title: Serotype-converting bacteriophage SfII encodes an acyltransferase protein that mediates 6-O-acetylation of GlcNAc in Shigella flexneri O-antigens, conferring on the host a novel O-antigen epitope.
abstract: Shigella flexneri O-antigen is an important and highly variable cell component presented on the outer leaflet of the outer membrane. Most Shigella flexneri bacteria share an O-antigen backbone composed of →2)-α-L-Rhap(III)-(1→2)-α-L-Rhap(II)-(1→3)-α-L-Rhap(I)-(1→3)-β-D-GlcpNAc-(1→ repeats, which can be modified by adding various chemical groups to different sugars, giving rise to diverse O-antigen structures and, correspondingly, to various serotypes. The known modifications include glucosylation on various sugar residues, O-acetylation on Rha(I) or/and Rha(III), and phosphorylation with phosphoethanolamine on Rha(II) or/and Rha(III). Recently, a new O-antigen modification, namely, O-acetylation at position 6 of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), has been identified in S. flexneri serotypes 2a, 3a, Y, and Yv. In this study, the genetic basis of the 6-O-acetylation of GlcNAc in S. flexneri was elucidated. An O-acyltransferase gene designated oacD was found to be responsible for this modification. The oacD gene is carried on serotype-converting bacteriophage SfII, which is integrated into the host chromosome by lysogeny to form a prophage responsible for the evolvement of serotype 2 of S. flexneri. The OacD-mediated 6-O-acetylation also occurs in some other S. flexneri serotypes that carry a cryptic SfII prophage with a dysfunctional gtr locus for type II glucosylation. The 6-O-acetylation on GlcNAc confers to the host a novel O-antigen epitope, provisionally named O-factor 10. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms of the O-antigen variation and enable further studies to understand the contribution of the O-acetylation to the antigenicity and pathogenicity of S. flexneri.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Changping, Beijing, China sunqiangzheng@icdc.cn xujianguo@icdc.cn.
authors.forename: Qiangzheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Yuriy A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Knirel
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Changping, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Changping, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Sofya N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Senchenkova
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Ruiting
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Shashkov
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Changping, Beijing, China sunqiangzheng@icdc.cn xujianguo@icdc.cn.
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000117:Acetylglucosamine / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019081:O Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012763:Shigella flexneri / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D019081:O Antigens; D014764:Viral Proteins; D000217:Acyltransferases; D000117:Acetylglucosamine
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