Dual role of the MgtC virulence factor in host and non-host environments

MgtC is required for intramacrophage replication of intracellular pathogens and growth in low Mg(2+) medium. A link between these two phenotypes has been proposed due to putative Mg(2+) deprivation inside phagosome. MgtC is part of a family of proteins that share a conserved N-terminal transmembrane domain and a variable C-terminal domain. A combination of predictive and experimental approaches indicates that the Salmonella MgtC C-terminal domain is cytoplasmic, adopts a fold also found in metal transporters and RNA interacting domain, and does not bind Mg(2+). MgtC homologues from diverse gamma-proteobacteria, including the extracellular pathogens Yersinia pestis, Photorhabdus luminescens and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, have been expressed in a SalmonellaDeltamgtC strain. The Y. pestis MgtC fully replaced the Salmonella MgtC whereas P. luminescens or P. aeruginosa MgtC complemented only in low Mg(2+) medium, thus dissociating for the first time the two MgtC-related phenotypes. In addition, we identified single amino acids changes that prevent or promote MgtC role in macrophages without affecting MgtC role in low Mg(2+) culture. A SalmonellaDeltamgtC strain showed elongated and autoaggregated bacteria in low Mg(2+) medium but not in macrophages. Taken together our results suggest that MgtC has a dual role when bacteria localize in macrophages or low Mg(2+) environment.