Professor Choi’s research team at SNU has identified theVibrio vulnificustranscription factors at a genome-wide scale and characterized their functions comprehensively, proposing novel targets to control the pathogen.

For successful infection, the life-threatening pathogenVibrio vulnificuselaborately regulates the expression of survival and virulence genes using various transcription factors (TFs).
In this study, a library of theV. vulnificus mutants carrying specific signature tags in 285 TF genes was constructed and subjected to 16 phenotypic analyses. Consequently, 89 TFs affecting more than one phenotype ofV. vulnificus were identified.
Of these, 59 TFs affect thein vitrosurvival including growth, stress resistance, biofilm formation, and motility, and 64 TFs affect the virulence ofV. vulnificus.
Particularly, 27 of the 64 TFs enhanced thein vitro hemolytic or cytotoxic activities, and 8 of the 27 TFs also increased thein vivo brine shrimp or murine infectivities ofV. vulnificus. Among the 8 TFs, HlyU, IscR, NagC, MetJ, and Tet2 did not affect the growth ofV. vulnificusbut still regulated the expression of major exotoxin genes, includingrtxA, vvhA, andplpA, thereby emerging as potential drug targets for anti-virulence therapies with low selective pressure for developing resistance.Altogether, this study characterized the functions of TFs at a genome-wide scale and identified novel targets to control the virulence ofV. vulnificus.