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 Marr, N.
Right arrow Articles by Caroff, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Marr, N.
Right arrow Articles by Caroff, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2008, p. 4281-4290, Vol. 190, No. 12
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01875-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Glucosamine Found as a Substituent of Both Phosphate Groups in Bordetella Lipid A Backbones: Role of a BvgAS-Activated ArnT Ortholog{triangledown}

Nico Marr,1,{dagger} Alina Tirsoaga,2,3,{dagger} Didier Blanot,4 Rachel Fernandez,1 and Martine Caroff2*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z3,1 Equipe Endotoxines, UMR 8619 du CNRS, Institut de Biochimie et Biophysique Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Universite de Paris-Sud, Orsay, France,2 Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Bucharest, 030018 Bucharest, Romania,3 Laboratoire des Enveloppes Bactériennes et Antibiotiques, Institut de Biochimie et Biophysique Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Universite de Paris-Sud, Orsay, France4

Received 29 November 2007/ Accepted 26 March 2008

Endotoxins are amphipathic lipopolysaccharides (LPSs), major constituents of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria. They consist of a lipid region, covalently linked to a core oligosaccharide, to which may be linked a repetitive glycosidic chain carrying antigenic determinants. Most of the biological activities of endotoxins have been associated with the lipid moiety of the molecule: unique to gram-negative bacteria, LPS is a ligand of the mammalian TLR4-MD2-CD14 pathogen recognition receptor complex. Lipid A preparations are often heterogeneous with respect to both the numbers and the lengths of fatty acids and the natures of substituents on the phosphate groups when present. The variants can significantly affect host immune responses. Nine species in the Bordetella genus have been described, and the fine LPS structures of seven of them have been published. In this report, lipids A from Bordetella pertussis Tohama I and B. bronchiseptica strain 4650 were further characterized and revealed to have a glucosamine substituting both lipid A phosphate groups of the diglucosamine backbone. These substitutions have not been previously described for bordetellae. Moreover, a B. pertussis transposon mutation that maps within a gene encoding a Bordetella ArnT (formerly PmrK) glycosyl transferase ortholog does not carry this substitution, thus providing a genetic basis for the modification. Reverse transcriptase PCR of this locus showed that it is Bvg regulated, suggesting that the ability of Bordetella to modify lipid A via this glucosamine modification is a potential virulence trait.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Equipe Endotoxines, UMR 8619 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IBBMC, Université de Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France. Phone: 33 1 69 15 71 91. Fax: 33 1 69 85 37 15. E-mail: martine.caroff{at}u-psud.fr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 18 April 2008.

{dagger} N. Marr and A. Tirsoaga contributed equally to this work.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2008, p. 4281-4290, Vol. 190, No. 12
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01875-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Geurtsen, J., Dzieciatkowska, M., Steeghs, L., Hamstra, H.-J., Boleij, J., Broen, K., Akkerman, G., el Hassan, H., Li, J., Richards, J. C., Tommassen, J., van der Ley, P. (2009). Identification of a Novel Lipopolysaccharide Core Biosynthesis Gene Cluster in Bordetella pertussis, and Influence of Core Structure and Lipid A Glucosamine Substitution on Endotoxic Activity. Infect. Immun. 77: 2602-2611 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • El Hamidi, A., Novikov, A., Karibian, D., Perry, M. B., Caroff, M. (2009). Structural characterization of Bordetella parapertussis lipid A. J. Lipid Res. 50: 854-859 [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»