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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2007, p. 9020-9029, Vol. 189, No. 24
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01238-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Functional Organization of the Autotransporter Adhesin Involved in Diffuse Adherence{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Marie-Ève Charbonneau and Michael Mourez*

Canada Research Chair on Bacterial Animal Diseases, Université de Montréal, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada

Received 31 July 2007/ Accepted 2 October 2007

The Escherichia coli adhesin involved in diffuse adherence (AIDA-I) is a multifunctional autotransporter protein that mediates bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation, as well as adhesion and invasion of cultured epithelial cells. To elucidate the structure-function relationships of AIDA-I, we performed transposon-based linker scanning mutagenesis and constructed mutants with site-directed deletions. Twenty-nine different mutants with insertions that did not affect protein expression were obtained. Eleven mutants were deficient for one or two but not all of the functions associated with the expression of AIDA-I. Functional characterization of the transposon mutants and of an additional deletion mutant suggested that the N-terminal third of mature AIDA-I is involved in binding of this protein to cultured epithelial cells. The purified product of the putative domain could bind to cultured epithelial cells, confirming the importance of this region in adhesion. We also identified several different mutants in which invasion and adhesion were changed to different extents and two mutants in which autoaggregation and biofilm formation were also affected differently. These results suggest that although conceptually linked, adhesion and invasion, as well as autoaggregation and biofilm formation, are phenomena that may rely on distinct mechanisms when they are mediated by AIDA-I. This study sheds new light on the workings of a protein belonging to an emerging family of strikingly versatile virulence factors.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: 3200 Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, J2S 7C6 Canada. Phone: (450) 773-8521, ext. 18430. Fax: (450) 778-8108. E-mail: m.mourez{at}umontreal.ca

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 12 October 2007.

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

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2007, p. 9020-9029, Vol. 189, No. 24
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01238-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Charbonneau, M.-E., Janvore, J., Mourez, M. (2009). Autoprocessing of the Escherichia coli AIDA-I Autotransporter: A NEW MECHANISM INVOLVING ACIDIC RESIDUES IN THE JUNCTION REGION. J. Biol. Chem. 284: 17340-17351 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • May, K. L., Morona, R. (2008). Mutagenesis of the Shigella flexneri Autotransporter IcsA Reveals Novel Functional Regions Involved in IcsA Biogenesis and Recruitment of Host Neural Wiscott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein. J. Bacteriol. 190: 4666-4676 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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