Interplay between Yersinia pestis and its flea vector in lipoate metabolism.
ISME J
; 15(4): 1136-1149, 2021 04.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33479491
ABSTRACT
To thrive, vector-borne pathogens must survive in the vector's gut. How these pathogens successfully exploit this environment in time and space has not been extensively characterized. Using Yersinia pestis (the plague bacillus) and its flea vector, we developed a bioluminescence-based approach and employed it to investigate the mechanisms of pathogenesis at an unprecedented level of detail. Remarkably, lipoylation of metabolic enzymes, via the biosynthesis and salvage of lipoate, increases the Y. pestis transmission rate by fleas. Interestingly, the salvage pathway's lipoate/octanoate ligase LplA enhances the first step in lipoate biosynthesis during foregut colonization but not during midgut colonization. Lastly, Y. pestis primarily uses lipoate provided by digestive proteolysis (presumably as lipoyl peptides) rather than free lipoate in blood, which is quickly depleted by the vector. Thus, spatial and temporal factors dictate the bacterium's lipoylation strategies during an infection, and replenishment of lipoate by digestive proteolysis in the vector might constitute an Achilles' heel that is exploited by pathogens.
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Plague
/
Yersinia pestis
/
Siphonaptera
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
ISME J
Journal subject:
MICROBIOLOGIA
/
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Year:
2021
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
France