Bacillus anthracis must avoid an array of antibacterial defenses by the host during infection. Although anthrax toxin and capsule, located on extra-chromosomal plasmids, play important roles in the pathogenesis of this disease, evidence indicates chromosomal genes also contribute. A random chromosomal mutant library of B. anthracis Sterne was employed to identify novel chromosomal virulence factors. Mutants were screened for loss of virulence in Caenorhabditis elegans. Those unable to infect C. elegans were selected for and the site of transposon insertion was identified. The most highly attenuated mutant had a disruption in an operon containing multiple tellurium resistance genes, leading to an increased susceptibility to potassium tellurite as well as host defenses (ROS and AMPs). In addition, the mutant displays attenuated virulence in whole blood and macrophage survival in comparison to WT. We conclude the tellurium resistance operon of B. anthracis has a novel role in resistance to critical host defenses.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TCU/oai:etd.tcu.edu:etd-05232013-111215 |
| Date | 23 May 2013 |
| Creators | Franks, Sarah Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Shauna M McGillivray, Michael Chumley, Phil Hartman |
| Publisher | Texas Christian University |
| Source Sets | Texas Christian University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf, application/octet-stream |
| Source | http://etd.tcu.edu/etdfiles/available/etd-05232013-111215/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to TCU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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