This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Angelidis, A. S.
Right arrow Articles by Smith, G. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Angelidis, A. S.
Right arrow Articles by Smith, G. M.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Angelidis, A. S.
Right arrow Articles by Smith, G. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2002, p. 2644-2650, Vol. 68, No. 6
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.6.2644-2650.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Identification of OpuC as a Chill-Activated and Osmotically Activated Carnitine Transporter in Listeria monocytogenes

Apostolos S. Angelidis,1 Linda Tombras Smith,2 Les M. Hoffman,3 and Gary M. Smith1*

Departments of Food Science and Technology,1 Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis, California 95616,2 Epicentre Technologies, Madison, Wisconsin 537133

Received 28 September 2001/ Accepted 12 March 2002

The food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is notable for its ability to grow under osmotic stress and at low temperatures. It is known to accumulate the compatible solutes glycine betaine and carnitine from the medium in response to osmotic or chill stress, and this accumulation confers tolerance to these stresses. Two permeases that transport glycine betaine have been identified, both of which are activated by hyperosmotic stress and one of which is activated by low temperature. An osmotically activated transporter for carnitine, OpuC, has also been identified. We have isolated a Tn917-LTV3 insertional mutant that could not be rescued from hyperosmotic stress by exogenous carnitine. The mutant, LTS4a, grew indistinguishably from a control strain (DP-L1044) in the absence of stress or in the absence of carnitine, but DP-L1044 grew substantially faster under osmotic or chill stress in the presence of carnitine. LTS4a was found to be strongly impaired in KCl-activated as well as chill-activated carnitine transport. 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of perchloric acid extracts showed that accumulation of carnitine by LTS4a was negligible under all conditions tested. Direct sequencing of LTS4a genomic DNA with a primer based on Tn917-LTV3 yielded a 487-bp sequence, which allowed us to determine that the opuC operon had been interrupted by the transposon. It can be concluded that opuC encodes a carnitine transporter that can be activated by either hyperosmotic stress or chill and that the transport system plays a significant role in the tolerance of L. monocytogenes to both forms of environmental stress.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. Phone: (530) 752-6168. Fax: (530) 752-4759. E-mail: gmsmith{at}ucdavis.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2002, p. 2644-2650, Vol. 68, No. 6
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.6.2644-2650.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Bergholz, P. W., Bakermans, C., Tiedje, J. M. (2009). Psychrobacter arcticus 273-4 Uses Resource Efficiency and Molecular Motion Adaptations for Subzero Temperature Growth. J. Bacteriol. 191: 2340-2352 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ozcan, N., Ejsing, C. S., Shevchenko, A., Lipski, A., Morbach, S., Kramer, R. (2007). Osmolality, Temperature, and Membrane Lipid Composition Modulate the Activity of Betaine Transporter BetP in Corynebacterium glutamicum. J. Bacteriol. 189: 7485-7496 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chen, C., Beattie, G. A. (2007). Characterization of the Osmoprotectant Transporter OpuC from Pseudomonas syringae and Demonstration that Cystathionine-{beta}-Synthase Domains Are Required for Its Osmoregulatory Function. J. Bacteriol. 189: 6901-6912 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chan, Y. C., Boor, K. J., Wiedmann, M. (2007). {sigma}B-Dependent and {sigma}B-Independent Mechanisms Contribute to Transcription of Listeria monocytogenes Cold Stress Genes during Cold Shock and Cold Growth. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6019-6029 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ozcan, N., Kramer, R., Morbach, S. (2005). Chill Activation of Compatible Solute Transporters in Corynebacterium glutamicum at the Level of Transport Activity. J. Bacteriol. 187: 4752-4759 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Soderberg, M. A., Rossier, O., Cianciotto, N. P. (2004). The Type II Protein Secretion System of Legionella pneumophila Promotes Growth at Low Temperatures. J. Bacteriol. 186: 3712-3720 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wemekamp-Kamphuis, H. H., Sleator, R. D., Wouters, J. A., Hill, C., Abee, T. (2004). Molecular and Physiological Analysis of the Role of Osmolyte Transporters BetL, Gbu, and OpuC in Growth of Listeria monocytogenes at Low Temperatures. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 2912-2918 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cetin, M. S., Zhang, C., Hutkins, R. W., Benson, A. K. (2004). Regulation of Transcription of Compatible Solute Transporters by the General Stress Sigma Factor, {sigma}B, in Listeria monocytogenes. J. Bacteriol. 186: 794-802 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Angelidis, A. S., Smith, G. M. (2003). Role of the Glycine Betaine and Carnitine Transporters in Adaptation of Listeria monocytogenes to Chill Stress in Defined Medium. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 7492-7498 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sue, D., Boor, K. J., Wiedmann, M. (2003). {sigma}B-dependent expression patterns of compatible solute transporter genes opuCA and lmo1421 and the conjugated bile salt hydrolase gene bsh in Listeria monocytogenes. Microbiology 149: 3247-3256 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kazmierczak, M. J., Mithoe, S. C., Boor, K. J., Wiedmann, M. (2003). Listeria monocytogenes {sigma}B Regulates Stress Response and Virulence Functions. J. Bacteriol. 185: 5722-5734 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gardan, R., Duche, O., Leroy-Setrin, S., the European Listeria Genome Consortium,, , Labadie, J. (2003). Role of ctc from Listeria monocytogenes in Osmotolerance. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 154-161 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»