Brucella spp. have several pathogenic properties that make them a serious potential threat for use as agents of biological warfare and bioterrorism. Specifically, they are highly infectious by the aerosol route, they produce a chronic, debilitating disease in humans that is difficult to treat, and there is no safe and effective vaccine available to prevent human brucellosis. Prolonged survival and replication in host macrophages is critical to the capacity of the brucellae to establish and maintain chronic infection in the host. During their long term residence in host macrophages, the brucellae encounter a variety of harsh environmental conditions including nutrient limitation and exposure to reactive oxygen intermediates and acidic pH. Experimental evidence indicates that the B. abortus hfq gene product (also known as host factor I, or HF-I) is essential for the capacity of this organism to withstand exposure to these environmental stresses in host macrophages. Based on the well documented function of its enteric counterparts, the Principal Investigator's working hypothesis is that the B. abortus hfq gene product performs this function by facilitating optimal translation of the gene encoding a homologue of the stationary phase specific RNA polymerase sigma factor RpoS.
The specific aims of this project are: 1) to clone the B. abortus rpoS gene, confirm its regulatory link to HF-I, and evaluate its contribution to stationary phase physiology in vitro and virulence in the mouse model; 2) to determine if HF-I and RpoS control stationary phase expression of the B. abortus katE and sodC genes, which encode important primary antioxidants linked to virulence in mice; and 3) to identify other HF-I and RpoS-regulated genes in B. abortus that play critical roles in the capacity of this bacterium to establish and maintain chronic infection in the murine host. Defining the physiologic state of the intracellular brucellae during chronic infection in the host and elucidating the contributions of individual stationary phase gene products to successful survival and replication in host macrophages should provide important basic information regarding host-pathogen interactions in Brucella infections. This information may also be useful for the design of novel vaccine candidates and improved chemotherapeutic approaches.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
7R01AI048499-02
Application #
6353974
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAI1-EWS-M (M2))
Program Officer
Baker, Phillip J
Project Start
2000-07-15
Project End
2004-06-30
Budget Start
2001-01-01
Budget End
2001-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2000
Total Cost
$305,749
Indirect Cost
Name
East Carolina University
Department
Microbiology/Immun/Virology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
City
Greenville
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27858
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Saadeh, Bashir; Caswell, Clayton C; Chao, Yanjie et al. (2016) Transcriptome-Wide Identification of Hfq-Associated RNAs in Brucella suis by Deep Sequencing. J Bacteriol 198:427-35
Sheehan, Lauren M; Budnick, James A; Roop 2nd, R Martin et al. (2015) Coordinated zinc homeostasis is essential for the wild-type virulence of Brucella abortus. J Bacteriol 197:1582-91
Caswell, Clayton C; Elhassanny, Ahmed E M; Planchin, Emilie E et al. (2013) Diverse genetic regulon of the virulence-associated transcriptional regulator MucR in Brucella abortus 2308. Infect Immun 81:1040-51
Kim, Hye-Sook; Caswell, Clayton C; Foreman, Robert et al. (2013) The Brucella abortus general stress response system regulates chronic mammalian infection and is controlled by phosphorylation and proteolysis. J Biol Chem 288:13906-16
Caswell, Clayton C; Baumgartner, John E; Martin, Daniel W et al. (2012) Characterization of the organic hydroperoxide resistance system of Brucella abortus 2308. J Bacteriol 194:5065-72
Caswell, Clayton C; Gaines, Jennifer M; Ciborowski, Pawel et al. (2012) Identification of two small regulatory RNAs linked to virulence in Brucella abortus 2308. Mol Microbiol 85:345-60
Martin, Daniel W; Baumgartner, John E; Gee, Jason M et al. (2012) SodA is a major metabolic antioxidant in Brucella abortus 2308 that plays a significant, but limited, role in the virulence of this strain in the mouse model. Microbiology 158:1767-74
Caswell, Clayton C; Gaines, Jennifer M; Roop 2nd, R Martin (2012) The RNA chaperone Hfq independently coordinates expression of the VirB type IV secretion system and the LuxR-type regulator BabR in Brucella abortus 2308. J Bacteriol 194:3-14
Steele, Kendra H; Baumgartner, John E; Valderas, Michelle Wright et al. (2010) Comparative study of the roles of AhpC and KatE as respiratory antioxidants in Brucella abortus 2308. J Bacteriol 192:4912-22

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