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Title: Restoring virulence to a pathogenic bacteria with a plasmid? Post by: smaapatel on Sep 16, 2012 Why is it that when a bacterial gene involved in virulence is knocked out, and then restored via a plasmid, virulence is not completely restored?
Title: Restoring virulence to a pathogenic bacteria with a plasmid? Post by: miiszsteph on Sep 16, 2012 This will definitely depend on the species in question. (Bacillus anthracis' main virulence factors are encoded on plasmids, not the chromosomes.)
The most logical explanation for this phenomena is that the original virulence gene was regulated in a way that maximized the virulence. There may have been a promoter region near the original site of the gene. The plasmid may not have this region and therefore may not be expressed as often. |