Characterization of the universal stress protein F from atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and its prevalence in Enterobacteriaceae.
Atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (aEPEC) are heterogeneous strains in terms of serotypes, adherence patterns and the presence of novel virulence factors. This heterogeneity is intriguing, promoting studies trying to characterize these novel proteins and to better comprehend this pathotype group. In a previous study analyzing low-molecular mass proteomes of four representative aEPEC strains of three different adhesion phenotypes, we classified proteins according to their annotated function, with most of them being involved in metabolism and transport; while some of them were classified as hypothetical proteins. The majority of the hypothetical proteins were homologue products of genes identified in the genome of enterohemorrhagic E. coli. One of the hypothetical proteins was annotated as Z2335, with orthologue in EPEC, and by bioinformatics analysis, this protein was revealed to be the universal stress protein F (UspF). Thus, herein we successfully obtained a recombinant UspF protein from aEPEC, which is a α/β, ATP-binding protein involved in stress response, with comparable protein production among the four studied strains, but showing noteworthy differences when cultivated in different stress conditions, also present in other enterobacterial species, such as Shigella sonnei and Citrobacter freundii. Furthermore, our results confirm that the Usp protein superfamily encompasses a conserved group of proteins involved in stress resistance in aEPEC and other Enterobacteriaceae.
Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Cristiane S
CS
de Souza
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
Alfredo G
AG
Torres
Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Andressa
A
Caravelli
Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Anderson
A
Silva
Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Juliana M
JM
Polatto
Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Roxane M F
RM
Piazza
D016971:Citrobacter freundii / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D054308:Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012764:Shigella sonnei / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins
UspF protein; atypical EPEC; cloning; expression; hypothetical proteins; stress; α/β protein