The Manganese Transporter MntH Is a Critical Virulence Determinant for Brucella abortus 2308 in Experimentally Infected Mice

The gene designated BAB1_1460 in the Brucella abortus 2308 genome sequence is predicted to encode the manganese transporter MntH. Phenotypic analysis of an isogenic mntH mutant indicates that MntH is the sole high-affinity manganese transporter in this bacterium but that MntH does not play a detectable role in the transport of Fe2 , Zn2 , Co2 , or Ni2 . Consistent with the apparent selectivity of the corresponding gene product, the expression of the mntH gene in B. abortus 2308 is repressed by Mn2 , but not Fe2 , and this Mn-responsive expression is mediated by a Mur-like repressor. The B. abortus mntH mutant MWV15 exhibits increased susceptibility to oxidative killing in vitro compared to strain 2308, and a comparative analysis of the superoxide dismutase activities present in these two strains indicates that the parental strain requires MntH in order to make wild-type levels of its manganese superoxide dismutase SodA. The B. abortus mntH mutant also exhibits extreme attenuation in both cultured murine macrophages and experimentally infected C57BL/6 mice. These experimental findings indicate that Mn2 transport mediated by MntH plays an important role in the physiology of B. abortus 2308, particularly during its intracellular survival and replication in the host. Publisher's version available at: http://iai.asm.org/content/vol77/issue8/index.dt