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Iron acquisition from the host is an important step in the pathogenic process. While Yersinia pestis has multiple iron transporters, the yersiniabactin (Ybt) siderophore-dependent system plays a major role in iron acquisition in vitro and in vivo . In this study, we determined that the Ybt system is required for the use of iron bound by transferrin and lactoferrin and examined the importance of the Ybt system for virulence in mouse models of bubonic and pneumonic plague. Y. pestis mutants unable to either transport Ybt or synthesize the siderophore were both essentially avirulent via subcutaneous injection (bubonic plague model). Surprisingly, via intranasal instillation (pneumonic plague model), we saw a difference in the virulence of Ybt biosynthetic and transport mutants. Ybt biosynthetic mutants displayed an ∼24-fold-higher 50% lethal dose (LD 50 ) than transport mutants. In contrast, under iron-restricted conditions in vitro , a Ybt transport mutant had a more severe growth defect than the Ybt biosynthetic mutant. Finally, a Δ pgm mutant had a greater loss of virulence than the Ybt biosynthetic mutant, indicating that the 102-kb pgm locus encodes a virulence factor, in addition to Ybt, that plays a role in the pathogenesis of pneumonic plague.

In addition to the yersiniabactin (Ybt) siderophore-dependent system, two inorganic iron ABC transport systems of Yersinia pestis , Yfe and Yfu, have been characterized. Here we show that the Yfu system functions in Y. pestis : a Ybt − Yfe − Yfu − mutant exhibited a greater growth defect under iron-deficient conditions than its Ybt − Yfe − parental strain. We also demonstrate that another putative Y. pestis iron uptake system, Yiu, which potentially encodes an outer membrane receptor, YiuR, and an ABC iron transport cassette, YiuABC, is functional. The cloned yiuABC operon restored growth of an enterobactin-deficient mutant Escherichia coli strain, 1017, under iron-chelated conditions. Iron uptake by the Yiu system in Y. pestis was demonstrated only when the Ybt, Yfe, and Yfu systems were mutated. Using a yiuA :: lacZ fusion, we show that the yiuABC promoter is repressed by iron through Fur. A mouse model of bubonic plague failed to show a significant role for the Yiu system in the disease process. These results demonstrate that two additional iron transporters are functional in Y. pestis and indicate that there is a hierarchy of iron transporters, with Ybt being most effective and Yiu being the least effective of those systems which have been characterized.

In Yersinia pestis , the Congo red (and hemin) binding that is characteristic of the Hms + phenotype occurs at temperatures up to 34°C but not at higher temperatures. Manifestation of the Hms + phenotype requires at least five proteins (HmsH, -F, -R, -S, and -T) that are organized into two separate operons: hmsHFRS and hmsT. HmsH and HmsF are outer membrane proteins, while HmsR, HmsS, and HmsT are predicted to be inner membrane proteins. We have used transcriptional reporter constructs, RNA dot blots, and Western blots to examine the expression of hms operons and proteins. Our studies indicate that transcription from the hmsHFRS and hmsT promoters is not regulated by the iron status of the cells, growth temperature, or any of the Hms proteins. In addition, the level of mRNA for both operons is not significantly affected by growth temperature. However, protein levels of HmsH, HmsR, and HmsT in cells grown at 37°C are very low compared to those in cells grown at 26°C, while the amounts of HmsF and HmsS show only a moderate reduction at the higher growth temperature. Neither the Pla protease nor a putative endopeptidase (Y2360) encoded upstream of hmsH is essential for temperature regulation of the Hms + phenotype. However, HmsT at 37°C is sensitive to degradation by Lon and/or ClpPX. Thus, the stability of HmsH, HmsR, and HmsT proteins likely plays a role in temperature regulation of the Hms + phenotype of Y. pestis .

One requirement for the pathogenesis of Yersinia pestis , the causative agent of bubonic plague, is the yersiniabactin (Ybt) siderophore-dependent iron transport system that is encoded within a high-pathogenicity island (HPI) within the pgm locus of the Y. pestis chromosome. Nine gene products within the HPI have demonstrated functions in the nonribosomal peptide synthesis (NRPS)/polyketide (PK) synthesis or transport of Ybt. NRPS/PK synthetase or synthase enzymes are generally activated by phosphopantetheinylation. However, no products with similarities to known phosphopantetheinyl (P-pant) transferases were found within the pgm locus. We have identified a gene, ybtD , encoded outside the HPI and pgm locus, that is necessary for function of the Ybt system and has similarities to other P-pant transferases such as EntD of Escherichia coli. A deletion within ybtD yielded a strain (KIM6-2085+) defective in siderophore production. This strain was unable to grow on iron-deficient media at 37°C but could be cross-fed by culture supernatants from Ybt-producing strains of Y. pestis. The promoter region of ybtD was fused to lacZ ; β-galactosidase expression from this reporter was not regulated by the iron status of the bacterial cells or by YbtA, a positive regulator of other genes of the ybt system. The ybtD mutant failed to express indicator Ybt proteins (high-molecular-weight protein 1 [HMWP1], HMWP2, and Psn), a pattern similar to those seen with several other ybt biosynthetic mutants. In contrast, cells containing a single amino acid substitution (S2908A) in the terminal thioesterase domain of HMWP2 failed to exhibit any ybt regulatory defects but did not elaborate extracellular Ybt under iron-deficient conditions.