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Journal of Bacteriology, October 2008, p. 6509-6516, Vol. 190, No. 19
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00144-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Regulation of CorA Mg2+ Channel Function Affects the Virulence of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium {triangledown}

Krisztina M. Papp-Wallace* and Michael E. Maguire

Department of Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4965

Received 28 January 2008/ Accepted 24 July 2008

The CorA Mg2+ channel is the primary source of intracellular Mg2+ in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. In another study, we found that a strain lacking corA was attenuated in mice and also defective for invasion and replication within Caco-2 epithelial cells (K. M. Papp-Wallace, M. Nartea, D. G. Kehres, S. Porwollik, M. McClelland, S. J. Libby, F. C. Fang, and M. E. Maguire, J. Bacteriol. 190:6517-6523, 2008). Therefore, we further examined Salmonella interaction with Caco-2 epithelial cells. Inhibiting CorA acutely or chronically with a high concentration of a selective inhibitor, Co(III) hexaammine, had no effect on S. enterica serovar Typhimurium invasion of Caco-2 epithelial cells. Complementing the corA mutation with corA from various species rescued the invasion defect only if the complementing allele was functional and if it was evolutionarily similar to S. enterica serovar Typhimurium CorA. One explanation for these results could be that regulation of CorA function is needed for optimal virulence. Further experiments examining corA transcription, CorA protein content, CorA transport, and cell Mg2+ content indicated that both CorA expression and CorA function are differentially regulated. Moreover, the rates of Mg2+ influx via CorA are not closely correlated with either protein levels or Mg2+ content. We conclude that loss of the CorA protein disrupts a regulatory network(s) with the ultimate phenotype of decreased virulence. This conclusion is compatible with the microarray results in our other study, which showed that loss of corA resulted in changes in transcription (and protein expression) in multiple metabolic pathways (Papp-Wallace et al., J. Bacteriol. 190:6517-6523, 2008). Further study of the regulation of CorA expression and function provides an opportunity to dissect the complexity of Mg2+ homeostasis and its ties to virulence within the bacterium.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-4965. Phone: (216) 368-6187. Fax: (216) 368-3395. E-mail: kmp12{at}po.cwru.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 1 August 2008.

Journal of Bacteriology, October 2008, p. 6509-6516, Vol. 190, No. 19
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00144-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • O'Connor, K., Fletcher, S. A., Csonka, L. N. (2009). Increased expression of Mg2+ transport proteins enhances the survival of Salmonella enterica at high temperature. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 17522-17527 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Moomaw, A. S., Maguire, M. E. (2008). The Unique Nature of Mg2+ Channels. Physiology 23: 275-285 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Papp-Wallace, K. M., Nartea, M., Kehres, D. G., Porwollik, S., McClelland, M., Libby, S. J., Fang, F. C., Maguire, M. E. (2008). The CorA Mg2+ Channel Is Required for the Virulence of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium. J. Bacteriol. 190: 6517-6523 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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