title: Identification of a new virulence factor, BvfA, in Brucella suis.
abstract: We report the identification of BvfA (for Brucella virulence factor A), a small periplasmic protein unique to the genus Brucella, which is essential for the virulence of Brucella suis. A BvfA knockout mutant was highly attenuated both in in vitro macrophage infection assays and in vivo in the murine model of brucellosis. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis with green fluorescent protein fusions showed that the expression of bvfA is induced within macrophages by phagosome acidification and coregulated with the B. suis virB operon, suggesting that it too may play a role in the establishment of the intracellular replication niche.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U431, Faculté de Médecine, Avenue Kennedy, 30900 Nimes, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lavigne
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Patey
authors.forename: Felix J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Sangari
authors.forename: Gisèle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bourg
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramuz
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: O'Callaghan
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Michaux-Charachon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D041021:Brucella suis / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C109227:YopP protein, Yersinia