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 Lafontaine, E. R.
Right arrow Articles by Hansen, E. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lafontaine, E. R.
Right arrow Articles by Hansen, E. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, March 2001, p. 1540-1551, Vol. 183, No. 5
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.5.1540-1551.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Expression of the Moraxella catarrhalis UspA1 Protein Undergoes Phase Variation and Is Regulated at the Transcriptional Level

Eric R. Lafontaine, Nikki J. Wagner, and Eric J. Hansen*

Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390-9048

Received 5 May 2000/Accepted 3 December 2000

The UspA1 protein of Moraxella catarrhalis has been shown to function as an adhesin that mediates adherence to human epithelial cell lines in vitro (E. R. Lafontaine, L. D. Cope, C. Aebi, J. L. Latimer, G. H. McCracken, Jr., and E. J. Hansen, J. Bacteriol. 182:1364-1373, 2000). In the present study, cell lysates prepared from individual colonies of several M. catarrhalis wild-type strains were analyzed by Western blot analysis using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific for the UspA1 protein. Expression of UspA1 was shown to exhibit phase variation that was correlated with both adherence ability in vitro and the number of guanine (G) residues contained within a homopolymeric [poly(G)]tract located upstream of the uspA1 open reading frame (ORF). Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that isolates expressing relatively high levels of UspA1 had 10 G residues in their uspA1 poly(G)tracts, whereas isolates that expressed much lower levels of UspA1 had 9 G residues. This poly(G) tract was located 30 nucleotides (nt) upstream of the uspA1 ORF and 168 nt downstream of the uspA1 transcriptional start site. Primer extension experiments, RNA slot blot analysis, and cat reporter constructs were used to demonstrate that M. catarrhalis isolates with 10 G residues in their uspA1 poly(G) tracts expressed two-to threefold more uspA1 mRNA than did isolates which had 9 G residues in their poly(G)tracts. Northern hybridization analysis revealed that an intact uspA1 mRNA was readily detectable in RNA from M. catarrhalis isolates that had 10 G residues in their uspA1 poly(G) tracts, whereas no full-length uspA1 mRNA was observed in isolates whose poly(G)tracts contained 9 G residues. M. catarrhalis strain O35E uspA1 genes that contained wild-type and mutated poly(G) tracts were expressed in Haemophilus influenzae to demonstrate that the length and composition of the poly(G)tract affected expression of UspA1.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Hamon Building, NA6.200, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-9048. Phone: (214) 648-5974. Fax: (214) 648-5905. E-mail: eric.hansen{at}UTSouthwestern.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, March 2001, p. 1540-1551, Vol. 183, No. 5
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.5.1540-1551.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Balder, R., Krunkosky, T. M., Nguyen, C. Q., Feezel, L., Lafontaine, E. R. (2009). Hag Mediates Adherence of Moraxella catarrhalis to Ciliated Human Airway Cells. Infect. Immun. 77: 4597-4608 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • de Vries, S. P. W., Bootsma, H. J., Hays, J. P., Hermans, P. W. M. (2009). Molecular Aspects of Moraxella catarrhalis Pathogenesis. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 73: 389-406 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Brooks, M. J., Sedillo, J. L., Wagner, N., Wang, W., Attia, A. S., Wong, H., Laurence, C. A., Hansen, E. J., Gray-Owen, S. D. (2008). Moraxella catarrhalis Binding to Host Cellular Receptors Is Mediated by Sequence-Specific Determinants Not Conserved among All UspA1 Protein Variants. Infect. Immun. 76: 5322-5329 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Attia, A. S., Sedillo, J. L., Wang, W., Liu, W., Brautigam, C. A., Winkler, W., Hansen, E. J. (2008). Moraxella catarrhalis Expresses an Unusual Hfq Protein. Infect. Immun. 76: 2520-2530 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hoopman, T. C., Wang, W., Brautigam, C. A., Sedillo, J. L., Reilly, T. J., Hansen, E. J. (2008). Moraxella catarrhalis Synthesizes an Autotransporter That Is an Acid Phosphatase. J. Bacteriol. 190: 1459-1472 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, W., Reitzer, L., Rasko, D. A., Pearson, M. M., Blick, R. J., Laurence, C., Hansen, E. J. (2007). Metabolic Analysis of Moraxella catarrhalis and the Effect of Selected In Vitro Growth Conditions on Global Gene Expression. Infect. Immun. 75: 4959-4971 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pearson, M. M., Hansen, E. J. (2007). Identification of Gene Products Involved in Biofilm Production by Moraxella catarrhalis ETSU-9 In Vitro. Infect. Immun. 75: 4316-4325 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Balder, R., Hassel, J., Lipski, S., Lafontaine, E. R. (2007). Moraxella catarrhalis Strain O35E Expresses Two Filamentous Hemagglutinin-Like Proteins That Mediate Adherence to Human Epithelial Cells. Infect. Immun. 75: 2765-2775 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, W., Pearson, M. M., Attia, A. S., Blick, R. J., Hansen, E. J. (2007). A UspA2H-Negative Variant of Moraxella catarrhalis Strain O46E Has a Deletion in a Homopolymeric Nucleotide Repeat Common to uspA2H Genes. Infect. Immun. 75: 2035-2045 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Riess, T., Raddatz, G., Linke, D., Schafer, A., Kempf, V. A. J. (2007). Analysis of Bartonella Adhesin A Expression Reveals Differences between Various B. henselae Strains. Infect. Immun. 75: 35-43 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lipski, S. L., Akimana, C., Timpe, J. M., Wooten, R. M., Lafontaine, E. R. (2007). The Moraxella catarrhalis Autotransporter McaP Is a Conserved Surface Protein That Mediates Adherence to Human Epithelial Cells through Its N-Terminal Passenger Domain. Infect. Immun. 75: 314-324 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Attia, A. S., Hansen, E. J. (2006). A Conserved Tetranucleotide Repeat Is Necessary for Wild-Type Expression of the Moraxella catarrhalis UspA2 Protein. J. Bacteriol. 188: 7840-7852 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pearson, M. M., Laurence, C. A., Guinn, S. E., Hansen, E. J. (2006). Biofilm Formation by Moraxella catarrhalis In Vitro: Roles of the UspA1 Adhesin and the Hag Hemagglutinin. Infect. Immun. 74: 1588-1596 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Heiniger, N., Troller, R., Meier, P. S., Aebi, C. (2005). Cold Shock Response of the UspA1 Outer Membrane Adhesin of Moraxella catarrhalis. Infect. Immun. 73: 8247-8255 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bullard, B., Lipski, S. L., Lafontaine, E. R. (2005). Hag Directly Mediates the Adherence of Moraxella catarrhalis to Human Middle Ear Cells. Infect. Immun. 73: 5127-5136 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Peng, D., Choudhury, B. P., Petralia, R. S., Carlson, R. W., Gu, X.-X. (2005). Roles of 3-Deoxy-D-manno-2-Octulosonic Acid Transferase from Moraxella catarrhalis in Lipooligosaccharide Biosynthesis and Virulence. Infect. Immun. 73: 4222-4230 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • van der Woude, M. W., Baumler, A. J. (2004). Phase and Antigenic Variation in Bacteria. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 17: 581-611 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Holm, M. M., Vanlerberg, S. L., Foley, I. M., Sledjeski, D. D., Lafontaine, E. R. (2004). The Moraxella catarrhalis Porin-Like Outer Membrane Protein CD Is an Adhesin for Human Lung Cells. Infect. Immun. 72: 1906-1913 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Holm, M. M., Vanlerberg, S. L., Sledjeski, D. D., Lafontaine, E. R. (2003). The Hag Protein of Moraxella catarrhalis Strain O35E Is Associated with Adherence to Human Lung and Middle Ear Cells. Infect. Immun. 71: 4977-4984 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Forsgren, A., Brant, M., Karamehmedovic, M., Riesbeck, K. (2003). The Immunoglobulin D-Binding Protein MID from Moraxella catarrhalis Is Also an Adhesin. Infect. Immun. 71: 3302-3309 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mollenkvist, A., Nordstrom, T., Hallden, C., Christensen, J. J., Forsgren, A., Riesbeck, K. (2003). The Moraxella catarrhalis Immunoglobulin D-Binding Protein MID Has Conserved Sequences and Is Regulated by a Mechanism Corresponding to Phase Variation. J. Bacteriol. 185: 2285-2295 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pearson, M. M., Lafontaine, E. R., Wagner, N. J., St. Geme III, J. W., Hansen, E. J. (2002). A hag Mutant of Moraxella catarrhalis Strain O35E Is Deficient in Hemagglutination, Autoagglutination, and Immunoglobulin D-Binding Activities. Infect. Immun. 70: 4523-4533 [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»