Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Bacteriology, April 2006, p. 2411-2420, Vol. 188, No. 7
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.188.7.2411-2420.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
Received 21 October 2005/ Accepted 11 January 2006
|
|
|---|
|
|
|---|
It has been reported that signals that direct the secretion of these proteins are within the N-terminal amino acid or the mRNA sequences (1, 24, 25, 27, 30-32). The translocation signals that direct delivery of the proteins into host cells are thought to be located downstream near the secretion signal (37). Despite these advances in the characterization of these secretion signals, few studies have examined the effector translocation signals at a molecular level. A more complete analysis of these translocation signals may provide important clues as to how type III effector proteins traverse the host cell plasma membrane. This in turn may lead to the design of preventive and therapeutic pharmaceutical drugs that block the translocation of these virulence factors into mammalian cells. Toward this goal, we developed a ruffling-based translocation reporter system that uses the secretion- and translocation-deficient catalytic domain of SopE, SopE78-240, as a reporter. Using this assay, we have done an extensive analysis of SopA, one of the SPI-1 type III secreted proteins translocated into host cells (38). Although this effector has been shown to have a role in inducing enteritis (38, 39), neither its biochemical activity in mammalian cells nor its secretion and translocation domains are known.
We report that the N-terminal 45 amino acid residues of Salmonella SopA are necessary and sufficient for its secretion and translocation into host cells. Interestingly, we found that full-length SopA is constitutively secreted through the flagellar export apparatus. In addition, secretion of SopA through the SPI-1 type III system required its chaperone, InvB, and its chaperone-binding domain.
|
|
|---|
The SopA-M45 merodiploids were created by introducing the R6K-derived suicide vector pSB890 (16) carrying the 630-bp upstream sequence of sopA, followed by the sequence encoding SopA with an M45 epitope tag, into the chromosomes of the Salmonella strains. The upstream sequence of sopA and the sequence encoding SopA were amplified by PCR with the primers 5'-CTAGCTAGCGAACGACGACTAATGCTCATATAACC-3' and 5'-TCCCCCGGGCGCCCAGGCCAG-3' and then cloned into NheI and SmaI sites of pZP1139, replacing the SopE78-240 reporter. The 3.048-kb NheI-BamHI fragment was then subcloned into the BamHI-XbaI sites of pSB890, resulting in pZP1251. Plasmid pZP1251 was then introduced into the chromosomes of SL1344, ZP143, SB136, ZP88, and ZP89, resulting in ZP152, ZP153, ZP154, ZP155, and ZP156, respectively.
Plasmid construction. The translocation reporter plasmid, pZP1139, was constructed to contain a multiple cloning site, the catalytic domain of SopE, and a C-terminal M45 epitope tag. The multiple cloning site and M45 epitope tag were created by cloning the annealed oligonucleotides 5'-AATTCCCATGGAGCTCAGATCTGGTACCCCCGGGGGTGGTGCCATGGATCGGAGTAGGGATCGCCTACCTCCTTTTGAGACAGAGACGCGGATCCTCT-3' and 5'-CTAGAGGATCCGCGTCTCTGTCTCAAAAGGAGGTAGGCGATCCCTACTCCGATCCATACCACCCCCGGGGGTACCAGATCTGAGCTCCATGGG-3' into the EcoRI-XbaI sites of the pBAD derivative pSB1136 (13). The catalytic domain of SopE78-240 was cloned upstream of the M45 epitope tag using the KpnI-SmaI-digested PCR fragments and primers 5'-GGGGTACCGGTGGTTTGACAAATAAAGTCGTTAAAG-3' and 5'-CTTCTCTCATCCGCCAAAA-3'.
To generate SopE78-240-M45 hybrid proteins fused to putative translocation signals, the genes encoding the corresponding proteins were amplified by PCR and cloned into pZP1139. The gene encoding SptP was amplified with primers 5'-GGAATTCTAATGCTAAAGTATGAGGAGAG-3' and 5'-GGGGTACCGCTTGCCGTCGTCATAAGCAACTG-3' and then cloned into the EcoRI-KpnI sites of pZP1139, resulting in SptP-SopE78-240-M45 (pZP0600). The sptP gene encoding SptP1-101 (pZP0073) was amplified by PCR using primers 5'-GGAATTCTAATGCTAAAGTATGAGGAGAG-3' and 5'-CCCAAGCTTAACAGTGCGTCATTAAC-3'; the sptP gene encoding SptP1-159 (pZP0071) was amplified with primers 5'-GGAATTCTAATGCTAAAGTATGAGGAGAG-3' and 5'-GGGAAGCTTTTTTCTGCCACTTTTGT-3'. The PCR products were cloned into the EcoRI-SalI sites of pZP1139. The full-length sopA (pZP0800) was cloned into pZP1139 by ligating the BglII-EcoRI fragment of the PCR product using primers 5'-CCATCGATCGAAGGAATTCTAATGAAGATA-3' and 5'-GAAGATCTCTCTAGACCACGCCCAGGCCAGT-3'. Genes encoding SopA1-95 and SopA1-45 were created by cloning the EcoRI-BamHI fragments of PCR products created from primers 5'-TGTTGATAAGGAATTCTAATGAAGATA-3' plus 5'-CGGGATCCGTTGCCTGCATTATTTGTATCTTTA-3' and 5'-CGGGATCCGAAAGATGTATGCGTGTTTTTA-3', resulting in pZP0776 and pZP0777, respectively. Genes encoding SopA1-44 and SopA1-35 were created by cloning the BssHII-SpeI fragments of PCR products using primers 5'-TTGGCGCGCGGACGAAAGTAAAC-3' plus 5'-GACTAGTTGTATGCGTGTTTTTAACACT G-3' and 5'-GACTAGTTTTTGAGGTGAGCCCGTTTTTC-3', resulting in pZP0866 and pZP0798, respectively. The SopA1-45-Npt-M45 fusion construct (pZP1078) was created by cloning the BglII fragment of the PCR product using primers 5'-GAAGATCTATGAGCCATATTCAACGGGAAAC-3' and 5'-GAGGATATCGAAAAACTCATCGAGCATCAAATGAA-3' into the BglII-SmaI sites of pZP0777. Junctions of the final fusion plasmids were confirmed by DNA sequencing.
To modify the vector for the cyclic amp (cAMP) assay, the Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase gene was amplified by PCR using primers 5'-TCCCCCGGGCAGCAATCGCATCAGGCTGGTTA-3' and 5'-AACTGCAGTCATCGATAACTGTCATAGCCGGAATC-3'. The resulting 1.2-kb fragment was cloned into the PstI-SmaI sites of pZP1139 to produce pZP0599. The EcoRI-KpnI fragments of pZP776, pZP777, pZP800, and pZP866 were cloned into the same sites of pZP0599 to produce SopAFull-CyaA (pZP0796), SopA1-95-CyaA (pZP1084), SopA1-45-CyaA (pZP1085), and SopA1-44-CyaA (pZP1086), respectively. The EcoRI-SmaI fragments of pZP0071 and pZP0073 were cloned into the same sites of pZP0599 to produce SptP1-159-CyaA (pZP0598) and SopA1-101-CyaA (pZP0597), respectively.
Yeast two-hybrid constructs were created using pGADGH and pGBT9c vectors from CLONTECH (Palo Alto, CA). The gene encoding InvB was amplified with primers 5'-ACGCGTCGACATGCAACATTTGGATATCGCTGAATTAG-3' and 5'-CCCAAGCTTTCATCTCATTAGCGACCGACTAAAAAC-3', cloned into the HindIII-SmaI sites of pBlueScript SK, and then subcloned into pGADGH by the EcoRV-HindIII sites, resulting in pZP0901. The gene encoding SopA was PCR amplified with primers 5'-CGGGATCCATGAAGATATCATCAGGCG-3' and 5'-GGAATTCGCCTTAACTCCATGCGG-3' and cloned into the BamHI-EcoRI sites in pGBT9c, resulting in pZP0061. DNA fragments encoding GAL4BD-SopA1-45-Npt-M45 and GAL4BD-SopA1-44-Npt-M45 were created by first replacing the SopE78-240 tag with neomycin phosphotransferase (Npt) and by cloning the BglII-digested Npt PCR fragments using primers 5'-GAAGATCTATGAGCCATATTCAACGGGAAAC-3' and 5'-GAGGATATCGAAAAACTCATCGAGCATCAAATGAA-3' into the BglII-SmaI sites of pZP0777 and pZP0866, respectively. The DNA fragments encoding the fusion proteins were then cloned into the EcoRI and SmaI sites of pGBT9m, resulting in pZP1080 and pZP1064, respectively. GAL4BD-SopA1-95-SopE78-240-M45 (pZP1063) was created by cloning the 915-bp EcoRI-SalI fragment of pZP0776 into the same sites of pGBT9c.
Immunofluorescence microscopy. Henle-407 cells were infected for 30 min with Salmonella at a multiplicity of infection of 10 as described above. Infected cells were washed three times with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and fixed with 3% formaldehyde for 15 min at room temperature before permeabilization with 0.2% Triton X-100 in PBS. The cells were incubated with the primary antibody for 30 min after being blocked with 3% skim milk, washed three times with PBS, and incubated with the secondary antibody for 30 min. S. enterica serovar Typhimurium was identified using rabbit anti-Salmonella O antigen group B (Difco) and a secondary anti-rabbit AF488 conjugant (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR). Actin was visualized by staining with Texas Red-conjugated phalloidin. The images represent black-and-white projections of z-section slices obtained on a Zeiss AxioVert 200 M deconvolution microscope. Pseudocolors were added by Adobe Photoshop.
Protein secretion and Western blotting. The Salmonella strains were grown under SPI-1-inducing conditions as described previously (9). To determine the secretion levels of the proteins, ZP15 expressing the fusion proteins (Table 1) was grown at 37°C for 12 h in LB-0.3 M NaCl medium. Bacterial cultures were diluted 1:100 in fresh LB-0.3 M NaCl medium. Cultures were grown with slow agitation for three additional hours. The production of fusion proteins from the pBAD promoter was induced by the addition of 0.05 mM arabinose during the last 2 h of growth. The bacteria were then pelleted by centrifugation at 10,000 x g for 20 min. The culture supernatants were passed through 0.2-µm filters, and the secreted proteins were collected by precipitation with 10% trichloroacetic acid. Cell lysates corresponding to 50 µl of bacterial culture and secreted proteins corresponding to 1.5 ml of culture supernatants were resuspended in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) sample buffer and separated by SDS-PAGE for Western blot analysis using anti-M45 (29) or anti-SipA (17) antibodies. Bacterial lysis was monitored using monoclonal anti-Hsp60 (3) antibodies, which were supplied by EMD Biosciences (Madison, WI).
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Bacterial strains and plasmids
|
Far-Western blotting. Whole-cell lysates corresponding to 140 µl of Escherichia coli culture (optical density at 600 nm, 1.6) expressing SopA fusions were resolved by SDS-PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. The membranes were blocked with 3% skim milk in 50 mM Tris (pH 7.5), 100 mM sodium acetate, 350 mM sodium chloride, 1 mM EDTA, 5 mM MgCl2, and 0.3% Tween supplemented with 1 mM dithiothreitol for 3 h. The membranes were then probed with glutathione S-transferase (GST)-InvB or GST protein (2 µg/ml), followed by polyclonal anti-GST and Alexa Fluor 680-conjugated goat anti-rabbit antibodies (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR). The blots were visualized and recorded with the Odyssey Infrared Imaging System (LI-COR Biosciences, Lincoln, NE).
Yeast two-hybrid assay. The GAL4-based yeast two-hybrid system was used following standard procedures (2). The bait plasmids were constructed by fusing DNA fragments encoding SopA, SopA1-95-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45-Npt-M45, and SopA1-44-Npt-M45 in frame to the yeast GAL4 binding domain in pGBT9. The prey, InvB, was fused to the GAL4 activation domain from pGADGH. The positive control plasmids, GAL4-BD-SipA459-684 (pSB1025) and GAL4-AD-Plastin (pSB1014), were described previously (41). The yeast indicator strain, Y153, was cotransformed using a protocol described previously (2). The ß-galactosidase assay was performed as previously described (34).
|
|
|---|
![]() View larger version (44K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 1. Amino acids 1 to 45 of SopA were sufficient to translocate SopE78-240-M45 and induce actin cytoskeletal rearrangements in Henle-407 cells. Henle-407 cells were infected for 30 min with a sopB sopE double mutant (ZP15) expressing SopE78-240-M45 fusions. Infected cells were processed to visualize F actin (red) and Salmonella (green). The arrows indicate locations of membrane ruffles.
|
To further demonstrate that the inability of SopA1-44-SopE78-240-M45 to induce actin cytoskeleton rearrangements is due to the lack of its translocation into mammalian cells, the translocations of SopA-SopE78-240, SopA1-95-SopE78-240, SopA1-45-SopE78-240, and SopA1-44-SopE78-240 were further analyzed using the adenylate cyclase assay in Henle-407 cells (36). For this assay, the SopE78-240-M45 tag of the SopA constructs was replaced with the Bordetella pertussis cyaA gene, and the translocation was measured by monitoring the concentration of cAMP. SopA-CyaA, SopA1-95-CyaA, SopA1-45-CyaA, and SopA1-44-CyaA were expressed in ZP15 and ZP91, an isogenic ZP15 strain with an additional in-frame deletion in SipC, which is defective in translocation. SptP1-159-CyaA and SptP1-101-CyaA were used as positive and negative controls for translocation, respectively. As shown in Fig. 2, SopA-CyaA, SopA1-95-CyaA, and SopA1-45-CyaA were translocated in a SipC-dependent manner. However, the SopA1-44-CyaA fusion protein yielded only background levels of adenylate cyclase activity similar to that induced by a sipC null mutant strain. The cAMP levels of SopA1-44-CyaA were slightly, but significantly (P < 0.06; Student's t test), lower than the cAMP levels of SopA1-45-CyaA that were averaged from three independent experiments. Together with the translocation ruffling assay, this confirms that the minimal region of SopA for secretion and translocation is within the first 45 amino acids.
![]() View larger version (16K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 2. Translocation of SopA-CyaA, SopA1-95-CyaA, and SopA1-45-CyaA into the Henle-407 cells. Intracellular cAMP levels are an indication of the translocation of CyaA fusion proteins in Salmonella ZP15 (sopB sopE) and ZP91 (sipC sopB sopE) strains. Cells were infected for 1 h, and the adenylate cyclase activity was determined. The data were from three independent experiments, with standard deviations shown as error bars. cAMP values are presented as pmol per microgram of total cellular protein.
|
![]() View larger version (38K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 3. Secretion profiles of SopAfull-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45-SopE78-240-M45, and SopA1-44-SopE78-240-M45 fusion proteins. The cell lysate samples corresponded to 50 µl of culture, and the secreted proteins corresponded to 1.5 ml of culture supernatant. Full-length and C-terminal deletions of SopA were fused to SopE78-240-M45 using the translocation reporter plasmid. Their expression and secretion were examined by Western blotting in the wild-type (Wt) strain (SL1344), an SPI-1 type III secretion-deficient mutant strain (invA; SB136), a flagellar-export-deficient mutant strain (flgGHI; ZP88), and a mutant deficient in both secretion apparatuses (flgGHI invA; ZP89). Leakage and bacterial lyses were monitored using monoclonal anti-Hsp60 antibodies.
|
![]() View larger version (45K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 4. Secretion profiles of SopA1-45-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45 (the serine codon at position 45 from TCT to TCG)-SopE78-240-M45, and SopA1-45 (S45T)-SopE78-240-M45 fusion proteins. The cell lysates corresponded to 50 µl of culture, and secreted proteins corresponded to 1.5 ml of culture supernatant. Their expression and secretion were examined by Western blotting in the wild-type (Wt) strain (SL1344), an SPI-1 type III secretion-deficient mutant strain (invA; SB136), a flagellar-export-deficient mutant strain (flgGHI; ZP88), and a mutant deficient in both secretion apparatuses (flgGHI invA; ZP89).
|
![]() View larger version (49K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 5. Secretion profiles of SopAfull-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45-SopE78-240-M45, and SopA1-44-SopE78-240-M45 fusion proteins in invB (A) and invA (B) mutant derivatives. The cell lysates corresponded to 50 µl of bacterial culture, and the secreted proteins corresponded to 1.5 ml of culture supernatant. The expression and secretion of SopAfull-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45-SopE78-240-M45, and SopA1-44-SopE78-240-M45 were examined by Western blotting in invA (SB136), invB (ZP143), invA invB (ZP144), invB flgGHI (ZP145), and invB flgGHI invA (ZP146) strains. Leakage and bacterial lyses were monitored using monoclonal anti-Hsp60 antibodies.
|
![]() View larger version (58K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 6. Chromosomally expressed SopA-M45 is secreted by the invA mutant. Using a suicide vector, SopA-M45 was introduced into the chromosome of the wild-type (Wt) strain (SL1344), a mutant strain that contains an in-frame deletion in the gene that encodes the SopA chaperone (invB), an SPI-1 type III secretion-deficient mutant strain (invA; SB136), a flagellar-export-deficient mutant strain (flgGHI; ZP88), and a mutant deficient in both secretion apparatuses (flgGHI invA; ZP89). The secretion of SipA and SopA-M45 was examined by Western blotting with anti-SipA and anti-M45 antibodies. The lysate sample corresponded to 200 µl of bacterial culture, and the secretion sample corresponded to 6 ml of culture supernatant. The blot was reprobed with anti-Hsp60 to detect nonspecific leakage and bacterial lysis.
|
![]() View larger version (55K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 7. SopA1-45, but not SopA1-44, interacts with its chaperone, InvB, as tested by yeast two-hybrid analysis (A) and a protein overlay assay (B). (A) Equivalent amounts of Y153 carrying GAL4-SopA, GAL4-SopA1-95-SopE78-240, and GAL4-SopA1-45-Npt, together with GAL4-InvB, were spotted on the yeast drop-out media with and without histidine. Growth was recorded, and a ß-galactosidase lift assay was carried out after 3 days of incubation at 30°C. (B) Equal amounts of whole-cell lysates of E. coli DH5 expressing SopA1-95-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-44-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45-Npt-M45, and SptP1-159-SopE78-240-M45 were separated by SDS-PAGE and immobilized on nitrocellulose membranes. The membranes were probed with purified GST-InvB or GST alone, followed by anti-GST antibodies (top). Total fusion proteins were probed with anti-M45 monoclonal antibodies (bottom).
|
expressing SopA1-95-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45-Npt-M45, and SopA1-44-SopE78-240-M45 were separated by SDS-PAGE and immobilized onto nitrocellulose membranes. As a negative control, SptP, whose chaperone is SicP (7), was tested in a similar manner. Immobilized membranes were probed with either purified GST-InvB or GST alone, followed by anti-GST antibodies (Fig. 7B). The GST-InvB probe bound well to the SopA1-95-SopE78-240-M45 and SopA1-45-SopE78-240-M45 fusion constructs. This interaction was not observed for SopA1-44-SopE78-240-M45 or for SptP-SopE78-240-M45, which does not interact with InvB. In addition, no interactions were observed when the blots were probed with GST instead of GST-InvB (data not shown). Interaction was also observed between GST-InvB and the SopA1-45-Npt-M45 fusion proteins, indicating that the specificity between InvB and SopA1-45-SopE78-240 was independent of the SopE78-240 fragment. Taken together, these experiments demonstrated that InvB interacts with SopA1-45, but not with SopA1-44. |
|
|---|
Although the secretion domains of the type III effector molecules have been studied extensively (1, 24, 25, 27, 30-32), very few studies describe the translocation domains. The minimal secretion domain of type III effectors in Yersinia and Salmonella have been localized to the first
20 amino acids from the N termini (24, 25, 30, 32). The minimal translocation domain of SptP (amino acids 1 to 159) was identified by functional and crystallographic studies (7, 37). With the ruffling translocation assay, we have determined that additional C-terminal deletions in SopA1-45 eliminate its translocation. The translocation of SopA1-45 is further supported by the experiment that showed that the SopA1-45-CyaA, but not the SopA1-44-CyaA, fusion was translocated. SopA1-45-CyaA was slightly, but significantly, translocated into Henle-407 compared to SopA1-44-CyaA. Since SopA1-45, not SopA1-44, was able to translocate SopE78-240, this further illustrates the sensitivity of the translocation ruffling assay. SopA1-45 was translocated at a much lower efficiency than the full-length SopA and approximately 2.5 times more than the negative control. Interestingly, SopA1-95-SopE78-240 induced prominent ruffle formation and the SopA1-95-CyaA fusion exhibited a high level of cAMP, suggesting that efficient secretion and translocation of SopA requires sequences beyond the minimum SopA1-45. We have also found that SopA1-45, but not SopA1-44, is able to bind to InvB by both yeast two-hybrid and far-Western analyses. This correlation further indicates that SopA1-45 is the minimal domain for SPI-1 secretion and translocation. It also further supports the importance of chaperone binding and its role in secretion and/or translocation of SopA.
Previously, Ehrbar et al. showed that SopA1-287-M45 secretion is dependent on a functional SPI-1 TTSS with lack of secretion of SopA1-287-M45 from the invC::aphT mutant (6). In this study, we found that SopA-M45 is secreted through both the SPI-1 and the flagellar export apparatuses. We are certain that the SopA secretion in the invA mutant is neither due to leakage through the SPI-1 TTSS nor due to the lysis of bacteria. First, we observed SopA secretion in a mutant that contained in-frame deletions in both InvA and InvG, two essential components of the SPI-1 TTSS (data not shown). Second, we found that SopA-M45 secretion was eliminated in the invB flgGHI strain but was unaffected in invB invA (Fig. 5), indicating that SopA secretion through the SPI-1 TTSS is InvB dependent and is InvB independent when exported through the flagellar transport system. Third, we never detected Hsp60 (3), a Salmonella cytosolic protein, in any of the secretion samples tested. Lastly, SopA secretion is completely eliminated in the invA flgGHI strain, which is deficient in both SPI-1 TTSS and flagellar secretion, further demonstrating that SopA proteins detected in the invA mutant supernatant are due to specific secretion through the flagellar export apparatus.
Several different experimental conditions may have contributed to the discrepancy between our SopA secretion data and those of Ehrbar et al. (6). First, they used an invC::aphT mutant strain and we used the invA::aphT invA invG in-frame deletion (data not shown) mutant strains. Second, subtle differences in bacterial culture conditions may need to be examined to see if culture conditions induced/suppressed the expression or the proper function of the flagellar export apparatus. In the absence of a functional flagellar export apparatus, no SopA would be detected in the invA mutant strain.
Our data showed that SopAfull-SopE78-240-M45, SopA1-45-SopE78-240-M45, and SopA1-44-SopE78-240-M45 were all secreted through the flagellar export apparatus. SopA1-35-SopE78-240-M45 and SopA1-10-SopE78-240-M45 are also capable of being secreted through the flagellar export apparatus (data not shown). Further N-terminal truncation resulted in very poor expression of the fusion proteins (data not shown). It is not clear what role the flagellar export of SopA plays in Salmonella pathogenesis. Our data indicate that there is no translocation following the flagellar export of SopA. Further studies are required to investigate whether SopA functions in an extracellular manner in Salmonella pathogenesis. In fact, it has been reported that extracellular SipA might activate a PKC-
-dependent signal transduction pathway to induce neutrophil transepithelial migration (20, 35).
In summary, we have determined the minimal secretion and translocation region of SopA to be within the first 45 amino acids. This region binds its chaperone and is sufficient for both the secretion signal and the translocation signal for the SPI-1 type III apparatus in Salmonella. It is clear that the secretion and translocation domains overlap with the chaperone-binding domain, and they may even be the same domain.
Research was supported by NIH grant AI49978 to D.Z.
|
|
|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»