Direct interaction between RecA and a CheW-like protein is required for surface-associated motility, chemotaxis and the full virulence of Acinetobacter baumannii strain ATCC 17978
Corral, Jordi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)
Pérez-Varela, María (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)
Barbé García, Jordi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)
Aranda Rodríguez, Jesús (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)

Date:	2020
Abstract:	Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen that causes multi-drug resistant infections mainly in immunocompromised patients. Although this gram-negative species lacks flagella, it is able to move over wet surfaces through a not well characterized type of movement known as surface-associated motility. In this study we demonstrate through the inactivation of the A1S_2813 gene (coding a CheW-like protein) and recA (coding a DNA damage repair and recombination protein) that both genes are involved in the surface-associated motility and chemotaxis of A. baumannii ATCC 17978 strain. In addition, we also point out that the lack of either RecA or CheW-like proteins reduces its virulence in the Caenorhabditis elegans and the Galleria mellonella animal models. Furthermore, we show through co-immunoprecipitation assays that the CheW-like protein and RecA interact and that this interaction is abolished by the introduction of the mutation S97A in one of the domains of CheW-like protein that is structurally conserved in Salmonella enterica and necessary for the RecA-CheW interaction in this bacterial species. Finally, we show that the replacement of the wild-type CheW-like protein by that presenting the S97A mutation impairs surface-associated motility, chemotaxis and virulence of A. baumannii strain ATCC 17978.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación BIO2016-77011-R
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	A. baumannii ; Surface-associated motility ; Chemotaxis ; Virulence ; RecA ; CheW-like protein
Published in:	Virulence, Vol. 11, Issue 1 (April 2020) , p. 315-326, ISSN 2150-5608

DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2020.1748923
PMID: 32255384

12 p, 3.4 MB

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