Associated roles of hemolysin and p60 protein for the intracellular growth of Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

Hemolysin expressing Bacillus subtilis strain (B. subtilis ble/hlA) was used as a carrier for listerial protein p60 to study the impact of this protein on bacterial virulence independent of other gene products of Listeria monocytogenes. Bacillus subtilis ble/hlyA exhibited longer cell chains than B. subtilis ble/hlyA/iap. Recombinant Bacillus strains are able to adhere to the mouse macrophage-like J774 and human epithelial-like Int407 cell lines. The bacterial number of B. subtilis ble/hlyA/iap strain that adhered to the Int407 cell lines was 2.52-fold higher, and its invasion level strain was 2.66-fold higher than that observed for the hemolytic strain. Microscopy analysis of infected monolayers showed that recombinant B. subtilis cells were localized inside the cytoplasm of epithelial cells, near to the nuclei, in cellular compartments with low internal pH. Furthermore, in cells infected with bacteria, the actin structures rapidly changed and accumulation of a fat, wide actin layer around the nucleus zone was observed. © 2006 Federation of European Microbiological Societies Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.