Roles of rtsC and rtsD genes
Studies have identified hilA as the master regulator of the Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 (SPI1). The SPI1 encodes essential genes required for the invasion of Salmonella into host cells. RtsA, encoded in the rtsA operon, coordinately regulates hilA. The rtsA operon also encodes RtsB, RtsC and RtsD. The function of RtsB has been well established, but the roles of RtsC and RtsD remain unknown. New observations suggest that RtsC and RtsD participate in the regulation of SPI1. In order to assay the biological effects of RtsC and RtsD on SPI1, the rtsC and rtsD genes will be deleted using ? Red recombination. The first set of mutant constructs showed to be resistant to phage. A second set of rtsC and rtsD mutants were obtained. Transduction of these mutants will be performed if they are non-resistant to phage. The gene deletions will be integrated into a Salmonella chromosome containing a hilA-lacZ fusion. Because the lacZ fusion gene is under the control of the hilA promoter, the activation of this promoter and subsequent ?-galactosidase activity will reflect the levels of hilA expression. The absence or presence of rtsC and rtsD in the operon may have an effect on the expression levels of ?-gal. I speculate that rtsC and rtsD will have a negative regulatory effect on hilA. It is possible that RtsC and RtsD share features with RtsB because they belong to the same operon.
School:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department:
Biological Sciences
Research Advisor:
James Slauch
Department of Research Advisor:
Medical Microbiology
Year of Publication:
2008