Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Guo, Xiao-Peng
• Yan, Hai-Qin
• Yang, Wenhui
• Yin, Zhe
• Vadyvaloo, Viveka
• Zhou, Dongsheng
• Sun, Yi-Cheng

Titel

A frameshift in Yersinia pestis rcsD alters canonical Rcs signalling to preserve flea-mammal plague transmission cycles

Ist Teil von

• eLife, 2023-04, Vol.12

Ort / Verlag

England: eLife Science Publications, Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Multiple genetic changes in the enteric pathogen have driven the emergence of , the arthropod-borne, etiological agent of plague. These include developing the capacity for biofilm-dependent blockage of the flea foregut to enable transmission by flea bite. Previously, we showed that pseudogenization of , encoding a component of the Rcs signalling pathway, is an important evolutionary step facilitating flea-borne transmission. Additionally, another important gene in the Rcs system, harbours a frameshift mutation. Here, we demonstrated that this mutation resulted in production of a small protein composing the C-terminal RcsD histidine-phosphotransferase domain (designated RcsD-Hpt) and full-length RcsD. Genetic analysis revealed that the frameshift mutation followed the emergence of pseudogenization. It further altered the canonical Rcs phosphorylation signal cascade, fine-tuning biofilm production to be conducive with retention of the locus in modern lineages of . Taken together, our findings suggest that a frameshift mutation in is an important evolutionary step that fine-tuned biofilm production to ensure perpetuation of flea-mammal plague transmission cycles.