The Regulatory Role of EvfG Through Coordinated Control of Flagellar Biosynthesis and Energy Metabolism in Porcine Extraintestinal Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC)

In this study, we found that the deletion of the gene <i>evfG</i> in the type VI secretion system (T6SS) gene cluster significantly affected the motility of porcine extraintestinal pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC) strain PCN033. Furthermore, the bacterial motility a...

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Main Authors: Bingbing Zong, Peiyi Wang, Wei Liu, Aihua Wu, Yong Xiao, Shulin Fu, Yinsheng Qiu, Yanyan Zhang, Wentong Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Biology
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/7/822
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author Bingbing Zong
Peiyi Wang
Wei Liu
Aihua Wu
Yong Xiao
Shulin Fu
Yinsheng Qiu
Yanyan Zhang
Wentong Liu
author_facet Bingbing Zong
Peiyi Wang
Wei Liu
Aihua Wu
Yong Xiao
Shulin Fu
Yinsheng Qiu
Yanyan Zhang
Wentong Liu
author_sort Bingbing Zong
collection DOAJ
description In this study, we found that the deletion of the gene <i>evfG</i> in the type VI secretion system (T6SS) gene cluster significantly affected the motility of porcine extraintestinal pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC) strain PCN033. Furthermore, the bacterial motility assay showed that Δ<i>evfG</i> mutants exhibited reduced motility compared to the parental strain. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed a significant reduction in the number of flagella in the mutant Δ<i>evfG</i> when compared with PCN033. To further explore the reasons why the deletion of <i>evfG</i> affects the motility of PCN033, transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were conducted. The omics analyses showed that 134 differentially accumulated metabolites and 2236 differentially expressed genes were identified between the mutant Δ<i>evfG</i> and the parental strain PCN033. The metabolome profile and functional annotation analyses indicated that the impaired motility of Δ<i>evfG</i> was connected to the downregulation of the expression levels of genes associated with the energy metabolism pathway and flagellar assembly. Our study provides a new insight into the diminished PCN033 motility induced by <i>evfG</i> deletion. Moreover, the candidate genes and metabolites regulated by the gene <i>evfG</i> in the T6SS, which was involved in the motility of PCN033, were reported in this study.
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spelling doaj-art-7d6c4ca224f144ee9efcfdbfcac054b12025-08-20T03:58:27ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372025-07-0114782210.3390/biology14070822The Regulatory Role of EvfG Through Coordinated Control of Flagellar Biosynthesis and Energy Metabolism in Porcine Extraintestinal Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC)Bingbing Zong0Peiyi Wang1Wei Liu2Aihua Wu3Yong Xiao4Shulin Fu5Yinsheng Qiu6Yanyan Zhang7Wentong Liu8Hubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, ChinaHubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, ChinaHubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, ChinaHubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, ChinaHubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, ChinaHubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, ChinaHubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, ChinaHubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, ChinaSchool of Basic Medicine, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang 441000, ChinaIn this study, we found that the deletion of the gene <i>evfG</i> in the type VI secretion system (T6SS) gene cluster significantly affected the motility of porcine extraintestinal pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC) strain PCN033. Furthermore, the bacterial motility assay showed that Δ<i>evfG</i> mutants exhibited reduced motility compared to the parental strain. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed a significant reduction in the number of flagella in the mutant Δ<i>evfG</i> when compared with PCN033. To further explore the reasons why the deletion of <i>evfG</i> affects the motility of PCN033, transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were conducted. The omics analyses showed that 134 differentially accumulated metabolites and 2236 differentially expressed genes were identified between the mutant Δ<i>evfG</i> and the parental strain PCN033. The metabolome profile and functional annotation analyses indicated that the impaired motility of Δ<i>evfG</i> was connected to the downregulation of the expression levels of genes associated with the energy metabolism pathway and flagellar assembly. Our study provides a new insight into the diminished PCN033 motility induced by <i>evfG</i> deletion. Moreover, the candidate genes and metabolites regulated by the gene <i>evfG</i> in the T6SS, which was involved in the motility of PCN033, were reported in this study.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/7/822porcine ExPECEvfGmotilityenergy metabolismflagellar assembly
spellingShingle Bingbing Zong
Peiyi Wang
Wei Liu
Aihua Wu
Yong Xiao
Shulin Fu
Yinsheng Qiu
Yanyan Zhang
Wentong Liu
The Regulatory Role of EvfG Through Coordinated Control of Flagellar Biosynthesis and Energy Metabolism in Porcine Extraintestinal Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC)
Biology
porcine ExPEC
EvfG
motility
energy metabolism
flagellar assembly
title The Regulatory Role of EvfG Through Coordinated Control of Flagellar Biosynthesis and Energy Metabolism in Porcine Extraintestinal Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC)
title_full The Regulatory Role of EvfG Through Coordinated Control of Flagellar Biosynthesis and Energy Metabolism in Porcine Extraintestinal Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC)
title_fullStr The Regulatory Role of EvfG Through Coordinated Control of Flagellar Biosynthesis and Energy Metabolism in Porcine Extraintestinal Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC)
title_full_unstemmed The Regulatory Role of EvfG Through Coordinated Control of Flagellar Biosynthesis and Energy Metabolism in Porcine Extraintestinal Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC)
title_short The Regulatory Role of EvfG Through Coordinated Control of Flagellar Biosynthesis and Energy Metabolism in Porcine Extraintestinal Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC)
title_sort regulatory role of evfg through coordinated control of flagellar biosynthesis and energy metabolism in porcine extraintestinal pathogenic i escherichia coli i expec
topic porcine ExPEC
EvfG
motility
energy metabolism
flagellar assembly
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/7/822
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