ArticlePLoS pathogens2020
A refined model of how Yersinia pestis produces a transmissible infection in its flea vector.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pseudogenization of the cntQ permease confers distinct yersinopine-metal uptake selectivity in Yersinia species.Biometals : an international journal on the role of metal ions in biology, biochemistry, and medicine · 2026Article
- A dual-host regulatory hub integrating biofilm formation and innate immunity resistance.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Environmental and Host Blood Interactions ShapePathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Distinct Roles of Transketolase (TktA) and Transaldolase (talB) in Metabolism, Biofilm Formation, and Flea Colonization inPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Experimental evidence of early-phase transmission of Yersinia pestis by Synopsyllus fonquerniei and Xenopsylla brasiliensis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Emergence, global dispersal, and local adaptations ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Review
- Plasma albumin contributes to early Yersinia pestis survival at the onset of flea infection.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Interaction of Bacteria and Fleas, Focusing on the Plague Bacterium-A Review.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Mechanisms of bacterial host-to-host transmission.Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2025Review
- Assessing the threat ofAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2025Article
- Morphological and molecular identification of the cat fleaJournal of advanced veterinary and animal research · 2025Article
- Pathogenicity and virulence ofVirulence · 2024Review
- The CpxAR signaling system confers a fitness advantage for flea gut colonization by the plague bacillus.Journal of bacteriology · 2024Article
- Transovarial transmission of Yersinia pestis in its flea vector Xenopsylla cheopis.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Unveiling the dance of evolution: Pla-mediated cleavage of Ymt modulates the virulence dynamics ofmBio · 2024Article
- Role of themBio · 2024Article
- Transovarial transmission of Yersinia pestis in its flea vector, Xenopsylla cheopis.Research square · 2023Article
- A Widefield Light Microscopy-Based Approach Provides Further Insights into the Colonization of the Flea Proventriculus by Yersinia pestis.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2023Article
- A frameshift ineLife · 2023Article
- Yersinia pestis ΔApplied and environmental microbiology · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In flea-borne plague, blockage of the flea's foregut by Yersinia pestis hastens transmission to the mammalian host. Based on microscopy observations, we first suggest that flea blockage results from primary infection of the foregut and not from midgut colonization. In this model, flea infection is characterized by the recurrent production of a mass that fills the lumen of the proventriculus and encompasses a large number of Y. pestis. This recurrence phase ends when the proventricular cast is hard enough to block blood ingestion. We further showed that ymt (known to be essential for flea infection) is crucial for cast production, whereas the hmsHFRS operon (known to be essential for the formation of the biofilm that blocks the gut) is needed for cast consolidation. By screening a library of mutants (each lacking a locus previously known to be upregulated in the flea gut) for biofilm formation, we found that rpiA is important for flea blockage but not for colonization of the midgut. This locus may initially be required to resist toxic compounds within the proventricular cast. However, once the bacterium has adapted to the flea, rpiA helps to form the biofilm that consolidates the proventricular cast. Lastly, we used genetic techniques to demonstrate that ribose-5-phosphate isomerase activity (due to the recent gain of a second copy of rpiA (y2892)) accentuated blockage but not midgut colonization. It is noteworthy that rpiA is an ancestral gene, hmsHFRS and rpiA2 were acquired by the recent ancestor of Y. pestis, and ymt was acquired by Y. pestis itself. Our present results (i) highlight the physiopathological and molecular mechanisms leading to flea blockage, (ii) show that the role of a gene like rpiA changes in space and in time during an infection, and (iii) emphasize that evolution is a gradual process punctuated by sudden jumps.
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