Complete Genome Sequence of Virulent Phage MS1.

The lytic phage MS1 was isolated from a throat swab of a patient with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection. The genome of this siphophage has 56,075 bp, 42.3% G+C content, and 77 open reading frames, including queuosine biosynthesis genes.

Iron, copper, zinc, and manganese transport and regulation in pathogenic Enterobacteria: correlations between strains, site of infection and the relative importance of the different metal transport systems for virulence.

For all microorganisms, acquisition of metal ions is essential for survival in the environment or in their infected host. Metal ions are required in many biological processes as components of metalloproteins and serve as cofactors or structural elements for enzymes. However, it is critical for bacteria to ensure that metal uptake and availability is in accordance with physiological needs, as an imbalance in bacterial metal homeostasis is deleterious.

Revenge of the phages: defeating bacterial defences.

Bacteria and their viral predators (bacteriophages) are locked in a constant battle. In order to proliferate in phage-rich environments, bacteria have an impressive arsenal of defence mechanisms, and in response, phages have evolved counter-strategies to evade these antiviral systems. In this Review, we describe the various tactics that are used by phages to overcome bacterial resistance mechanisms, including adsorption inhibition, restriction-modification, CRISPR-Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated proteins) systems and abortive infection.

The proteome and interactome of Streptococcus pneumoniae phage Cp-1.

Mass spectrometry analysis of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteriophage Cp-1 identified a total of 12 proteins, and proteome-wide yeast two-hybrid screens revealed 17 binary interactions mainly among these structural proteins. On the basis of the resulting linkage map, we suggest an improved structural model of the Cp-1 virion.

Genome annotation and intraviral interactome for the Streptococcus pneumoniae virulent phage Dp-1.

Streptococcus pneumoniae causes several diseases, including pneumonia, septicemia, and meningitis. Phage Dp-1 is one of the very few isolated virulent S. pneumoniae bacteriophages, but only a partial characterization is currently available.

Roles of the extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli ZnuACB and ZupT zinc transporters during urinary tract infection.

Roles of the ZnuACB and ZupT transporters were assessed in Escherichia coli K-12 and uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) CFT073. K-12 and CFT073 Deltaznu DeltazupT mutants demonstrated decreased (65)Zn(2+) uptake and growth in minimal medium.

Contribution of the SitABCD, MntH, and FeoB metal transporters to the virulence of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli O78 strain chi7122.

The roles of SitABCD, MntH, and FeoB metal transporters in the virulence of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) O78 strain chi7122 were assessed using isogenic mutants in chicken infection models. In a single-strain infection model, compared to chi7122, the Deltasit strain demonstrated reduced colonization of the lungs, liver, and spleen. Complementation of the Deltasit strain restored virulence.

Iha from an Escherichia coli urinary tract infection outbreak clonal group A strain is expressed in vivo in the mouse urinary tract and functions as a catecholate siderophore receptor.

Virulence factors of pathogenic Escherichia coli belonging to a recently emerged and disseminated clonal group associated with urinary tract infection (UTI), provisionally designated clonal group A (CGA), have not been experimentally investigated. We used a mouse model of ascending UTI with CGA member strain UCB34 in order to identify genes of CGA that contribute to UTI. iha was identified to be expressed by strain UCB34 in the mouse kidney using selective capture of transcribed sequences.

A SitABCD homologue from an avian pathogenic Escherichia coli strain mediates transport of iron and manganese and resistance to hydrogen peroxide.

An operon encoding a member of the family of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) divalent metal ion transporters, homologous to Salmonella enterica SitABCD, has been identified in the avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) strain chi7122. The sitABCD genes were located on the virulence plasmid pAPEC-1, and were highly similar at the nucleotide level to the chromosomally encoded sitABCD genes present in Shigella spp. A cloned copy of sitABCD conferred increased growth upon a siderophore-deficient E.