Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #331346
Research Project: Umbrella Project for Food Safety

Location: Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit

Title: Listeria monocytogenes DNA glycosylase AdiP affects flagellar motility, biofilm formation, virulence, and stress responses

Author
item ZHANG, TING - Mississippi State University
item BAE, DONGRYEOUL - Mississippi State University
item WANG, CHINLING - Mississippi State University

Submitted to: Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/9/2016
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: We discovered a novel protein that we named AlkD-like Protein (AdlP). This protein affected flagellar motility, biofilm formation, and virulence. Our data suggest that AdlP may be a bifunctional protein that represses flagellar motility genes and influences stress responses through its DNA glycosylase activity.

Technical Abstract: The temperature-dependent alteration of flagellar motility gene expression is critical for the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes to respond to a changing environment. In this study, a genetic determinant, L. monocytogenes f2365_0220 (lmof2365_0220), encoding a putative protein that is structurally similar to the Bacillus cereus alkylbase DNA glycosylase (AlkD), was identified. This determinant was involved in the transcriptional repression of flagellar motility genes and was named adlP (encoding an AlkD-like Protein [AdlP]). Deletion of adlP activated the expression of flagellar motility genes at 37°C and disrupted the temperature-dependent inhibition of L. monocytogenes motility. The adlP null strains demonstrated decreased survival in murine macrophage-like RAW264.7 cells and less virulence in mice. Furthermore, the deletion of adlP significantly decreased biofilm formation and impaired the survival of bacteria under several stress conditions, including the presence of a DNA alkylation compound (methyl methanesulfonate), an oxidative agent (H2O2), and aminoglycoside antibiotics. Our findings strongly suggest that adlP may encode a bifunctional protein that transcriptionally represses the expression of flagellar motilitygenes and influences stress responses through its DNA glycosylase activity.