title: Pathogenic potential of a collagenase gene from Aeromonas veronii.
abstract: The role of collagenase as a mechanism of bacterial pathogenicity in some pathogenic bacteria has been reported. The information on the role of collagenase in Aeromonas spp. pathogenesis is scant. In the present study, a mutant Aeromonas veronii RY001 that is deficient in the putative collagenase gene acg was constructed and compared with the wild-type strain for virulence factors. Bacterial cells and cell-free extracellular products of the mutant had significantly less collagenolytic activity, but there were not significant differences in caseinolytic, gelatinolytic, and elastolytic activities. Adhesion and invasion abilities of the mutant strain on epithelioma papillosum of carp cells was only 56% of that of the wild-type strain, and the cytotoxicity of the mutant strain to epithelioma papillosum of carp cells was only 42% of that of the wild-type strain. The LD50 values of the wild-type strain were determined as 1.6 x 10(6) and 3.5 x 10(5) cfu in goldfish and mice, respectively, whereas the mutant RY001 strain showed slightly higher values (i.e., 2.8 x 10(6) and 1.4 x 10(6) cfu in goldfish and mice, respectively). These results indicated the involvement of the collagenase gene in the pathogenesis of A. veronii.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genome Science, Graduate School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Konan, 4-5-7, Minato, Tokyo 1088477, Japan.
authors.forename: Hyun-Ja
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taki
authors.forename: Hidehiro
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hirono
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoki
mesh_terms: D000333:Aeromonas / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D017364:Collagenases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006054:Goldfish / Q000382:microbiology; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; D017364:Collagenases