FlhA from B. subtilis was shown to act as an adaptor that interacted with the flagella building blocks flagellin and filament-capping

protein FliD, and coordinated their delivery to the FEA [53]. The fact that the B. thuringiensis flhA mutation is pleiotropic supports the hypothesis that regulatory pathways are affected, although further work is required to elucidate the molecular mechanisms linking the flagellar assembly defect and the pleiotropic nature of the flhA mutant. The failure of exogenously added PapR to restore toxin production in the flhA mutant indicates that the relationship between the flagellar assembly defect and toxin expression may be complex. In contrast to most bacterial systems where a hierarchical regulatory cascade controls the temporal expression BKM120 nmr and production of flagella, regulation of flagellar motility genes appear to be nonhierarchal in B. cereus group bacteria [13], similar to the situation in Listeria monocytogenes, in which flagellar motility is regulated by the transcriptional repressor MogR [54,

55]. Genes encoding MogR are only found in Listeria and B. cereus group species. Interestingly, when allowing one mismatch to the L. monocytogenes consensus MogR site [56], four putative MogR binding sites are found in the hbl promoter. However, further work is required FK228 molecular weight to determine www.selleckchem.com/products/i-bet151-gsk1210151a.html whether a regulatory link between hbl and motility gene expression in B. cereus group bacteria may involve MogR. Conclusions The Hbl, Nhe and CytK toxins appear to be secreted using the Sec pathway, as suggested by reduced secretion and intracellular accumulation of these toxins in cultures supplemented with the SecA inhibitor azide and by the presence of Sec-type signal peptides, which Cediranib (AZD2171) for Hbl B was shown to be required for toxin secretion. The previous suggestion of FEA dependent Hbl secretion [12, 13] was not supported by results from the current

study, since secretion of Hbl B was shown to be independent of the FEA. Instead, the reduced toxin production exhibited by the FEA deficient mutant potentially points towards unidentified regulatory links between motility and virulence gene expression in B. cereus group bacteria. Methods Bacterial strains B. cereus strain ATCC 14579 was used for assessing the effect of azide on toxin secretion, for creation of deletion mutants, and for PCR-amplification of hblA. B. cereus NVH 0075/95 [21], lacking genes encoding Hbl [57], was used for overexpression of Hbl component B with and without intact signal peptide sequence. The acrystalliferous B. thuringiensis 407 Cry- [plcA'Z] (Bt407) [58] and its nonmotile flhA null mutant MP02 [13], were kind gifts from Dr Emilia Ghelardi (Universita degli Studi di Pisa, Italy). These strains are indistinguishable from the B. cereus species due to loss of the plasmids encoding insecticidal crystal toxins [2, 59].