Seminal Plasma Initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">Neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> Transmission State

ABSTRACT Niche-restricted pathogens are evolutionarily linked with the specific biological fluids that are encountered during infection. Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes the genital infection gonorrhea and is exposed to seminal fluid during sexual transmission. Treatment of N. gonorrhoeae with seminal p...

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Autores principales:	Mark T. Anderson, Lena Dewenter, Berenike Maier, H. Steven Seifert
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2014
Materias:	Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a549b9563056435986a532de2b494104
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a549b9563056435986a532de2b4941042021-11-15T15:45:12ZSeminal Plasma Initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">Neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> Transmission State10.1128/mBio.01004-132150-7511https://doaj.org/article/a549b9563056435986a532de2b4941042014-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01004-13https://doaj.org/toc/2150-7511ABSTRACT Niche-restricted pathogens are evolutionarily linked with the specific biological fluids that are encountered during infection. Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes the genital infection gonorrhea and is exposed to seminal fluid during sexual transmission. Treatment of N. gonorrhoeae with seminal plasma or purified semen proteins lactoferrin, serum albumin, and prostate-specific antigen each facilitated type IV pilus-mediated twitching motility of the bacterium. Motility in the presence of seminal plasma was characterized by high velocity and low directional persistence. In addition, infection of epithelial cells with N. gonorrhoeae in the presence of seminal plasma resulted in enhanced microcolony formation. Close association of multiple pili in the form of bundles was also disrupted after seminal plasma treatment leading to an increase in the number of single pilus filaments on the bacterial surface. Thus, exposure of N. gonorrhoeae to seminal plasma is proposed to alter bacterial motility and aggregation characteristics to influence the processes of transmission and colonization. IMPORTANCE There are greater than 100 million estimated new cases of gonorrhea annually worldwide. Research characterizing the mechanisms of pathogenesis and transmission of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is important for developing new prevention strategies, since antibiotic resistance of the organism is becoming increasingly prevalent. Our work identifies seminal plasma as a mediator of N. gonorrhoeae twitching motility and microcolony formation through functional modification of the type IV pilus. These findings provide insight into motility dynamics and epithelial cell colonization under conditions that are relevant to sexual transmission. Type IV pili are common virulence factors with diverse functions among bacterial pathogens, and this work identifies interactions between type IV pili and the host environment. Finally, this work illustrates the importance of the host environment and niche-specific fluids on microbial pathogenesis.Mark T. AndersonLena DewenterBerenike MaierH. Steven SeifertAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmBio, Vol 5, Iss 2 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	Microbiology QR1-502 Mark T. Anderson Lena Dewenter Berenike Maier H. Steven Seifert Seminal Plasma Initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">Neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> Transmission State
description	ABSTRACT Niche-restricted pathogens are evolutionarily linked with the specific biological fluids that are encountered during infection. Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes the genital infection gonorrhea and is exposed to seminal fluid during sexual transmission. Treatment of N. gonorrhoeae with seminal plasma or purified semen proteins lactoferrin, serum albumin, and prostate-specific antigen each facilitated type IV pilus-mediated twitching motility of the bacterium. Motility in the presence of seminal plasma was characterized by high velocity and low directional persistence. In addition, infection of epithelial cells with N. gonorrhoeae in the presence of seminal plasma resulted in enhanced microcolony formation. Close association of multiple pili in the form of bundles was also disrupted after seminal plasma treatment leading to an increase in the number of single pilus filaments on the bacterial surface. Thus, exposure of N. gonorrhoeae to seminal plasma is proposed to alter bacterial motility and aggregation characteristics to influence the processes of transmission and colonization. IMPORTANCE There are greater than 100 million estimated new cases of gonorrhea annually worldwide. Research characterizing the mechanisms of pathogenesis and transmission of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is important for developing new prevention strategies, since antibiotic resistance of the organism is becoming increasingly prevalent. Our work identifies seminal plasma as a mediator of N. gonorrhoeae twitching motility and microcolony formation through functional modification of the type IV pilus. These findings provide insight into motility dynamics and epithelial cell colonization under conditions that are relevant to sexual transmission. Type IV pili are common virulence factors with diverse functions among bacterial pathogens, and this work identifies interactions between type IV pili and the host environment. Finally, this work illustrates the importance of the host environment and niche-specific fluids on microbial pathogenesis.
format	article
author	Mark T. Anderson Lena Dewenter Berenike Maier H. Steven Seifert
author_facet	Mark T. Anderson Lena Dewenter Berenike Maier H. Steven Seifert
author_sort	Mark T. Anderson
title	Seminal Plasma Initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">Neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> Transmission State
title_short	Seminal Plasma Initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">Neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> Transmission State
title_full	Seminal Plasma Initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">Neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> Transmission State
title_fullStr	Seminal Plasma Initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">Neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> Transmission State
title_full_unstemmed	Seminal Plasma Initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">Neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> Transmission State
title_sort	seminal plasma initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> transmission state
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/a549b9563056435986a532de2b494104
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Seminal Plasma Initiates a <named-content content-type="genus-species">Neisseria gonorrhoeae</named-content> Transmission State

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