Isolation and characterization of a plasmid DNA from periodontopathogenic bacterium, Eikenella corrodens 1073, which affects pilus formation and colony morphology

Eikenella corrodens (Ec) is one of a group of periodontopathogenic bacteria. A plasmid DNA (8.7 kb) isolated from Ec 1073 was designated pMU1. Agarose gel electrophoresis and Southern analysis suggested that pMU1-like plasmids were carried in 2 Ec strains, including 1073, with higher hemagglutination (HA) activity than other strains. We determined the nucleotide sequence of this plasmid and identified 7 ORFs. A homology search revealed that 4 ORFs of pMU1 were homologous to ORFs in pJTPS1, found in a spontaneous avirulent mutant of the phytopathogenic bacterium, Ralstonia solanacearum. pJTPS1 is a putative hypovirulent plasmid, which is thought to control the virulence of R. solanacearum. We also found the ORF to be homologous to the recombinase specific to the type IV pilin gene. We introduced a part of pMU1 into the Ec 23834 strain, which has a pilus structure on its cell surface and forms corroding colonies on solid medium. No pilus structure was observed on the surface of transformants, most of which formed non-corroding colonies. When such transformants (or Ec 1073) were cured of pMU1 with acridine orange, they remained non-foliated and non-corroding. The results suggest that pMU1 might irreversibly affect pilus formation and colony morphology, and might be involved in the pathogenicity and virulence of Ec.