title: Contribution of eukaryotic-type serine/threonine kinase to stress response and virulence of Streptococcus suis.
abstract: Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (SS2) is an important swine and human pathogen responsible for septicemia and meningitis. The bacterial homologues of eukaryotic-type serine/threonine kinases (ESTKs) have been reported to play critical roles in various cellular processes. To investigate the role of STK in SS2, an isogenic stk mutant strain (Δstk) and a complemented strain (CΔstk) were constructed. The Δstk showed a significant decrease in adherence to HEp-2 cells, compared with the wild-type strain, and a reduced survival ratio in whole blood. In addition, the Δstk exhibited a notable reduced tolerance of environmental stresses including high temperature, acidic pH, oxidative stress, and high osmolarity. More importantly, the Δstk was attenuated in both the CD1 mouse and piglet models of infection. The results of quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis indicated that the expressions of a few genes involving in adherence, stress response and virulence were clearly decreased in the Δstk mutant strain. Our data suggest that SsSTK is required for virulence and stress response in SS2.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Haodan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Junming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yanxiu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zhengyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yiyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xuehan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Libin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Rongli
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Chengping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology of Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Engineering Research of Veterinary Bio-products, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Kongwang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D017011:Streptococcus suis / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D013552:Swine; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases