mBio 2022 04 14;13(2):e0035322. Epub 2022 Mar 14.
Host-Parasite Interactions Section, Laboratory of Bacteriology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, USA.
The etiological agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Rickettsia rickettsii, is an obligately intracellular pathogen that induces the polymerization of actin filaments to propel the bacterium through the cytoplasm and spread to new host cells. Cell-to-cell spread via actin-based motility is considered a key virulence determinant for spotted fever group rickettsiae, as interruption of , the gene directly responsible for actin polymerization, has been shown to reduce fever in guinea pigs. However, little is known about how, or if, motility is regulated by the bacterium itself. Read More