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The Role Of Urease In The Pathogenesis Of Edwardsiella Ictaluri, Natha Joy Booth

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An Edwardsiella ictaluri strain with disruption of ureG was identified through the use of signature tagged insertion mutagenesis as being attenuated for virulence in the channel catfish host. Sequencing of the flanking regions surrounding the insert showed that the gene was part of a urease gene complex that included ureE, ureF, ureG, ureD, ureI, and an ammonium transporter homologue. The ureG gene encodes a GTP-binding accessory protein which is thought to function in energy-dependent urease assembly. The ureG mutant strain was found to be attenuated for mortality, persistence, and for the ability to establish infection in a competition challenge during …