Papel del regulador transcripcional Fim14J en la expresión de operones fimbriales de Proteus mirabilis.

Abstract

The enteric bacteria P. mirabilis causes catheter-associated urinary tract infections. The coordinated regulation of adherence and motility mediated by the fimbriae and the flagellum, respectively, are essential for disease progression. P. mirabilis has 17 operons that code for putative fimbriae, of which only five have been extensively studied. The fim14 fimbrial operon has not been studied in detail, but it has been found to be important in the virulence of P. mirabilis in the mouse UTI model. The fim14 operon encodes thetranscriptional regulator Fim14J, a paralogue of the transcriptional regulator MrpJ, which suppresses motility, directly induces transcription of its own operon and has been involved in cross-regulation of other fimbrial operons.