Inner-membrane protein MorC is involved in fimbriae production and biofilm formation in Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans
Abstract
Fimbrial subunit synthesis, secretion and assembly on the surface of the periodontal pathogen Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans are essential for biofilm formation. A recent quantitative proteomics study employing an afimbriated strain and a developed mutant isogenic for the inner-membrane protein morphogenesis protein C (MorC) revealed that the abundance of the proteins of the fimbrial secretion apparatus in the membrane is dependent on MorC. To investigate further the relationship between MorC and fimbriation, we identified and complemented the defect in fimbriae production in the afimbriated laboratory strain. The transformed strain expressing a plasmid containing genes encoding the WT fimbrial subunit and the prepilin peptidase displayed all of the hallmarks of a fimbriated bacterium including the distinct star-like colony morphology, robust biofilm formation, biofilm architecture composed of discrete microcolonies and the presence of fimbriae. When the identical plasmid was transformed into a morC mutant strain, the bacterium did not display any of the phenotypes of fimbriated strains. Extension of these studies to a naturally fimbriated clinical strain showed that the resulting morC mutant maintained the characteristi...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Biofilm & Infectious Disease
Biofilm formation is a key virulence factor for a wide range of microorganisms that cause chronic infections.Here is the latest research on biofilm and infectious diseases.
Biofilms
Biofilms are adherent bacterial communities embedded in a polymer matrix and can cause persistent human infections that are highly resistant to antibiotics. Discover the latest research on Biofilms here.