Molecular insights into Vibrio cholerae’s intra-amoebal host-pathogen interactions

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 3460 - 13
• Main Authors: Van der Henst, Charles, Vanhove, Audrey Sophie, Drebes Dörr, Natália Carolina, Stutzmann, Sandrine, Stoudmann, Candice, Clerc, Stéphanie, Scrignari, Tiziana, Maclachlan, Catherine, Knott, Graham, Blokesch, Melanie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 27-08-2018; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 13; 14; 14/19; 14/63; 631/326; 631/326/1320; 631/326/171; Acanthamoeba castellanii - microbiology; Acanthamoeba castellanii - ultrastructure; Amoeba; Analysis of Variance; Aquatic environment; Aquatic habitats; Aqueous environments; Bacteria; Cholera; Diarrhea; Ecosystem; Extracellular enzymes; Fitness; Flagella; Genetic Engineering; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humanities and Social Sciences; Life Sciences; Microbiology and Parasitology; Microscopy, Confocal; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Molecular modelling; multidisciplinary; Osmoregulation; Pathogens; Protozoa; Replication; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Vibrio cholerae; Vibrio cholerae - pathogenicity; Vibrio cholerae - ultrastructure; Virulence; Virulence factors; Waterborne diseases
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05976-x

Vibrio cholerae
, which causes the diarrheal disease cholera, is a species of bacteria commonly found in aquatic habitats. Within such environments, the bacterium must defend itself against predatory protozoan grazers. Amoebae are prominent grazers, with
Acanthamoeba castellanii
being one of the best-studied aquatic amoebae. We previously showed that
V. cholerae
resists digestion by
A. castellanii
and establishes a replication niche within the host’s osmoregulatory organelle. In this study, we decipher the molecular mechanisms involved in the maintenance of
V. cholerae
’s intra-amoebal replication niche and its ultimate escape from the succumbed host. We demonstrate that minor virulence features important for disease in mammals, such as extracellular enzymes and flagellum-based motility, have a key role in the replication and transmission of
V. cholerae
in its aqueous environment. This work, therefore, describes new mechanisms that provide the pathogen with a fitness advantage in its primary habitat, which may have contributed to the emergence of these minor virulence factors in the species
V. cholerae
.
The causative agent of cholera,
Vibrio cholerae
, is commonly found in aquatic habitats, where it must defend itself against predatory protists such as amoebae. Here, Van der Henst et al. analyze the molecular mechanisms by which
V. cholerae
thrives within, and ultimately escapes from, aquatic amoebae.