Inorganic polyphosphate is required for motility of bacterial pathogens - PubMed (original) (raw)

Inorganic polyphosphate is required for motility of bacterial pathogens

M H Rashid et al. J Bacteriol. 2000 Jan.

Abstract

The ppk gene encodes polyphosphate kinase (PPK), the principal enzyme in many bacteria responsible for the synthesis of inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) from ATP. A null mutation in the ppk gene of six bacterial pathogens renders them greatly impaired in motility on semisolid agar plates; this defect can be corrected by the introduction of ppk gene in trans. In view of the fact that the motility of pathogens is essential to invade and establish systemic infections in host cells, this impairment in motility suggests a crucial and essential role of PPK or polyP in bacterial pathogenesis.

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Figures

FIG. 1

Swimming motility of P. aeruginosa PAO1 wild-type (WT) and derivative strains. The flagellum-mediated motility of the strains was assessed on tryptone swim plates (1% tryptone, 0.5% NaCl, 0.3% agar) with carbenicillin (300 μg/ml) and IPTG (isopropyl-β-

-thiogalactopyranoside) (1 mM) after 12 h of growth at 30°C. Migration of the cells from the point of inoculation (observed as a turbid zone) indicates that a strain is proficient for flagellar-mediated motility. The strains are (clockwise from upper left) PAO1/p66HE (WT plus vector control), PAOM-5/p66HE (Δ_ppk_ plus vector control), PAOM-5/pSCPPX (Δ_ppk_ plus PPX+++), and PAOM-5/pPAPPK (Δ_ppk_ plus PPK+++).

FIG. 2

Growth curves of E. coli MG1655 (A) and P. aeruginosa PAO1 (B) wild-type and ppk mutants in tryptone broth at 30°C. Growth was monitored at an optical density at 600 nm (OD600). Symbols: ■, wild type; □, mutant (ppk).

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Inorganic polyphosphate is required for motility of bacterial pathogens - PubMed (original) (raw)