title: Listeria monocytogenes ArcA contributes to acid tolerance.
abstract: The foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is able to colonize the human and animal intestinal tracts and subsequently crosses the intestinal barrier, causing systemic infection. For successful establishment of infection, L. monocytogenes must survive and adapt to the low pH environment of the stomach. Gene sequence analysis indicates that lmo0043, an orthologue of arcA, encodes a protein containing conserved motifs and critical active amino acids characteristic of arginine deiminase that mediates an arginine deimination reaction. We attempted to characterize the role of ArcA in acid tolerance in vitro and in mice models. Transcription of arcA was significantly increased in L. monocytogenes culture subjected to acid stress at pH 4.8, as compared with that at pH 7.0. Deletion of arcA impaired growth of L. monocytogenes under mild acidic conditions at pH 5.5, and reduced its survival in synthetic human gastric fluid at pH 2.5 and in the murine stomach. Bacterial load in the spleen of mice intraperitoneally inoculated with an arcA deletion mutant was significantly lower than that of the wild-type strain. These phenotypic changes were recoverable by genetic complementation. Thus, we conclude that L. monocytogenes arcA not only mediates acid tolerance in vitro but also participates in gastric survival and virulence in mice.
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang University Institute of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 388 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Changyong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Aquatic Disease Prevention and Quarantine Center, 20 Yile Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310012, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianshun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang University Institute of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 388 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang University Institute of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 388 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang University Institute of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 388 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang University Institute of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 388 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang A&F University College of Animal Science & Technology, Lin'an, Zhejiang 311300, PR China.
authors.forename: Houhui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang A&F University College of Animal Science & Technology, Lin'an, Zhejiang 311300, PR China.|Zhejiang University Institute of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 388 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Weihuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D005260:Female; D005750:Gastric Juice / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D006867:Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006867:Hydrolases; C019723:arginine deiminase