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 Passalacqua, K. D.
Right arrow Articles by Hanna, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Passalacqua, K. D.
Right arrow Articles by Hanna, P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2006, p. 3837-3848, Vol. 188, No. 11
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00239-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Superoxide Dismutases of Bacillus anthracis Do Not Cooperatively Protect against Endogenous Superoxide Stress

Karla D. Passalacqua,1 Nicholas H. Bergman,1,2 Amy Herring-Palmer,1 and Philip Hanna1*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology,1 Bioinformatics Program, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 481092

Received 15 February 2006/ Accepted 13 March 2006

The Bacillus anthracis chromosome encodes four unique, putative superoxide dismutase (sod) genes. During exponential growth and sporulation, sodA1, sodA2, and sodC are transcribed constitutively throughout the growth cycle as individual genes. In contrast, the transcription of sod15 occurs mainly during late exponential and sporulation phases as part of a four-gene operon that may be involved in spore formation. Vegetative cell and spore lysates of wild-type Sterne and superoxide dismutase deletion ({Delta}sod) mutants show detectable SOD activity for SODA1 and SODA2, and protein analysis suggests that these two proteins form active homodimers and heterodimers. A comparison of the growth of parental versus {Delta}sod mutants under various chemical oxidative stresses indicates that {Delta}sodA1 mutants are particularly sensitive to endogenously produced superoxide, whereas {Delta}sodA2, {Delta}sod15, and {Delta}sodC mutants remain as resistant to this stress as the parental strain. In addition, in mouse survival assays, {Delta}sod15 and {Delta}sodA1 were responsible for less end-point death, but the level of decreased virulence does not fall within a statistically significant range. Collectively, these data show that sodA1 acts as a major protectant from intracellular superoxide stress, that sod15 is transcribed as part of an operon that may play a role in cell morphology, and that sodA2 and sodC may have minor roles that are not apparent in the conditions tested here.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1150 West Medical Center Dr., 6703 Medical Science Building II, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. Phone: (734) 615-3706. Fax: (734) 764-3562. E-mail: pchanna{at}umich.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2006, p. 3837-3848, Vol. 188, No. 11
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00239-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sela-Abramovich, S., Chitlaru, T., Gat, O., Grosfeld, H., Cohen, O., Shafferman, A. (2009). Novel and Unique Diagnostic Biomarkers for Bacillus anthracis Infection. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 6157-6167 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cybulski, R. J. Jr., Sanz, P., Alem, F., Stibitz, S., Bull, R. L., O'Brien, A. D. (2009). Four Superoxide Dismutases Contribute to Bacillus anthracis Virulence and Provide Spores with Redundant Protection from Oxidative Stress. Infect. Immun. 77: 274-285 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Weaver, J., Kang, T. J., Raines, K. W., Cao, G.-L., Hibbs, S., Tsai, P., Baillie, L., Rosen, G. M., Cross, A. S. (2007). Protective Role of Bacillus anthracis Exosporium in Macrophage-Mediated Killing by Nitric Oxide. Infect. Immun. 75: 3894-3901 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bergman, N. H., Anderson, E. C., Swenson, E. E., Janes, B. K., Fisher, N., Niemeyer, M. M., Miyoshi, A. D., Hanna, P. C. (2007). Transcriptional Profiling of Bacillus anthracis during Infection of Host Macrophages. Infect. Immun. 75: 3434-3444 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chitlaru, T., Gat, O., Grosfeld, H., Inbar, I., Gozlan, Y., Shafferman, A. (2007). Identification of In Vivo-Expressed Immunogenic Proteins by Serological Proteome Analysis of the Bacillus anthracis Secretome. Infect. Immun. 75: 2841-2852 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Passalacqua, K. D., Bergman, N. H., Lee, J. Y., Sherman, D. H., Hanna, P. C. (2007). The Global Transcriptional Responses of Bacillus anthracis Sterne (34F2) and a {Delta}sodA1 Mutant to Paraquat Reveal Metal Ion Homeostasis Imbalances during Endogenous Superoxide Stress. J. Bacteriol. 189: 3996-4013 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lee, J. Y., Janes, B. K., Passalacqua, K. D., Pfleger, B. F., Bergman, N. H., Liu, H., Hakansson, K., Somu, R. V., Aldrich, C. C., Cendrowski, S., Hanna, P. C., Sherman, D. H. (2007). Biosynthetic Analysis of the Petrobactin Siderophore Pathway from Bacillus anthracis. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1698-1710 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bergman, N. H., Passalacqua, K. D., Hanna, P. C., Qin, Z. S. (2007). Operon Prediction for Sequenced Bacterial Genomes without Experimental Information. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 846-854 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bergman, N. H., Anderson, E. C., Swenson, E. E., Niemeyer, M. M., Miyoshi, A. D., Hanna, P. C. (2006). Transcriptional Profiling of the Bacillus anthracis Life Cycle In Vitro and an Implied Model for Regulation of Spore Formation.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 6092-6100 [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»