title: YfbA, a Yersinia pestis regulator required for colonization and biofilm formation in the gut of cat fleas.
abstract: For transmission to new hosts, Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, replicates as biofilm in the foregut of fleas that feed on plague-infected animals or humans. Y. pestis biofilm formation has been studied in the rat flea; however, little is known about the cat flea, a species that may bridge zoonotic and anthroponotic plague cycles. Here, we show that Y. pestis infects and replicates as a biofilm in the foregut of cat fleas in a manner requiring hmsFR, two determinants for extracellular biofilm matrix. Examining a library of transposon insertion mutants, we identified the LysR-type transcriptional regulator YfbA, which is essential for Y. pestis colonization and biofilm formation in cat fleas.
authors.affiliation: Howard Taylor Ricketts Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois, USA; Department of Microbiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.forename: Owen
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Demke
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hermanas
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Antoni P A
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Hendrickx
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schneewind
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D058251:Ctenocephalides / Q000382:microbiology*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; C082669:HmsF protein, Yersinia pestis; C082670:HmsR protein, Yersinia pestis; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors