title: A functional ferric uptake regulator (Fur) protein in the fish pathogen Piscirickettsia salmonis.
abstract: Piscirickettsia salmonis, a Gram-negative fastidious facultative intracellular pathogen, is the causative agent of the salmonid rickettsial septicemia (SRS). The P. salmonis iron acquisition mechanisms and its molecular regulation are unknown. Iron is an essential element for bacterial pathogenesis. Typically, genes that encode for the iron acquisition machinery are regulated by the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) protein. P. salmonis fur sequence database reveals a diversity of fur genes without functional verification. Due to the fastidious nature of this bacterium, we evaluated the functionality of P. salmonis fur in the Salmonella Δfur heterologous system. Although P. salmonis fur gene strongly differed from the common Fur sequences, it restored the regulatory mechanisms of iron acquisition in Salmonella. We concluded that P. salmonis LF-89 has a conserved functional Fur protein, which reinforces the importance of iron during fish infection. [Int Microbiol 2016; 49-55].
authors.affiliation: Universidad Mayor, Faculty of Sciences, Huechuraba, Chile.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Almarza
authors.affiliation: PhD Program in Aquaculture, Universidad Catolica del Norte.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Valderrama
authors.affiliation: Universidad Mayor, Faculty of Sciences, Huechuraba, Chile.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ayala
authors.affiliation: Universidad Mayor, Faculty of Sciences, Huechuraba, Chile.
authors.forename: Cristopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Segovia
authors.affiliation: Universidad Mayor, Faculty of Sciences, Huechuraba, Chile.|Memorial University of Newfoundland, Department of Ocean Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Canada.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Santander
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D005399:Fishes / Q000382:microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D053522:Piscirickettsia / Q000378:metabolism*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D007501:Iron
keywords: Piscirickettsia salmonis; ferric uptake regulator protein (Fur); fish pathogens; iron acquisition; transcriptional regulatory element