Vibrio vulnificus is a gram-negative bacterium found in raw shellfish that causes more seafood-borne fatalities in the US than any other bacterium, and virulence has been linked to capsule expression. The capsule of strain M06-24 is a repeating tetrasaccharide composed of three a-N-acetyl-quinovosamine (QuiNAc) residues and one a-N-acetyl-galactosamine uronic acid (GalNAcA) residue, yet the role of individual enzymes in the expression pathway is not yet understood. The operon responsible for capsule production is believed to contain twelve genes. These genes are hypothesized to encode seven sugar modifying enzymes and the four glycosyltransferases. The proteins encoded by these genes have been isolated and purified. My work focuses on the functional identification of the proteins involved in capsule production. The pathway of enzymes responsible for the production of GalNAcA has been identified. In addition, the roles of several enzymes involved in the production of QuiNAc have been elucidated.

Investigation of the capsule polysaccharide expression pathway of Vibrio vulnificus

245th National Meeting (2013)

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