title: Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli senses low biotin status in the large intestine for colonization and infection.
abstract: Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) is an important foodborne pathogen that infects humans by colonizing the large intestine. Here we identify a virulence-regulating pathway in which the biotin protein ligase BirA signals to the global regulator Fur, which in turn activates LEE (locus of enterocyte effacement) genes to promote EHEC adherence in the low-biotin large intestine. LEE genes are repressed in the high-biotin small intestine, thus preventing adherence and ensuring selective colonization of the large intestine. The presence of this pathway in all nine EHEC serotypes tested indicates that it is an important evolutionary strategy for EHEC. The pathway is incomplete in closely related small-intestinal enteropathogenic E. coli due to the lack of the Fur response to BirA. Mice fed with a biotin-rich diet show significantly reduced EHEC adherence, indicating that biotin might be useful to prevent EHEC infection in humans.
authors: 1] TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China [2] Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin 300071, P.R. China.
authors: Bin
authors: B
authors: Yang
authors: 1] TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China [2] Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin 300071, P.R. China [3] Tianjin Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China [4] State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P.R. China [5] SynBio Research Platform, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin 300072, P.R. China.
authors: Lu
authors: L
authors: Feng
authors: 1] TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China [2] Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin 300071, P.R. China.
authors: Fang
authors: F
authors: Wang
authors: 1] TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China [2] Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin 300071, P.R. China [3] Tianjin Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China [4] State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P.R. China.
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001710:Biotin / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D019731:Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D054324:Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007420:Intestine, Large / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C457340:LEE protein, E coli; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C068477:ferric uptake regulating proteins, bacterial; D001710:Biotin; D019731:Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases; C058125:birA protein, E coli