Environmental regulation of <i>Salmonella</i> pathogenicity island 2 gene expression

TLDR

The enteric pathogen Salmonella typhimurium coordinates virulence determinant expression in response to host environmental cues and harbors SPI2, a large virulence locus encoding a type III secretion system essential for systemic infection and intracellular survival. We generated transcriptional fusions to SPI2 genes and used antibodies against recombinant SPI2 proteins to monitor SPI2 protein levels under various conditions. SPI2 gene expression is induced by Mg²⁺ deprivation and phosphate starvation—conditions that mimic the phagosomal environment—and this induction is modulated by PhoPQ and requires the SPI2-encoded two-component system SsrAB.

Abstract

The enteric pathogen Salmonella typhimurium co‐ordinates the expression of virulence determinants in response to environmental cues from the host organism. S. typhimurium possesses Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 (SPI2), a large virulence locus encoding a type III secretion system for virulence determinants required for systemic infections and accumulation inside host cells. We have generated transcriptional fusions to SPI2 genes to analyse expression and used antibodies against recombinant SPI2 proteins to monitor levels of SPI2 proteins under various conditions. Here, we demonstrate that SPI2 gene expression is induced by Mg 2+ deprivation and phosphate starvation. These conditions are likely to represent the environmental cues encountered by S. typhimurium inside the phagosome of infected host cells. The induction of SPI2 gene expression is modulated by the global regulatory system PhoPQ and is dependent on SsrAB, a two‐component regulatory system encoded by SPI2.