This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental material Other Versions of this Article: JB.01874-07v1 190/9/3176    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Google Scholar Articles by Jimenez, N. Articles by Tomás, J. M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Jimenez, N. Articles by Tomás, J. M.

Molecular Analysis of Three Aeromonas hydrophila AH-3 (Serotype O34) Lipopolysaccharide Core Biosynthesis Gene Clusters ^,

Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08071 Barcelona, Spain,¹ N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia,² Forschungszentrum Borstel, Leibniz-Zentrum für Medizin und Biowissenschaften, 23845 Borstel, Germany³

Received 29 November 2007/ Accepted 17 February 2008

By the isolation of three different Aeromonas hydrophila strain AH-3 (serotype O34) mutants with an altered lipopolysaccharide (LPS) migration in gels, three genomic regions encompassing LPS core biosynthesis genes were identified and characterized. When possible, mutants were constructed using each gene from the three regions, containing seven, four, and two genes (regions 1 to 3, respectively). The mutant LPS core structures were elucidated by using mass spectrometry, methylation analysis, and comparison with the full core structure of an O-antigen-lacking AH-3 mutant previously established by us. Combining the gene sequence and complementation test data with the structural data and phenotypic characterization of the mutant LPSs enabled a presumptive assignment of all LPS core biosynthesis gene functions in A. hydrophila AH-3. The three regions and the genes contained are in complete agreement with the recently sequenced genome of A. hydrophila ATCC 7966. The functions of the A. hydrophila genes waaC in region 3 and waaF in region 2 were completely established, allowing the genome annotations of the two heptosyl transferase products not previously assigned. Having the functions of all genes involved with the LPS core biosynthesis and most corresponding single-gene mutants now allows experimental work on the role of the LPS core in the virulence of A. hydrophila.

Published ahead of print on 29 February 2008.

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.