Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2021, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (6): 93-101.doi: 10.11978/2020146CSTR: 32234.14.2020146

• Marine Biology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of the ferric enterobactin receptor regulator VPA0148 on virulence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

ZHU Xinyuan(), LIU Min, HUANG Ying, ZHAO Zhe()   

  1. Department of Marine Biology, College of Oceanography, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
  • Received:2020-12-14 Revised:2021-02-22 Online:2021-11-10 Published:2021-02-25
  • Contact: ZHAO Zhe E-mail:xyzhu@hhu.edu.cn;zhezhao@hhu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(31872597);Jiangsu Agriculture Science and Technology Innovation Fund(CX[19]2033);Earmarked Fund for Jiangsu Agricultural Industry Technology System(JATS[2020]465)

Abstract:

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a halophilic Gram-negative bacterium originally inhabiting marine environment. It is one of the primary human pathogenic bacteria, which causes gastroenteritis, wound infections and septicemia. The host environment is low-iron conditions, thus capable of inducing the virulence of pathogens. V. parahaemolyticus utilizes vibriocin or heterogenous siderophore to obtain iron. The transcription of gene cluster VPA0148-VPA0149 (encoding a two-component regulatory system) is upregulated under iron-limiting conditions, which increases the active transcriptional form of ferric enterobactin receptor gene peuA. VPA0148 encodes a response regulator containing a phosphoacceptor receiver (REC) domain and a DNA-binding domain. In this study, the deletion of VPA0148 enhanced the lethality to zebrafish as well as biofilm formation in V. parahaemolyticus. Moreover, under iron-limiting conditions, the growth and swarming motility were improved in VPA0148 deletion mutant. The results indicate that VPA0148 contributes to regulating the pathogenesis of V. parahaemolyticus. This study provides an important insight for further understanding the mechanism of how iron regulates virulence of V. parahaemolyticus.

Key words: Vibrio parahaemolyticus, VPA0148, virulence, swarming, biofilm

CLC Number: 

  • S941.42