host-bacterial relationships.
LeVier
K
K
Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Phillips
R W
RW
Grippe
V K
VK
Roop
R M
RM
Walker
G C
GC
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002003:Brucella abortus / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D000455:Medicago sativa / Q000382:microbiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D016962:Sinorhizobium meliloti / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000382:microbiology; D013559:Symbiosis; D014774:Virulence
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; C082397:bacA protein, Rhizobium meliloti