RosE represses Std fimbrial expression in Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium

The Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium ( S. typhimurium ) genome contains a large repertoire of putative fimbrial operons that remain poorly characterized because they are not expressed in vitro . In this study, insertions that induced expression of the putative stdABCD fimbrial operon were identified from a random bank of transposon mutants by screening with immuno-magnetic particles for ligand expression (SIMPLE). Transposon insertions upstream of csgC and lrhA or within dam , setB and STM4463 (renamed rosE ) resulted in expression of StdA and its assembly into fimbrial filaments on the cell surface. RosE is a novel negative regulator of Std fimbrial expression as indicated by its repression of a std :: lacZ reporter construct and by binding of the purified protein to a DNA region upstream of the stdA start codon. Expression of Std fimbriae in the rosE mutant resulted in increased attachment of S. typhimurium to human colonic epithelial cell lines (T-84 and CaCo-2). A rosE mutant exhibited a reduced ability to compete with virulent S. typhimurium for colonization of murine organs, while no defect was observed when both competing strains carried a stdAB deletion. These data suggest that a tight control of Std fimbrial expression mediated by RosE is required during host pathogen interaction.