A functional ferric uptake regulator (Fur) protein in the fish pathogen Piscirickettsia salmonis

作者：Almarza Oscar; Valderrama Katherine; Ayala Manuel; Segovia Cristopher; Santander Javier

来源：International Microbiology, 2016, 19(1): 49-55.

DOI：10.2436/20.1501.01.263

• Piscirickettsia salmonis
• ferric uptake regulator protein (Fur)
• transcriptional regulatory element
• iron acquisition
• fish pathogens

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 Delta fur 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.

• 出版日期2016