Regulation and temporal expression patterns of Vibrio cholerae virulence genes during infection

• Published in: Cell Vol. 99; no. 6; pp. 625 - 634
• Main Authors: Lee, S H, Hava, D L, Waldor, M K, Camilli, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 10.12.1999
• Subjects: Animals; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Cholera - genetics; Cholera - metabolism; Cholera - microbiology; Cholera Toxin - genetics; Cholera Toxin - metabolism; ctxA gene; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Fimbriae Proteins; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Intestine, Small - microbiology; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; Mutation; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - genetics; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - metabolism; Recombinases; tcpA gene; TcpP protein; Time Factors; ToxR protein; ToxT protein; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Transcription, Genetic; Transposases - genetics; Vibrio cholerae; Vibrio cholerae - genetics; Vibrio cholerae - growth & development; Vibrio cholerae - metabolism; Vibrio cholerae - pathogenicity; Virulence - genetics
• ISSN: 0092-8674
• DOI: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81551-2

The temporal expression patterns of the critical Vibrio cholerae virulence genes, tcpA and ctxA, were determined during infection using a recombinase reporter. TcpA was induced biphasically in two temporally and spatially separable events in the small intestine, whereas ctxA was induced monophasically only after, and remarkably, dependent upon, tcpA expression; however, this dependence was not observed during in vitro growth. The requirements of the virulence regulators, ToxR, TcpP, and ToxT, for expression of tcpA and ctxA were determined and were found to differ significantly during infection versus during growth in vitro. These results illustrate the importance of examining virulence gene expression in the context of bona fide host-pathogen interactions.