Fructose-asparagine is a primary nutrient during growth of Salmonella in the inflamed intestine

PLoS Pathog. 2014 Jun 26;10(6):e1004209. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004209. eCollection 2014 Jun.

Abstract

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (Salmonella) is one of the most significant food-borne pathogens affecting both humans and agriculture. We have determined that Salmonella encodes an uptake and utilization pathway specific for a novel nutrient, fructose-asparagine (F-Asn), which is essential for Salmonella fitness in the inflamed intestine (modeled using germ-free, streptomycin-treated, ex-germ-free with human microbiota, and IL10-/- mice). The locus encoding F-Asn utilization, fra, provides an advantage only if Salmonella can initiate inflammation and use tetrathionate as a terminal electron acceptor for anaerobic respiration (the fra phenotype is lost in Salmonella SPI1- SPI2- or ttrA mutants, respectively). The severe fitness defect of a Salmonella fra mutant suggests that F-Asn is the primary nutrient utilized by Salmonella in the inflamed intestine and that this system provides a valuable target for novel therapies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Anaerobiosis
  • Animals
  • Asparagine / metabolism*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Biological Transport / genetics
  • Cation Transport Proteins / genetics
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Energy Metabolism / genetics
  • Fructose / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / immunology
  • Inflammation / microbiology
  • Interleukin-10 / genetics
  • Intestinal Mucosa / metabolism*
  • Intestines / immunology
  • Intestines / microbiology
  • Membrane Proteins / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Salmonella Infections / metabolism*
  • Salmonella Infections, Animal / genetics
  • Salmonella typhimurium / genetics
  • Salmonella typhimurium / growth & development
  • Salmonella typhimurium / metabolism*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Cation Transport Proteins
  • IL10 protein, mouse
  • Membrane Proteins
  • SPI-2 protein, Salmonella
  • Spi1 protein, Salmonella
  • natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1
  • Interleukin-10
  • Fructose
  • Asparagine