A surface-exposed DraD protein of uropathogenic Escherichia coli bearing Dr fimbriae may be expressed and secreted independently from DraC usher and DraE adhesin.
The dra gene cluster, expressed by uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains, determines bacterial attachment and invasion. The Dr fimbrial structures formed at the bacterial cell surface are composed of DraE subunits. The Dr fimbriae-coding cluster contains six open reading frames--draA, draB, draC, draD, draP and draE--among which the draE gene encodes the structural fimbrial subunit DraE. Very little is known about E. coli surface expression of the draD gene product. The expression of DraD and its role in the biogenesis of Dr fimbriae were determined by constructing mutants in the dra operon and by immunoblot and immunofluorescence experiments. In this study, DraD was found to be a surface-exposed protein. The expression of DraD was independent of the DraC usher and DraE fimbrial subunits. Polymerization of DraE fimbrial subunits into fimbrial structures did not require expression of the DraD protein.
Zalewska
Beata
B
Department of Microbiology, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland.
Piątek
Rafał
R
Department of Microbiology, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland.
Bury
Katarzyna
K
Department of Microbiology, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland.
Samet
Alfred
A
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Public Hospital No. 1, Gdańsk, Poland.
Nowicki
Bogdan
B
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
Nowicki
Stella
S
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
Kur
Józef
J
Department of Microbiology, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland.
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D018830:Adhesins, Escherichia coli / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D018830:Adhesins, Escherichia coli; C465563:DraE protein, E coli; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins