Sie befinden Sich nicht im Netzwerk der Universität Paderborn. Der Zugriff auf elektronische Ressourcen ist gegebenenfalls nur via VPN oder Shibboleth (DFN-AAI) möglich. mehr Informationen...
Proteus mirabilis
is an important uropathogen, featured with urinary stone formation.
F
ormate
h
ydrogen
l
yase (FHL), consisting of formate dehydrogenase H and hydrogenase for converting proton to hydrogen, has been implicated in virulence. In this study, we investigated the role of
P. mirabilis
FHL hydrogenase and the FHL activator, FhlA
. fhlA
and
hyfG
(encoding hydrogenase large subunit) displayed a defect in acid resistance.
fhlA
and
hyfG
mutants displayed a delay in medium deacidification compared to wild-type and
ureC
mutant failed to deacidify the medium. In addition, loss of
fhlA
or
hyfG
decreased urease activity in the pH range of 5–8. The reduction of urease activities in
fhlA
and
hyfG
mutants subsided gradually over the pH range and disappeared at pH 9. Furthermore, mutation of
fhlA
or
hyfG
resulted in a decrease in urinary stone formation in synthetic urine. These indicate
fhlA
- and
hyf
-mediated deacidification affected urease activity and stone formation
.
Finally,
fhlA
and
hyfG
mutants exhibited attenuated colonization in mice
.
Altogether, we found expression of
fhlA
and
hyf
confers medium deacidification via facilitating urease activity, thereby urinary stone formation and mouse colonization. The link of acid resistance to urease activity provides a potential strategy for counteracting urinary tract infections by
P. mirabilis
.