title: Role of GbpA protein, an important virulence-related colonization factor, for Vibrio cholerae's survival in the aquatic environment.
abstract: Vibrio cholerae N-acetyl glucosamine-binding protein A (GbpA) is a chitin binding protein and a virulence factor involved in the colonization of human intestine. We investigated the distribution and genetic variations of gbpA in 488 V. cholerae strains of environmental and clinical origin, belonging to different serogroups and biotypes. We found that the gene is consistently present and highly conserved including an environmental V. cholerae-related strain of ancestral origin. The gene was also consistently expressed in a number of representative V. cholerae strains cultured in laboratory aquatic microcosms under conditions simulating those found in temperate marine environments. Functional analysis carried out on V. cholerae O1 El Tor N16961 showed that GbpA is not involved in adhesion to inorganic surfaces but promotes interaction with environmental biotic substrates (plankton and bivalve hepatopancreas cells) representing known marine reservoir or host for the bacterium. It is suggested that the ability of GbpA to colonize human intestinal cells most probably originated from its primary function in the aquatic environment.
authors.affiliation: Department for the Study of Territory and Its Resources, University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genoa, Italy Maryland Pathogen Research Institute Center of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stauder
authors.forename: Anwar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huq
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pezzati
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Grim
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ramoino
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pane
authors.forename: Rita R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Colwell
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pruzzo
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vezzulli