%0 Journal Article
%T H-NS is a repressor of major virulence gene loci in Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
%A Sun F
%A Zhang Y
%A Qiu Y
%A Yang H
%A Yang W
%A Yin Z
%A Wang J
%A Yang R
%A Xia P
%A Zhou D
%J Front Microbiol
%V 5
%N 0
%D 2014
%M 25566201
%F 6.064
%R 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00675
%X Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a leading cause of seafood-associated diarrhea and gastroenteritis, harbors three major virulence gene loci T3SS1, Vp-PAI (T3SS1+tdh2) 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 V. parahaemolyticus. 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 V. parahaemolyticus.