Ferric Uptake Regulator Fur Coordinates Siderophore Production, Defense against Iron Toxicity and Oxidative Stress, and Contributes to Virulence in Chromobacterium violaceum.

Ferric Uptake Regulator Fur Coordinates Siderophore Production, Defense against Iron Toxicity and Oxidative Stress, and Contributes to Virulence in Chromobacterium violaceum. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2020 Aug 28;: Authors: de Souza Santos RER, Batista BB, da Silva Neto JF Abstract Iron is a highly reactive metal that participates in several processes in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Hosts and pathogens compete for iron in the context of infection. Chromobacterium violaceum, an environmental Gram-negative bacterial pathogen, relies on siderophores to overcome iron limitation in the host. In this work, we studied the role of the Ferric Uptake Regulator Fur in the physiology and virulence of C. violaceum A Δfur null mutant strain showed decreased growth and fitness under regular in vitro growth conditions and presented high sensitivity to iron and oxidative stresses. Furthermore, the absence of fur caused derepression of siderophore production and reduction in swimming motility and biofilm formation. Consistent with these results, the C. violaceum Δfur null mutant was highly attenuated for virulence and liver colonization in mice. In contrast, a manganese-selected spontaneous fur mutant showed only siderophore overproduction and sensitivity to oxidative stress, indicating that Fur remained partially functional in this strain. We found that mutations in genes related to siderophore biosynthesis and a putative CRISPR/Cas locus rescue...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Environ Microbiol Source Type: research