This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Freund, S.
Right arrow Articles by Heesemann, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Freund, S.
Right arrow Articles by Heesemann, J.

Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2008, p. 4111-4120, Vol. 190, No. 12
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00156-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Unusual, Virulence Plasmid-Dependent Growth Behavior of Yersinia enterocolitica in Three-Dimensional Collagen Gels{triangledown}

Sandra Freund,* Beate Czech, Konrad Trülzsch, Nikolaus Ackermann, and Jürgen Heesemann

Max von Pettenkofer Institute for Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Ludwig Maximilians University, D-80336 Munich, Germany

Received 30 January 2008/ Accepted 4 April 2008

As a first approach to establishing a three-dimensional culture infection model, we studied the growth behavior of the extracellular pathogen Yersinia enterocolitica in three-dimensional collagen gels (3D-CoG). Surprisingly, we observed that plasmidless Y. enterocolitica was motile in the 3D-CoG in contrast to its growth in traditional motility agar at 37°C. Motility at 37°C was abrogated in the presence of the virulence plasmid pYV or the exclusive expression of the pYV-located Yersinia adhesion gene yadA. YadA-producing yersiniae formed densely packed (dp) microcolonies, whereas pYV{Delta}yadA-carrying yersiniae formed loosely packed microcolonies at 37°C in 3D-CoG. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the packing density of the microcolonies was dependent on the head domain of YadA. Moreover, dp microcolony formation did not depend on the capacity of YadA to bind to collagen fibers, as demonstrated by the use of yersiniae producing collagen nonbinding YadA. By using a yopE-gfp reporter, we demonstrated Ca2+-dependent expression of this pYV-localized virulence gene by yersiniae in 3D-CoG. In conclusion, this study revealed unique plasmid-dependent growth behavior of yersiniae in a three-dimensional matrix environment that resembles the behavior of yersiniae (e.g., formation of microcolonies) in infected mouse tissue. Thus, this 3D-CoG model may be a first step to a more complex level of in vitro infection models that mimic living tissue, enabling us to study the dynamics of pathogen-host cell interactions.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Max von Pettenkofer Institute for Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Ludwig Maximilians University, D-80336 Munich, Germany. Phone: 49 89 51605437. Fax: 49 89 51605223. E-mail: freund{at}mvp.uni-muenchen.de

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 11 April 2008.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2008, p. 4111-4120, Vol. 190, No. 12
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00156-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»