title: Role of phosphoglucomutase of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, virulence, and antibiotic resistance.
abstract: A homologue of the algC gene, responsible for the production of a phosphoglucomutase (PGM) associated with LPS and alginate biosynthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, spgM, was cloned from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. The spgM gene was shown to encode a bifunctional enzyme with both PGM and phosphomannomutase activities. Mutants lacking spgM produced less LPS than the SpgM(+) parent strain and had a tendency for shorter O polysaccharide chains. No changes in LPS chemistry were obvious as a result of the loss of spgM. Significantly, however, spgM mutants displayed a modest increase in susceptibility to several antimicrobial agents and were completely avirulent in an animal model of infection. The latter finding may relate to the resultant serum sensitivity of spgM mutants which, unlike the wild-type parent strain, were rapidly killed by human serum. These data highlight the contribution made by LPS to the antimicrobial resistance and virulence of S. maltophilia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6.
authors.forename: Geoffrey A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.forename: Donald E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.forename: Kelly L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Poole
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D019081:O Antigens / Q000737:chemistry; D010733:Phosphoglucomutase / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D020615:Stenotrophomonas maltophilia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D019081:O Antigens; D010733:Phosphoglucomutase