Pili of Aeromonas hydrophila: purification, characterization, and biological role

Aeromonas flagella and colonisation mechanisms

Aeromonas species are inhabitants of aquatic environments and are able to cause disease in humans and fish among other animals. In aquaculture, they are responsible for the economically important diseases of furunculosis and motile Aeromonas septicaemia (MAS). Whereas gastroenteritis and wound infections are the major human diseases associated with the genus. As they inhabit and survive in diverse environments, aeromonads possess a wide range of colonisation factors. The motile species are able to swim in liquid environments through the action of a single polar flagellum, the flagellin subunits of which are glycosylated; although essential for function the biological role of glycan addition is yet to be determined. Approximately 60% of aeromonads possess a second lateral flagella system that is expressed in viscous environments for swarming over surfaces; both flagellar systems have been shown to be important in the initial colonisation of surfaces. Subsequently, other non-flagellar colonisation factors are employed; these can be both filamentous and non-filamentous. The aeromonads possess a number of fimbrial systems with the bundle-forming MSHA type IV pilus system, having a major role in human cell adherence. Furthermore, a series of outer-membrane proteins have also been implicated in the aeromonad adhesion process. A number of strains are also capable of cell invasion and that maybe linked with the more invasive diseases of bacteraemia or wound infections. These strains employ cell surface factors that allow the colonisation of these niches that protect them from the host's immune system such as S-layers, capsules or particular lipopolysaccharides.

Corynebacterium ulcerans diphtheria: an emerging zoonosis in Brazil and worldwide

The article is a literature review on the emergence of human infections caused by Corynebacterium ulcerans in many countries including Brazil. Articles in Medline/PubMed and SciELO databases published between 1926 and 2011 were reviewed, as well as articles and reports of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. It is presented a fast, cost-effective and easy to perform screening test for the presumptive diagnosis of C. ulcerans and C. diphtheriae infections in most Brazilian public and private laboratories. C. ulcerans spread in many countries and recent isolation of this pathogen in Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, is a warning to clinicians, veterinarians, and microbiologists on the occurrence of zoonotic diphtheria and C. ulcerans dissemination in urban and rural areas of Brazil and/or Latin America.

Motility and the polar flagellum are required for Aeromonas caviae adherence to HEp-2 cells

Aeromonas caviae is increasingly being recognized as a cause of gastroenteritis, especially among the young. The adherence of aeromonads to human epithelial cells in vitro has been correlated with enteropathogenicity, but the mechanism is far from well understood. Initial investigations demonstrated that adherence of A. caviae to HEp-2 cells was significantly reduced by either pretreating bacterial cells with an antipolar flagellin antibody or by pretreating HEp-2 cells with partially purified flagella. To precisely define the role of the polar flagellum in aeromonad adherence, we isolated the A. caviae polar flagellin locus and identified five polar flagellar genes, in the order flaA, flaB, flaG, flaH, and flaJ. Each gene was inactivated using a kanamycin resistance cartridge that ensures the transcription of downstream genes, and the resulting mutants were tested for motility, flagellin expression, and adherence to HEp-2 cells. N-terminal amino acid sequencing, mutant analysis, and Western blotting demonstrated that A. caviae has a complex flagellum filament composed of two flagellin subunits encoded by flaA and flaB. The predicted molecular mass of both flagellins was approximately 31,700 Da; however, their molecular mass estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was approximately 35,500 Da. This aberrant migration was thought to be due to their glycosylation, since the proteins were reactive in glycosyl group detection assays. Single mutations in either flaA or flaB did not result in loss of flagella but did result in decreased motility and adherence by approximately 50%. Mutation of flaH, flaJ, or both flagellin genes resulted in the complete loss of motility, flagellin expression, and adherence. However, mutation of flaG did not affect motility but did significantly reduce the level of adherence. Centrifugation of the flagellate mutants (flaA, flaB, and flaG) onto the cell monolayers did not increase adherence, whereas centrifugation of the aflagellate mutants (flaH, flaJ, and flaA flaB) increased adherence slightly. We conclude that maximum adherence of A. caviae to human epithelial cells in vitro requires motility and optimal flagellar function.

Investigation of the role of type IV Aeromonas pilus (Tap) in the pathogenesis of Aeromonas gastrointestinal infection

Although there is substantial evidence that type IV pili purified from diarrhea-associated Aeromonas species (designated Bfp for bundle-forming pilus) are intestinal colonization factors (S. M. Kirov, L. A. O'Donovan, and K. Sanderson, Infect. Immun. 67:5447-5454, 1999), nothing is known regarding the function of a second family of Aeromonas type IV pili (designated Tap for type IV Aeromonas pilus), identified following the cloning of a pilus biogenesis gene cluster tapABCD. Related pilus gene clusters are widely conserved among gram-negative bacteria, but their significance for virulence has been controversial. To investigate the role of Tap pili in Aeromonas pathogenesis, mutants of Aeromonas strains (a fish isolate of A. hydrophila and a human dysenteric isolate of A. veronii bv. sobria) were prepared by insertional inactivation of the tapA gene which encodes the type IV pilus subunit protein, TapA. Exotoxic activities were unaffected by the mutation in tapA. Inactivation of tapA had no effect on the bacterial adherence of these two isolates to HEp-2 cells. For the A. veronii bv. sobria isolate, adhesion to Henle 407 intestinal cells and to human intestinal tissue was also unaffected. There was no significant effect on the duration of colonization or incidence of diarrhea when the A. veronii bv. sobria strain was tested in the removable intestinal tie adult rabbit diarrhea model or on its ability to colonize infant mice. Evidence was obtained that demonstrated that TapA was expressed by both Aeromonas species and was present on the cell surface, although if assembled into pili this pilus type appears to be an uncommon one under standard bacterial growth conditions. Further studies into factors which may influence Tap expression are required, but the present study suggests that Tap pili may not be as significant as Bfp pili for Aeromonas intestinal colonization.

Functional characterization of type IV pili expressed on diarrhea-associated isolates of Aeromonas species

Our past work has shown that long, flexible type IV pili (single or in bundles) are the predominant pili expressed on fecal isolates of diarrhea-associated species of Aeromonas (Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria and A. caviae). They represent a family of type IV pili which we have designated Bfp (for bundle-forming pili). Reports from Japan suggest that Bfp are intestinal colonization factors. This study presents compelling evidence to support this conclusion. Aeromonas bacteria and/or Bfp purified from a strain of A. veronii biovar sobria were shown to adhere to epithelial and intestinal cell lines, freshly isolated human enterocytes, and fresh and fixed human and rabbit intestinal tissues, as determined by light and electron microscopy and immunohistochemical detection. Removal of Bfp by mechanical means decreased adhesion to cell lines by up to 80%. Purified Bfp blocked adhesion of the test strain to intestinal cells in a dose-dependent manner. Adhesion was also blocked by the Fab fraction of anti-Bfp immunoglobulin G. Moreover, ultrastructural studies (ruthenium red staining and transmission and scanning electron microscopy) demonstrated for the first time that Aeromonas adhesion to human enterocytes is pilus mediated and suggested that Bfp may also promote colonization by forming bacterium-to-bacterium linkages. Bfp-positive isolates examined for type IV pilus-mediated twitching motility in agar and slide culture assays developed for Pseudomonas aeruginosa did not, however, exhibit this function.

Aeromonas trota strains, which agglutinate with Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal antiserum, possess a serologically distinct fimbrial colonization factor

Pili of Aeromonas trota strain 1220, which agglutinates with Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal antiserum, were purified and characterized. The molecular mass of the subunit protein was estimated to be 20 kDa and the pl was 5 center dot 4. The pili were immunologically unrelated to the other Aeromonas pili reported so far. However, the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the subunit pilin was similar to those of the pilins from other Aeromonas pili reported previously. Neither A. trota cells nor pili purified from strain 1220 agglutinated human and rabbit erythrocytes, but both adhered to the rabbit intestine. Bacterial cells pretreated with antipilus antibody (Fab portion) failed to adhere to the rabbit intestine. Moreover, bacteria did not adhere to the rabbit intestine pretreated with the purified pili. This pilus antigen was not detected in V. cholerae O139 Bengal and other Aeromonas spp. These findings suggest that the pilus of the A. trota strain is a novel colonization factor of Aeromonas spp.

Electron microscopic examination of factors influencing the expression of filamentous surface structures on clinical and environmental isolates of Aeromonas veronii Biotype sobria

Strains of Aeromonas veronii biotype sobria isolated from clinical and environmental sources were examined for their expression of surface structures under a variety of culture conditions. When grown on solid media at 37 degrees C, more than 95% of bacteria from the majority of strains isolated from human diarrheal feces and chicken carcasses were non-piliated or expressed only a few pili of long, flexible morphology per cell. Strains isolated from water or other foods were much more likely to express pili. Heavily piliated strains (all sources) possessed pili of several morphological types, including long, flexible pili of varying widths and rigid pili of varying lengths. Expression of Pili was favored by growth at temperatures ca. 20 degrees C and below and growth in liquid medium. Most fecal strains expressed some pili under these conditions. In addition, other surface structures (fibrillar aggregates, fibrillar networks bundle-forming pili) were seen on some strains from most sources. These were also seen most frequently when bacteria were grown in liquid media at temperatures ca. 20 degrees C and below. Pili expression was not dramatically influenced by growth under anaerobic conditions, or in iron-depleted media, or by combinations of the above conditions. The role of the above surface structures in Aeromonas pathogenicity remains to be elucidated.

The growth and expression of virulence factors at refrigeration temperature by Aeromonas strains isolated from foods

A potentially significant subset (10%, 6/61) of Aeromonas strains isolated from food (milk, lamb, chicken, seafood), all A. veronii biotype sobria, were able to produce two or more exotoxins (haemolysin, enterotoxin, and cytotoxin) at 37 degrees C, and grow well at 43 degrees C. Although mesophilic organisms, they grew at 5 degrees C. In addition, they could adhere to HEp-2 cells when grown at 37 degrees C, or at 5 degrees C, and expressed flexible pili (possible colonization factors) in greater numbers at the lower temperature. These strains, as well as other exotoxin-producing strains (A. veronii biotype sobria and A. hydrophila) (33%, 20/61) lacking adhesive ability, were able to produce cytotoxins in broth cultures over a seven to 10-day period at 5 degrees C. One strain in particular, an A. hydrophila isolated from goats' milk, grew rapidly at low temperature. This psychrotrophic strain produced all three exotoxins within 3 days in broth cultures at 5 degrees C. The properties of the above strains suggest they could be of public health significance in food products that have an extended shelf-life at refrigeration temperature.

Pili and the interaction of Aeromonas species with human peripheral blood polymorphonuclear cells

The interaction of differentially piliated Aeromonas strains expressing pili of two broadly different morphologic types (short, rigid (S/R) and/or long, wavy (L/W)) with human peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes (PMN) was investigated to determine whether host defense cells might exert a selective pressure on pili expression in vivo accounting for the different pili phenotypes of clinical and environmental strains. A majority of Aeromonas veronii biotype sobria strains from water (6/6) and faeces (8/11) readily associated with PMN (> 60% PMN with adherent and/or internalised bacteria), irrespective of their degree, or predominant type, of piliation. Rigid pili of Aeromonas species did not promote interaction with PMN. However, the majority (55%) of strains which interacted well with PMN were adherent to HEp-2 cells. Interaction with PMN is unlikely to be the reason few S/R pili are seen on faecal strains, but it may be a selective pressure on L/W adhesive pili, or other OMP adhesins, resulting in the shedding of strains which have lost critical adhesins.

Purification and characterization of Aeromonas sobria Ae24 pili: a possible new colonization factor

Pili of Aeromonas sobria Ae24 were purified and characterized. The molecular mass of the pilin was estimated to be about 19 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The Ae24 pili were electrophoretically distinguishable from previously reported Aeromonas hydrophila Ae6 W pili and A. sobria Ae1 pili, although all three had indistinguishable morphology and shared a high degree of homology in the N-terminal amino acid sequences. Strain Ae24 and its purified pili adhered to rabbit intestine and agglutinated human and rabbit erythrocytes. Hemagglutination was inhibited by D-galactose and D-mannose, but not by L-fucose. Organisms pretreated with Fab fraction of the antipilus antibody failed to adhere to the intestine. Organisms did not adhere to intestine pretreated with the purified pili. These findings suggest that the pili are a colonization factor of A. sobria Ae24 for the rabbit intestine, and that the receptor is galactose- and mannose-containing structure.

Isolation of carbohydrate-reactive outer membrane proteins of Aeromonas hydrophila

Outer membrane proteins of Aeromonas hydrophila A6 were isolated by affinity chromatography on the basis of their reactivity with trisaccharide structures analogous to the terminal trisaccharide of the H antigen of the human ABO(H) blood group system and were characterized by using antisera raised against the isolate. The outer membrane extract for affinity chromatography was prepared from pressure-disrupted outer membranes by differential centrifugation, followed by solubilization of outer membrane components in a nondenaturing, nonionic detergent. Carbohydrate-reactive outer membrane proteins (CROMPs) were then purified by affinity chromatography on two different affinity matrices composed of trisaccharides resembling the terminal trisaccharide of the H antigen, attached to inert silica beads. The relative efficiencies of H type 1 and 2 terminal trisaccharides as affinity adsorbents were established. Reactive proteins were eluted under alkaline conditions (pH 11.0) and in the presence of soluble H substance prepared from group O secretor saliva, but not by 60 mM alpha-L-fucose or under acid conditions (pH 3.0). The eluate contained at least three components (M(r)s, 43,000, 40,000, and < 14,000), as detected by immunoblot analysis with a polyvalent, polyspecific rabbit antiserum to A. hydrophila A6 (serum 3/83). A specific antiserum (serum 3/91) prepared in a rabbit by repeated immunizations with nitrocellulose containing the 43,000-Da band reacted with three bands (M(r)s, 43,000, 40,000, and < 14,000) in immunoblot analysis of solubilized outer membranes of A. hydrophila A6, suggesting that the 40,000- and < 14,000-Da elements are immunologically related to components of the 43,000-Da protein. Furthermore, pretreatment of A. hydrophila A6 with serum 3/91 reduced the strength of bacterial hemagglutination. The purified CROMPs did not agglutinate human group O erythrocytes. The reactivity of isolated CROMPs with a second CROMP-specific antibody (lipopolysaccharide-absorbed serum 3/83) was investigated. CROMPs, proteinase K-treated CROMPs, and bovine serum albumin were bound to latex beads and reacted with lipopolysaccharide-absorbed serum 3/83. Antibodies eluted from CROMP-latex inhibited hemagglutination of human erythrocytes by A. hydrophila A6 to a titer of 4. Antibody eluted from proteinase K-treated CROMP-latex beads showed hemagglutination inhibition activity only when undiluted. There was no hemagglutination inhibition antibody activity detectable in the eluate from bovine serum albumin-latex beads. These results show that antibodies which react with the isolated CROMPs also react with an H-antigen-reactive hemagglutinin of A. hydrophila A6. The possibility that CROMPs act as an adhesin, or adhesins, and contribute to the virulence of this organism is discussed.

Structural and pathogenic properties of Aeromonas schubertii

We investigated the phenotypic, structural, and pathogenic properties of 11 Aeromonas schubertii strains recovered from extraintestinal sites. Most A. schubertii strains were autoagglutination positive, possessed a high surface charge but low hydrophobicity, and fell into one or two biogroups on the basis of carbon substrate utilization patterns. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis of A. schubertii revealed this species to contain a relatively high percentage of branched fatty acids (i-13:0, i-15:0, i-17:1, i-17:0) compared with A. hydrophila. Immunologic and biochemical analysis of the lipopolysaccharides of A. schubertii strains allowed for two groups to be distinguished, namely, (i) a collection of six strains belonging to serogroup O:11 that possessed a characteristic homogeneous O polysaccharide side chain profile by silver staining and immunoblotting techniques and (ii) a second antigenically diverse group (five strains) that either exhibited a heterogeneous side chain profile or were side chain deficient. A, schubertii O:11 strains were all found to contain a 55-kDa major protein associated with the outer membrane fraction which was glycine-hydrochloride extractable; non-O:11 strains did not harbor a similar protein molecule. Screening of A. schubertii strains for reputed virulence factors indicated (i) that slightly more than half of the isolates produce an apparent contact-dependent hemolysin that is not cell associated or released extracellularly, (ii) a potent cytotoxin active against HEp-2 cells that is devoid of hemolytic activity, and (iii) lack of enterotoxigeniclike activity as determined by suckling mouse assays. All A. schubertii strains were pathogenic for mice as determined by 50% lethal dose assays, although no single factor correlated with mouse pathogenicity.

Recent advances in the study of the taxonomy, pathogenicity, and infectious syndromes associated with the genus Aeromonas

Over the past decade, the emergence of Aeromonas species as bona fide human pathogens and their probable role as etiologic agents of bacterial gastroenteritis have resulted in an explosion of scientific interest in the genus. Major accomplishments occurring in this field during that interval include a more refined taxonomy, identification of new cell-associated factors (surface layers, pili), and the molecular analysis of selected extracellular gene products that may play a critical role in pathogenesis (hemolysins, enterotoxins). This review provides an updated overview of recent systematic, clinical, and pathophysiologic advances and defines key areas of medical and scientific interest in which major questions remain unanswered.

Purification and characterization of Aeromonas sobria pili, a possible colonization factor

Pili of Aeromonas sobria Ae1 were purified and characterized. The molecular mass of the pilin was estimated to be about 23 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The Ae1 pili were electrophoretically and immunologically distinguishable from the W pili of A. hydrophila Ae6, although the two pili were morphologically indistinguishable. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of the two pilins were identical in the first 10 residues. Strain Ae1 and its purified pili adhered to human and rabbit intestines and agglutinated human and rabbit erythrocytes. Hemagglutination was inhibited by D-galactose and D-mannose, but not by L-fucose. Organisms pretreated with the Fab fraction of the antipilus antibody failed to adhere to the intestines. Organisms did not adhere to intestines pretreated with the purified pili. These findings suggest that the pili are a colonization factor of A. sobria Ae1.

Pili of an Aeromonas hydrophila strain as a possible colonization factor

Aeromonas hydrophila Ae6 had 2 morphologically distinctive kinds of pili. One appeared rigid and straight with a diameter of 9 nm (R-pili). The other appeared wavy and flexible with a diameter of 7 nm (W-pili). W-pili were very few on the cell as compared with R-pili. In this study, W-pili were purified and characterized. The pili consisted of a subunit protein with a molecular weight of 21 kDa as estimated by SDS-PAGE. There was no immunological cross-reaction between W-pili and other cellular components. The strain Ae6 and its purified W-pili adhered to human and rabbit intestine and agglutinated human and rabbit erythrocytes. Organisms pretreated with the Fab fraction of anti-pilus antibody failed to adhere to the intestine. Pretreatment of intestine with purified W-pili blocked adherence of the organisms to the intestine. These results suggest that the W-pili are the colonization factor of A. hydrophila Ae6.

The pili of Aeromonas hydrophila: identification of an environmentally regulated "mini pilin"

Ultrastructural studies of Aeromonas hydrophila strain AH26 revealed two distinctive pilus types: "straight" pili appear as brittle, rod-like filaments, whereas "flexible" pili are supple and curvilinear. Straight pili are produced constitutively under all tested conditions of growth. In contrast, the expression of flexible pili is regulated by physical and chemical variables, being produced at 22 vs. 37 degrees C, in a liquid vs. a solid medium, and when the availability of free-iron is reduced by the presence of deferoxamine mesylate. Both pilus proteins were purified and biochemically and functionally characterized. The major repeating subunit of the straight pilus is a 17,000-mol wt polypeptide with amino acid sequence homology with Escherichia coli type 1 and Pap pili. The flexible pilus filament is a homopolymer composed of a novel 46 amino acid polypeptide. Resistance of the flexible pilus filament to disaggregation using various chemical treatments was demonstrated; its stability as a polymer and its apparent mechanical strength seem to be conferred by a 20 amino acid hydrophobic, COOH-terminal domain. Purified straight pili lack hemagglutinating function. In contrast, purified flexible pili cause the agglutinin of human, guinea pig, ovine, bovine, and avian erythrocytes, although this property could only be demonstrated in the presence of divalent cations and was most evident at 4 vs. 22 degrees C. Taken together, these results suggest that the pathogenic and ecological roles of the flexible pilus are related to this species' existence as a free-living organism in aquatic environments and its ability to cause infections, both in cold-blooded vertebrates and the human intestine.