AUTHOR=Sun Fengjun , Zhang Yiquan , Qiu Yefeng , Yang Huiying , Yang Wenhui , Yin Zhe , Wang Jie , Yang Ruifu , Xia Peiyuan , Zhou Dongsheng 

TITLE=H-NS is a repressor of major virulence gene loci in Vibrio parahaemolyticus

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00675

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2014.00675

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</italic>, a leading cause of seafood-associated diarrhea and gastroenteritis, harbors three major virulence gene loci T3SS1, Vp-PAI (T3SS1+<italic>tdh2</italic>) and T6SS2. As showing in this study, the nucleoid-associated DNA-binding regulator H-NS binds to multiple promoter-proximal regions in each of the above three loci to repress their transcription, and moreover H-NS inhibits the cytotoxicitiy, enterotoxicity, hemolytic activity, and mouse lethality of <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic>. H-NS appears to act as a major repressor of the virulence of this pathogen. Date presented here would promote us to gain a deeper understanding of H-NS-mediated silencing of horizontally acquired virulence loci in <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic>.</p>