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Identification of an Essential Gene of Listeria monocytogenes Involved in Teichoic Acid Biogenesis

INSERM U-570, CHU Necker-Enfants Malades, 156 Rue de Vaugirard, 75730 Paris Cedex 15, France,¹ Département de Microbiologie Fondamentale, Bâtiment Biophore, Université de Lausanne, Quartier UNIL-Sorge, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland²

Received 29 May 2006/ Accepted 3 July 2006

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative intracellular gram-positive bacterium responsible for severe opportunistic infections in humans and animals. We had previously identified a gene encoding a putative UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase, a precursor of the teichoic acid linkage unit, in the genome of L monocytogenes strain EGD-e. This gene, now designated lmo2537, encodes a protein that shares 62% identity with the cognate epimerase MnaA of Bacillus subtilis and 55% identity with Cap5P of Staphylococcus aureus. Here, we addressed the role of lmo2537 in L. monocytogenes pathogenesis by constructing a conditional knockout mutant. The data presented here demonstrate that lmo2537 is an essential gene of L. monocytogenes that is involved in teichoic acid biogenesis. In vivo, the conditional mutant is very rapidly eliminated from the target organs of infected mice and thus is totally avirulent.

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