Myo-inositol utilization by Citrobacter koseri promotes brain infection

Citrobacter species are opportunistic bacterial pathogens that are implicated in both nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Among the Citrobacter species, Citrobacter koseri is often isolated from clinical material, and it can cause meningitis and brain abscesses in neonates and immunocompromised individuals, thus posing a great threat to human health. However, the virulence determinants of C. koseri remain largely unknown. Myo-inositol is an abundant carbohydrate in the environment and in certain organs of the human body, especially the brain. The C. koseri genome harbors a cluster of genes, QCQ70420.1 to QCQ70429.1 (named the Ino-cluster in this study), which encode IolBCDE, MmsA, and an ATP-binding cassette transporter. The gene cluster may be involved in the utilization of myo-inositol. To investigate the functions of the Ino-cluster in C. koseri, we constructed a mutant strain by deleting the Ino-cluster and found that the mutant could not use myo-inositol as the sole carbon source, confirming that this cluster is responsible for myo-inositol utilization. Moreover, we investigated the function of the Ino-cluster and myo-inositol utilization in C. koseri pathogenicity. Deletion of the Ino-cluster significantly impaired C. koseri colonization of the brain of infected Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and BALB/c mice, and this increased the survival rate of the infected animals, indicating that the Ino-cluster and the ability to use myo-inositol are essential for C. koseri pathogenicity. Taken together, our findings suggest that using the Ino-cluster products, C. koseri can exploit the abundant myo-inositol in the brain as a carbon source for growth, thus promoting colonization and virulence.