title: Survival protein A is essential for virulence in Yersinia pestis.
abstract: Plague is a highly pathogenic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. There is currently no vaccine available for prophylaxis and antibiotic resistant strains have been isolated, thus there is a need for the development of new countermeasures to treat this disease. Survival protein A (SurA) is a chaperone that has been linked to virulence in several species of bacteria, including the close relative Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the role of SurA in virulence of the highly pathogenic Y. pestis by creating an unmarked surA deletion mutant. The Y. pestis ΔsurA mutant was found to be more susceptible to membrane perturbing agents and was completely avirulent in a mouse infection model when delivered up to 2.1 × 10(5) CFU by the subcutaneous route. This provides strong evidence that SurA would make a promising antimicrobial target.
authors.affiliation: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Biomedical Sciences, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ, UK. Electronic address: sjsouthern@mail.dstl.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Stephanie J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Southern
authors.affiliation: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Biomedical Sciences, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Biomedical Sciences, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ, UK.
authors.forename: Dominic C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Jenner
authors.affiliation: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Biomedical Sciences, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ, UK.
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ireland
authors.affiliation: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Biomedical Sciences, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ, UK.
authors.forename: Isobel H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Norville
authors.affiliation: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Biomedical Sciences, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ, UK; University of Western Australia, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Mitali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarkar-Tyson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D051379:Mice; D010930:Plague / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D037521:Virulence Factors; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: Mutant; Virulence; Yersinia pestis