title: Phase-variable expression of lptA modulates the resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to cationic antimicrobial peptides.
abstract: Phosphoethanolamine (PEA) decoration of lipid A produced by Neisseria gonorrhoeae has been linked to bacterial resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides/proteins (CAMPs) and in vivo fitness during experimental infection. We now report that the lptA gene, which encodes the PEA transferase responsible for this decoration, is in an operon and that high-frequency mutation in a polynucleotide repeat within lptA can influence gonococcal resistance to CAMPs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Justin L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kandler
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Sandeep J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Jacqueline T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Balthazar
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Vijaya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dhulipala
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Read
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Ann E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Jerse
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Laboratories of Microbial Pathogenesis, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Decatur, Georgia, USA wshafer@emory.edu.
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Shafer
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004982:Ethanolaminephosphotransferase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D004983:Ethanolamines / Q000737:chemistry*; D008050:Lipid A / Q000737:chemistry*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D004983:Ethanolamines; D008050:Lipid A; C005448:phosphorylethanolamine; D004982:Ethanolaminephosphotransferase