Secretion of the Pasteurella leukotoxin by Escherichia coli

Nucleic acid sequence analysis has indicated that the leukotoxin determinant from Pasteurella haemolytica is related to the hemolysin determinant from E. coli. The cloning and expression in E. coli of the lktCA genes has been previously reported, but the existence of leukotoxin secretory genes equivalent to hlyBD has not been documented. In this report we demonstrate that a 4.0 kb segment of P. haemolytica genomic DNA distal to the lktA gene, when expressed in trans to the previous cloned lktCA genes, allow the synthesis and secretion of active leukotoxin from E. coli. Complementation analysis using the cloned hlyB and hlyD genes indicates that this secretory locus derived from P. haemolytica contains two genes which we designate, by analogy, lktB and lktD.     

Secretion of the Pasteurella leukotoxin by Escherichia coli

Abstract Nucleic acid sequence analysis has indicated that the leukotoxin determinant from Pasteurella haemolytica is related to the hemolysin determinant from E. coli . The cloning and expression in E. coli of the lktCA genes has been previously reported, but the existence of leukotoxin secretory genes equivalent to hlyBD has not been documented. In this report we demonstrate that a 4.0 kb segment of P. haemolytica genomic DNA distal to the lktA gene, when expressed in trans to the previous cloned lktCA genes, allow the synthesis and secretion of active leukotoxin from E. coli . Complementation analysis using the cloned hlyB and hlyD genes indicates that this secretory locus derived from P. haemolytica contains two genes which we designate, by analogy, lktB and lktD .     

Mosaic Structure and Molecular Evolution of the Leukotoxin Operon (lktCABD) in Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica, Mannheimia glucosida, and Pasteurella trehalosi

The mosaic structure and molecular evolution of the leukotoxin operon (lktCABD) was investigated by nucleotide sequence comparison of the lktC, lktB, and lktD genes in 23 Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica, 6 Mannheimia glucosida, and 4 Pasteurella trehalosi strains. Sequence variation in the lktA gene has been described previously (R. L. Davies et al., J. Bacteriol. 183:1394-1404, 2001). The leukotoxin operon of M. haemolytica has a complex mosaic structure and has been derived by extensive inter- and intraspecies horizontal DNA transfer and intragenic recombination events. However, the pattern of recombination varies throughout the operon and among the different evolutionary lineages of M. haemolytica. The lktA and lktB genes have the most complex mosaic structures with segments derived from up to four different sources, including M. glucosida and P. trehalosi. In contrast, the lktD gene is highly conserved in M. haemolytica. The lktC, lktA, and lktB genes of strains representing the major ovine lineages contain recombinant segments derived from bovine or bovine-like serotype A2 strains. These findings support the previous conclusion that host switching of bovine A2 strains from cattle to sheep has played a major role in the evolution of the leukotoxin operon in ovine strains of M. haemolytica. Homologous segments of donor and recipient alleles are identical, or nearly identical, indicating that the recombinational exchanges occurred relatively recent in evolutionary terms. The 5' and 3' ends of the operon are highly conserved in M. haemolytica, which suggests that multiple horizontal exchanges of the complete operon have occurred by a common mechanism such as transduction. Although the lktA and lktB genes both have complex mosaic structures and high nucleotide substitution rates, the amino acid diversity of LktB is significantly lower than that of LktA due to a higher degree of evolutionary constraint against amino acid replacement. The recombinational exchanges within the leukotoxin operon have had greatest effect on LktA and probably provide an adaptive advantage against the host antibody response by generating novel antigenic variation at surface-exposed sites.     

Analysis of the Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin gene. Delineation of unique features and comparison to homologous toxins

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin has been implicated as a virulence factor in human infections. To initiate delineation of leukotoxin structure/function relationships, molecular cloning of the leukotoxin gene was carried out. When an A. actinomycetemcomitans genomic DNA library in lambda EMBL3 was screened using a 1.3-kilobase pair restriction fragment containing a portion of the leukotoxin gene, 13 positive recombinants were identified. One recombinant, designated lambda OP8, containing a 16-kilobase pair insert was selected for detailed study. Lysates from lambda OP8, but not control lysates, exhibited leukotoxic activity with target cell specificity identical to the native toxin. Western blots identified the recombinant-produced toxin as a 125-kDa protein doublet identical in mobility to the native toxin. Restriction enzyme and extensive DNA analyses demonstrated that the leukotoxin gene showed strong homology to two other toxins produced by Escherichia coli and Pasteurella haemolytica. As in the other two species, the A. actinomycetemcomitans toxin is contained in a cluster of four genes in which the A gene encodes the toxin and the products of the B, C, and D genes are involved in posttranslational modification of the toxin and its membrane insertion and secretion. The target cell specificity of the A. actinomycetemcomitans toxin differs from the other two toxins and is restricted to human and some non-human primate cells of the monomyelocytic lineage. The A. actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin is not secreted but remains associated with the bacterial membrane, possibly through a hydrophobic domain at the carboxyl terminus which distinguishes it from the E. coli and P. haemolytica toxins.     

Characterization of Campylobacter concisus hemolysins

Campylobacter concisus is an opportunistic pathogen commonly found in the human oral cavity. It has also been isolated from clinical sources including gastroenteritis cases. Both secreted and cell-associated hemolytic activities were detected in C. concisus strains isolated from children with gastroenteritis. The secreted hemolytic activity of C. concisus strains was labile and was detected in variable levels from fresh-culture filtrates only. In addition, another secreted hemolysin/cytotoxin with a molecular weight < 10 kDa was detected in a single C. concisus strain (RCH 12). A C. concisus genomic library, constructed from strain RCH 3 in Escherichia coli XL1-Blue, was screened for hemolytic clones. Subcloning and sequence analysis of selected hemolytic clones identified ORFs for genes that enhance hemolytic activity but do not appear to be related to any known hemolysin genes found in Gram-negative bacteria. In a previous study, a stable cell-associated hemolysin was identified as an outer-membrane phospholipase A (OMPLA) encoded by the pldA gene. In this study, we report cloning of the pldA gene of the clinical strain C. concisus RCH 3 and the complementation of phospholipase A activity in an E. coli pldA mutant.     

The Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae hemolysin determinant: unlinked appCA and appBD loci flanked by pseudogenes.

The appBD genes encoding the secretion functions for the 110-kDa RTX hemolysin of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae have been cloned and sequenced. Unlike analogous genes from other RTX determinants, the appBD genes do not lie immediately downstream from the hemolysin structural gene, appA. Although isolated from a diverse group of gram-negative organisms, the appBD genes and the characterized RTX BD genes from other organisms all exhibit a high degree of homology at both the DNA and predicted amino acid sequence levels. Analysis of the DNA sequences 3' to appA and 5' to appB suggests that these regions harbor remnant RTX B and A pseudogenes, respectively. Although the appA gene is most similar to the lktA gene from Pasteurella haemolytica (Y. F. Chang, R. Young, and D. K. Struck, DNA 8:635-647, 1989), the RTX A pseudogene upstream from appB most closely resembles the hlyB gene from Escherichia coli, suggesting that the appCA and appBD operons were derived from different ancestral RTX determinants.     

Sequence diversity and molecular evolution of the leukotoxin (lktA) gene in bovine and ovine strains of Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica

The molecular evolution of the leukotoxin structural gene (lktA) of Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica was investigated by nucleotide sequence comparison of lktA in 31 bovine and ovine strains representing the various evolutionary lineages and serotypes of the species. Eight major allelic variants (1.4 to 15.7% nucleotide divergence) were identified; these have mosaic structures of varying degrees of complexity reflecting a history of horizontal gene transfer and extensive intragenic recombination. The presence of identical alleles in strains of different genetic backgrounds suggests that assortative (entire gene) recombination has also contributed to strain diversification in M. haemolytica. Five allelic variants occur only in ovine strains and consist of recombinant segments derived from as many as four different sources. Four of these alleles consist of DNA (52.8 to 96.7%) derived from the lktA gene of the two related species Mannheimia glucosida and Pasteurella trehalosi, and four contain recombinant segments derived from an allele that is associated exclusively with bovine or bovine-like serotype A2 strains. The two major lineages of ovine serotype A2 strains possess lktA alleles that have very different evolutionary histories and encode divergent leukotoxins (5.3% amino acid divergence), but both contain segments derived from the bovine allele. Homologous segments of donor and recipient alleles are identical or nearly identical, indicating that the recombination events are relatively recent and probably postdate the domestication of cattle and sheep. Our findings suggest that host switching of bovine strains from cattle to sheep, together with inter- and intraspecies recombinational exchanges, has played an important role in generating leukotoxin diversity in ovine strains. In contrast, there is limited allelic diversity of lktA in bovine strains, suggesting that transmission of strains from sheep to cattle has been less important in leukotoxin evolution.     

Deletion analysis resolves cell-binding and lytic domains of the Pasteurella leukotoxin

A series of internal deletions in the lktA gene of Pasteurella haemolytica has been constructed. All of the deletions eliminated the lytic activity of the leukotoxin towards the bovine lymphoma cell line, BL-3. Deletions removing segments of the amino-proximal hydrophobic region, which is thought to constitute an essential membrane-spanning domain, were found to agglutinate BL-3 cells. Agglutination was similar to lysis by the wild-type toxin in that it was dependent upon the presence of calcium and required expression of the lktC gene. The agglutinating deletion proteins protected BL-3 cells from lysis by the wild-type toxin in a competitive fashion. This suggests that these mutants bind to a surface feature of the leukocyte which interacts with the native leukotoxin. These findings demonstrate that the cell-binding and lytic domains of the leukotoxin are separable.     

Structure-function studies of the adenylate cyclase toxin of Bordetella pertussis and the leukotoxin of Pasteurella haemolytica by heterologous C protein activation and construction of hybrid proteins.

The adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA) from Bordetella pertussis and the leukotoxin (LktA) from Pasteurella haemolytica are members of the RTX (stands for repeats in toxin) family of cytolytic toxins. They have pore-forming activity and share significant amino acid homology but show marked differences in biological activity. CyaA is an invasive adenylate cyclase and a weak hemolysin which is active on a wide range of mammalian cells. LktA is a cytolytic protein with a high target cell specificity and is able to lyse only leukocytes and platelets from ruminants. Each toxin is synthesized as an inactive protoxin encoded by the A gene, and the product of the accessory C gene is required for posttranslational activation. Heterologous activation of LktA by CyaC did not result in a change in its specificity for nucleated cells, although the toxin showed a greater hemolytic-to-cytotoxic ratio. LktC was unable to activate CyaA. A hybrid toxin (Hyb1), which contained the N-terminal enzymic domain and the pore-forming domain from CyaA (amino acids [aa] 1 to 687), with the remainder of the protein derived from the C-terminal end of LktA (aa 379 to 953), showed no toxic activity. Replacement of part of the LktA C-terminal domain of Hyb1 by the CyaA C-terminal domain (aa 919 to 1706) to create hybrid toxin 2 (Hyb2) partially restored toxic activity. In contrast to CyaA, Hyb2 was activated more efficiently by LktC than by CyaC, showing the importance of the region between aa 379 and 616 of LktA for activation by LktC. LktC-activated Hyb2 was more active against ruminant than murine nucleated cells, whereas CyaC-activated Hyb2 displayed a similar, but lower, activity against both cell types. These data indicate that LktC and the region with which it interacts have an influence on the target cell specificity of the mature toxin.     

Fusobacterium necrophorum infections in animals: pathogenesis and pathogenic mechanisms

Fusobacterium necrophorum, a Gram-negative, non-spore-forming anaerobe, is a normal inhabitant of the alimentary tract of animals and humans. Two subspecies of F. necrophorum, subsp. necrophorum (biotype A) and subsp. funduliforme (biotype B), have been recognized, that differ morphologically, biochemically, and biologically. The subsp. necrophorum is more virulent and is isolated more frequently from infections than the subsp. funduliforme. The organism is an opportunistic pathogen that causes numerous necrotic conditions (necrobacillosis), either specific or non-specific infections, in a variety of animals. Of these, bovine liver abscesses and foot rot are of significant concern to the cattle industry. Liver abscesses arise with the organisms that inhabit the rumen gaining entry into the portal circulation, and are often secondary to ruminal acidosis and rumenitis complex in grain-fed cattle. Foot rot is the major cause of lameness in dairy and beef cattle. The pathogenic mechanism of F. necrophorum is complex and not well defined. Several toxins or secreted products, such as leukotoxin, endotoxin, hemolysin, hemagglutinin, proteases, and adhesin, etc., have been implicated as virulence factors. The major virulence factor appears to be leukotoxin, a secreted protein of high molecular weight, active specifically against leukocytes from ruminants. The complete nucleotide sequence of the leukotoxin operon of F. necrophorum has been determined. The operon consists of three genes (lktBAC) of which the second gene (lktA) is the leukotoxin structural gene. The leukotoxin appears to be a novel protein and does not share sequence similarity with any other leukotoxin. F. necrophorum is also a human pathogen and the human strains appear to be different from the strains involved in animal infections.