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From insect to man: Photorhabdus sheds light on the emergence of human pathogenicity

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Author
Mulley, Geraldine
Beeton, Michael L.
Wilkinson, Paul
Vlisidou, Isabella
Ockendon-Powell, Nina
Hapeshi, Alexia
Tobias, Nick J.
Nollmann, Friederike I.
Bode, Helge B.
van den Elsen, Jean
ffrench-Constant, Richard H.
Waterfield, Nicholas R.
Date
2015
Type
Article
Publisher
PLOS One
ISSN
1932-6203
ESSN
Metadata
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Abstract
Photorhabdus are highly effective insect pathogenic bacteria that exist in a mutualistic relationship with Heterorhabditid nematodes. Unlike other members of the genus, Photorhabdus asymbiotica can also infect humans. Most Photorhabdus cannot replicate above 34°C, limiting their host-range to poikilothermic invertebrates. In contrast, P. asymbiotica must necessarily be able to replicate at 37°C or above. Many well-studied mammalian pathogens use the elevated temperature of their host as a signal to regulate the necessary changes in gene expression required for infection. Here we use RNA-seq, proteomics and phenotype microarrays to examine temperature dependent differences in transcription, translation and phenotype of P. asymbiotica at 28°C versus 37°C, relevant to the insect or human hosts respectively. Our findings reveal relatively few temperature dependant differences in gene expression. There is however a striking difference in metabolism at 37°C, with a significant reduction in the range of carbon and nitrogen sources that otherwise support respiration at 28°C. We propose that the key adaptation that enables P. asymbiotica to infect humans is to aggressively acquire amino acids, peptides and other nutrients from the human host, employing a so called “nutritional virulence” strategy. This would simultaneously cripple the host immune response while providing nutrients sufficient for reproduction. This might explain the severity of ulcerated lesions observed in clinical cases of Photorhabdosis. Furthermore, while P. asymbiotica can invade mammalian cells they must also resist immediate killing by humoral immunity components in serum. We observed an increase in the production of the insect Phenol-oxidase inhibitor Rhabduscin normally deployed to inhibit the melanisation immune cascade. Crucially we demonstrated this molecule also facilitates protection against killing by the alternative human complement pathway.
Journal/conference proceeding
PLOS One
Citation
Mulley G., Beeton M.L., Wilkinson P., Vlisidou I., Ockendon-Powell, N., Hapeshi, A., Tobias, N.J., Nollmann, F.I., Bode, H.B., van den Elsen, J., ffrenc-Constant, R.H. & Waterfield, N.R. (2015) 'From insect to man: Photorhabdus sheds light on the emergence of human pathogenicity', PLoS ONE 10(12): e0144937. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144937
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10369/7767
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144937
Description
This article was published in PLoS ONE on 17 December 2015 (online), available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144937
Sponsorship
This work was supported by the BBSRC (grant number BBE0213281), EU FP7 consortium grant EMBEK1 (number 211436), EU FP7 consortium grant GAMEXP (number 223328), and Warwick University Medical School
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  • Health and Risk Management [392]

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