The AdcR-regulated AdcA and AdcAII contribute additively to zinc acquisition and virulence in Streptococcus suis

Abstract

Metals are necessary elements for bacteria. Typically, vertebrate hosts restrict invading bacterial pathogens from accessing metals. Therefore, bacteria have evolved high-affinity metal importers to acquire metals. Streptococcus suis is a major swine pathogen and an emerging zoonotic agent that endangers the swine industry and human health worldwide. Herein, we aimed to identify the zinc acquisition systems in S. suis and evaluate their roles in bacterial virulence. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that S. suis encodes homologues of AdcA and AdcAII, two well-characterised Zn-binding lipoproteins in certain streptococci. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that the expressions of adcA and adcAII were significantly upregulated in response to Zn limitation, with a higher expression level of adcAII than adcA. Gene deletion mutants and complementation strains were constructed; their growth characteristics under Zn-deficient and Zn-replete conditions indicated that AdcA and AdcAII have overlapping functionality in Zn acquisition. A mouse infection model was used to evaluate the roles of AdcA and AdcAII in S. suis virulence. Mice infected with the double mutant ΔadcAΔadcAII exhibited a significantly higher survival rate, decreased bacterial burden, and lower production of inflammatory cytokines compared to those infected with the wild type (WT) strain. Furthermore, ΔadcAΔadcAII showed reduced competitiveness in infection establishment compared with the WT strain. RNA sequencing, qRT-PCR, and electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed that AdcR negatively regulates the expressions of adcA and adcAII. Collectively, our results demonstrated that AdcA and AdcAII, which are negatively regulated by AdcR, contribute additively to zinc acquisition and virulence in S. suis.

Keywords: AdcA; AdcA II; AdcR; Streptococcus suis; Virulence; Zinc acquisition.