Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2016

Abstract

© 2016 Federation of European Biochemical Societies The human pathogen Vibrio vulnificus undergoes phase variation among colonial morphotypes, including a virulent opaque form which produces capsular polysaccharide (CPS) and a translucent phenotype that produces little or no CPS and is attenuated. Here, we found that a V. vulnificus mutant defective for RfaH antitermination control showed a diminished capacity to undergo phase variation and displayed significantly reduced distal gene expression within the Group I CPS operon. Moreover, the rfaH mutant produced negligible CPS and was highly sensitive to killing by normal human serum, results which indicate that RfaH is likely essential for virulence in this bacterium.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

FEBS Letters

First Page

4564

Last Page

4572

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