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Examination of type IV pilus expression and pilus-associated phenotypes in Kingella kingae clinical isolates.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kehl-Fie, TE; Porsch, EA; Yagupsky, P; Grass, EA; Obert, C; Benjamin, DK; St Geme, JW
Published in: Infect Immun
April 2010

Kingella kingae is a gram-negative bacterium that is being recognized increasingly as a cause of septic arthritis and osteomyelitis in young children. Previous work established that K. kingae expresses type IV pili that mediate adherence to respiratory epithelial and synovial cells. PilA1 is the major pilus subunit in K. kingae type IV pili and is essential for pilus assembly. To develop a better understanding of the role of K. kingae type IV pili during colonization and invasive disease, we examined a collection of clinical isolates for pilus expression and in vitro adherence. In addition, in a subset of isolates we performed nucleotide sequencing to assess the level of conservation of PilA1. The majority of respiratory and nonendocarditis blood isolates were piliated, while the majority of joint fluid, bone, and endocarditis blood isolates were nonpiliated. The piliated isolates formed either spreading/corroding or nonspreading/noncorroding colonies and were uniformly adherent, while the nonpiliated isolates formed domed colonies and were nonadherent. PilA1 sequence varied significantly from strain to strain, resulting in substantial variability in antibody reactivity. These results suggest that type IV pili may confer a selective advantage on K. kingae early in infection and a selective disadvantage on K. kingae at later stages in the pathogenic process. We speculate that PilA1 is immunogenic during natural infection and undergoes antigenic variation to escape the immune response.

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Published In

Infect Immun

DOI

EISSN

1098-5522

Publication Date

April 2010

Volume

78

Issue

4

Start / End Page

1692 / 1699

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Respiratory Tract Infections
  • Polymorphism, Genetic
  • Phenotype
  • Osteomyelitis
  • Neisseriaceae Infections
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Microbiology
  • Kingella kingae
  • Humans
 

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Kehl-Fie, T. E., Porsch, E. A., Yagupsky, P., Grass, E. A., Obert, C., Benjamin, D. K., & St Geme, J. W. (2010). Examination of type IV pilus expression and pilus-associated phenotypes in Kingella kingae clinical isolates. Infect Immun, 78(4), 1692–1699. https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00908-09
Kehl-Fie, Thomas E., Eric A. Porsch, Pablo Yagupsky, Elizabeth A. Grass, Caroline Obert, Daniel K. Benjamin, and Joseph W. St Geme. “Examination of type IV pilus expression and pilus-associated phenotypes in Kingella kingae clinical isolates.Infect Immun 78, no. 4 (April 2010): 1692–99. https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00908-09.
Kehl-Fie TE, Porsch EA, Yagupsky P, Grass EA, Obert C, Benjamin DK, et al. Examination of type IV pilus expression and pilus-associated phenotypes in Kingella kingae clinical isolates. Infect Immun. 2010 Apr;78(4):1692–9.
Kehl-Fie, Thomas E., et al. “Examination of type IV pilus expression and pilus-associated phenotypes in Kingella kingae clinical isolates.Infect Immun, vol. 78, no. 4, Apr. 2010, pp. 1692–99. Pubmed, doi:10.1128/IAI.00908-09.
Kehl-Fie TE, Porsch EA, Yagupsky P, Grass EA, Obert C, Benjamin DK, St Geme JW. Examination of type IV pilus expression and pilus-associated phenotypes in Kingella kingae clinical isolates. Infect Immun. 2010 Apr;78(4):1692–1699.

Published In

Infect Immun

DOI

EISSN

1098-5522

Publication Date

April 2010

Volume

78

Issue

4

Start / End Page

1692 / 1699

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Respiratory Tract Infections
  • Polymorphism, Genetic
  • Phenotype
  • Osteomyelitis
  • Neisseriaceae Infections
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Microbiology
  • Kingella kingae
  • Humans