Role of msbB Gene in Physiology and Pathogenicity of Vibrio parahaemolyticus
2025
Jinyuan Che | Binghong Liu | Qitong Fang | Shaojie Hu | Lei Wang | Baolong Bao
The msbB gene, encoding a lipid A phosphatease, is crucial for lipopolysaccharide (LPS) synthesis in Gram-negative bacteria and plays a critical role in their virulence. This study investigated the role of msbB in Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a significant marine pathogen causing gastroenteritis in humans and infections in aquatic animals. We constructed an msbB deletion mutant (&Delta:msbB) and a complementary strain (C&Delta:msbB) using homologous recombination. The growth, outer membrane permeability, stress and antibiotic sensitivity, biofilm formation, swarming motility, and virulence of the wild-type (WT), &Delta:msbB, and C&Delta:msbB strains were assessed. Additionally, the pathogenicity of &Delta:msbB was evaluated using L. vannamei shrimp models. The results showed that the msbB gene was successfully deleted and complemented, and its deletion did not impair bacterial growth. However, the &Delta:msbB strain exhibited an increased outer membrane permeability, reduced resistance to stresses and antibiotics, defective biofilm formation, and a reduced swarming motility. In a Tetrahymena co-culture, the &Delta:msbB strain showed attenuated virulence. In shrimp infected with the &Delta:msbB strain, the cumulative mortality rate was 22%, significantly lower than the 62% observed in the WT strain. Moreover, the expression levels of immune-related genes in the shrimp hepatopancreas were significantly lower in the &Delta:msbB group, indicating a significant reduction in infection capability and pathogenicity. These findings indicate that the msbB gene is critical for the virulence of V. parahaemolyticus and suggest that msbB is a potential target for therapeutic interventions and vaccine development against V. parahaemolyticus infections.
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