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 HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Carson, S. D. B.
Right arrow Articles by Sparling, P. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Carson, S. D. B.
Right arrow Articles by Sparling, P. F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, May 1999, p. 2895-2901, Vol. 181, No. 9
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Ferric Enterobactin Binding and Utilization by Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Susan D. Biegel Carson,1 Philip E. Klebba,2 Salete M. C. Newton,2 and P. Frederick Sparling1,3,*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology1 and Department of Medicine,3 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 730192

Received 23 December 1998/Accepted 19 February 1999

FetA, formerly designated FrpB, an iron-regulated, 76-kDa neisserial outer membrane protein, shows sequence homology to the TonB-dependent family of receptors that transport iron into gram-negative bacteria. Although FetA is commonly expressed by most neisserial strains and is a potential vaccine candidate for both Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis, its function in cell physiology was previously undefined. We now report that FetA functions as an enterobactin receptor. N. gonorrhoeae FA1090 utilized ferric enterobactin as the sole iron source when supplied with ferric enterobactin at approximately 10 µM, but growth stimulation was abolished when an omega (Omega ) cassette was inserted within fetA or when tonB was insertionally interrupted. FA1090 FetA specifically bound 59Fe-enterobactin, with a Kd of approximately 5 µM. Monoclonal antibodies raised against the Escherichia coli enterobactin receptor, FepA, recognized FetA in Western blots, and amino acid sequence comparisons revealed that residues previously implicated in ferric enterobactin binding by FepA were partially conserved in FetA. An open reading frame downstream of fetA, designated fetB, predicted a protein with sequence similarity to the family of periplasmic binding proteins necessary for transporting siderophores through the periplasmic space of gram-negative bacteria. An Omega  insertion within fetB abolished ferric enterobactin utilization without causing a loss of ferric enterobactin binding. These data show that FetA is a functional homolog of FepA that binds ferric enterobactin and may be part of a system responsible for transporting the siderophore into the cell.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, C. B. 7030, Chapel Hill, NC 27599. Phone: (919) 966-3661. Fax: (919) 966-6714. E-mail: zman{at}med.unc.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, May 1999, p. 2895-2901, Vol. 181, No. 9
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Anderson, M. T., Armstrong, S. K. (2006). The Bordetella bfe system: growth and transcriptional response to siderophores, catechols, and neuroendocrine catecholamines.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 5731-5740 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ducey, T. F., Carson, M. B., Orvis, J., Stintzi, A. P., Dyer, D. W. (2005). Identification of the Iron-Responsive Genes of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by Microarray Analysis in Defined Medium. J. Bacteriol. 187: 4865-4874 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Anderson, M. T., Armstrong, S. K. (2004). The BfeR Regulator Mediates Enterobactin-Inducible Expression of Bordetella Enterobactin Utilization Genes. J. Bacteriol. 186: 7302-7311 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Perkins-Balding, D., Ratliff-Griffin, M., Stojiljkovic, I. (2004). Iron Transport Systems in Neisseria meningitidis. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 68: 154-171 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Braun, D. C., Stein, D. C. (2004). The lgtABCDE Gene Cluster, Involved in Lipooligosaccharide Biosynthesis in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Contains Multiple Promoter Sequences. J. Bacteriol. 186: 1038-1049 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Delany, I., Ieva, R., Alaimo, C., Rappuoli, R., Scarlato, V. (2003). The Iron-Responsive Regulator Fur Is Transcriptionally Autoregulated and Not Essential in Neisseria meningitidis. J. Bacteriol. 185: 6032-6041 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wong, H., Schryvers, A. B. (2003). Bacterial lactoferrin-binding protein A binds to both domains of the human lactoferrin C-lobe. Microbiology 149: 1729-1737 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Thompson, E. A. L., Feavers, I. M., Maiden, M. C. J. (2003). Antigenic diversity of meningococcal enterobactin receptor FetA, a vaccine component. Microbiology 149: 1849-1858 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Albiger, B., Johansson, L., Jonsson, A.-B. (2003). Lipooligosaccharide-Deficient Neisseria meningitidis Shows Altered Pilus-Associated Characteristics. Infect. Immun. 71: 155-162 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Eschenbrenner, M., Wagner, M. A., Horn, T. A., Kraycer, J. A., Mujer, C. V., Hagius, S., Elzer, P., DelVecchio, V. G. (2002). Comparative Proteome Analysis of Brucella melitensis Vaccine Strain Rev 1 and a Virulent Strain, 16M. J. Bacteriol. 184: 4962-4970 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mey, A. R., Wyckoff, E. E., Oglesby, A. G., Rab, E., Taylor, R. K., Payne, S. M. (2002). Identification of the Vibrio cholerae Enterobactin Receptors VctA and IrgA: IrgA Is Not Required for Virulence. Infect. Immun. 70: 3419-3426 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pollard, A J, Moxon, E R (2002). The meningococcus tamed?. Arch. Dis. Child. 87: 13-17 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jerse, A. E., Crow, E. T., Bordner, A. N., Rahman, I., Cornelissen, C. N., Moench, T. R., Mehrazar, K. (2002). Growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the Female Mouse Genital Tract Does Not Require the Gonococcal Transferrin or Hemoglobin Receptors and May Be Enhanced by Commensal Lactobacilli. Infect. Immun. 70: 2549-2558 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Masri, H. P., Cornelissen, C. N. (2002). Specific Ligand Binding Attributable to Individual Epitopes of Gonococcal Transferrin Binding Protein A. Infect. Immun. 70: 732-740 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Timmerman, M. M., Woods, J. P. (2001). Potential Role for Extracellular Glutathione-Dependent Ferric Reductase in Utilization of Environmental and Host Ferric Compounds by Histoplasma capsulatum. Infect. Immun. 69: 7671-7678 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Delany, I., Pacheco, A. B. F., Spohn, G., Rappuoli, R., Scarlato, V. (2001). Iron-Dependent Transcription of the frpB Gene of Helicobacter pylori Is Controlled by the Fur Repressor Protein. J. Bacteriol. 183: 4932-4937 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Turner, P. C., Thomas, C. E., Stojiljkovic, I., Elkins, C., Kizel, G., Ala’Aldeen, D. A. A., Sparling, P. F. (2001). Neisserial TonB-dependent outer-membrane proteins: detection, regulation and distribution of three putative candidates identified from the genome sequences. Microbiology 147: 1277-1290 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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