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American Society for Microbiology, Infection and Immunity, 7(82), p. 2728-2735, 2014

DOI: 10.1128/iai.00084-14

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Identification of a Diguanylate Cyclase and Its Role in Porphyromonas gingivalis Virulence

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

ABSTRACT Porphyromonas gingivalis is a Gram-negative obligate anaerobic bacterium and is considered a keystone pathogen in the initiation of periodontitis, one of the most widespread infectious diseases. Bacterial bis-(3′-5′) cyclic GMP (cyclic di-GMP [c-di-GMP]) serves as a second messenger and is involved in modulating virulence factors in numerous bacteria. However, the role of this second messenger has not been investigated in P. gingivalis , mainly due to a lack of an annotation regarding diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) in this bacterium. Using bioinformatics tools, we found a protein, PGN_1932, containing a GGDEF domain. A deletion mutation in the pgn_1932 gene had a significant effect on the intracellular c-di-GMP level in P. gingivalis . Genetic analysis showed that expression of the fimA and rgpA genes, encoding the major protein subunit of fimbriae and an arginine-specific proteinase, respectively, was downregulated in the pgn_1932 mutant. Correspondingly, FimA protein production and the fimbrial display on the mutant were significantly reduced. Mutations in the pgn_1932 gene also had a significant impact on the adhesive and invasive capabilities of P. gingivalis , which are required for its pathogenicity. These findings provide evidence that the PGN_1932 protein is both responsible for synthesizing c-di-GMP and involved in biofilm formation and host cell invasion by P. gingivalis by controlling the expression and biosynthesis of FimA.