The alternative sigma factor sigma(E) plays an important role in intestinal survival and virulence in Vibrio cholerae

The alternative sigma factor sigma(E) (RpoE) is involved in the response to extracytoplasmic stress and plays a role in the virulence of a variety of different bacteria. To assess the role of sigma(E) in Vibrio cholerae pathogenesis, a DeltarpoE mutant was constructed and analyzed using the infant mouse model. The results here show that sigma(E) contributes significantly to the virulence of V. cholerae. The DeltarpoE mutant was highly attenuated with a 50% lethal dose more than 3 logs higher than that for the parental strain, and its ability to colonize the intestine was reduced approximately 30-fold. A time course of infection revealed that the number of CFU of the DeltarpoE mutant was approximately 1 log lower than that of the parental strain by 12 h postinoculation and decreased further by 24 h. The defect in virulence in the DeltarpoE mutant thus appears to be a diminished ability to survive within the intestinal environment. The results here also show that sigma(E) is not required for growth and survival of V. cholerae in vitro at high temperatures but is required under other stressful conditions, such as in the presence of 3% ethanol. As in Escherichia coli, the expression of rpoE in V. cholerae is dependent upon two promoters located upstream of the gene, P1 and P2. P1 appears to be sigma(70) dependent, whereas the downstream promoter, P2, is positively autoregulated by sigma(E).