title: A unique arabinose 5-phosphate isomerase found within a genomic island associated with the uropathogenicity of Escherichia coli CFT073.
abstract: Previous studies showed that deletion of genes c3405 to c3410 from PAI-metV, a genomic island from Escherichia coli CFT073, results in a strain that fails to compete with wild-type CFT073 after a transurethral cochallenge in mice and is deficient in the ability to independently colonize the mouse kidney. Our analysis of c3405 to c3410 suggests that these genes constitute an operon with a role in the internalization and utilization of an unknown carbohydrate. This operon is not found in E. coli K-12 but is present in a small number of pathogenic E. coli and Shigella boydii strains. One of the genes, c3406, encodes a protein with significant homology to the sugar isomerase domain of arabinose 5-phosphate isomerases but lacking the tandem cystathionine beta-synthase domains found in the other arabinose 5-phosphate isomerases of E. coli. We prepared recombinant c3406 protein, found it to possess arabinose 5-phosphate isomerase activity, and characterized this activity in detail. We also constructed a c3406 deletion mutant of E. coli CFT073 and demonstrated that this deletion mutant was still able to compete with wild-type CFT073 in a transurethral cochallenge in mice and could colonize the mouse kidney. These results demonstrate that the presence of c3406 is not essential for a pathogenic phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mosberg
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yep
authors.forename: Timothy C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Meredith
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Pan-Fen
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tod P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Holler
authors.forename: Harry L T
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Mobley
authors.forename: Ronald W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Woodard
mesh_terms: D019747:Aldose-Ketose Isomerases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003556:Cystitis / Q000382:microbiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000502:physiology; D044404:Genomic Islands / Q000235:genetics*; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D056689:Uropathogenic Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D019747:Aldose-Ketose Isomerases; C041486:arabinose-5-phosphate isomerase; C559979:c3406 protein, E coli