Comparison of the major virulence-related genes of Listeria monocytogenes in Internalin A truncated strain 36-25-1 and a clinical wild-type strain

BACKGROUND: Internalin A (InlA) facilitates the invasion of Listeria monocytogenes into a host cell. Some strains of Listeria monocytogenes express truncated forms of InlA, which reduces invasiveness. However, few virulence-related genes other than inlA have been analyzed in InlA-truncated strains. In the present study, we sequenced the draft genome of strain 36-25-1, an InlA-truncated strain, with pyrosequencing and compared 36 major virulence-related genes in this strain and a clinical wild-type strain. RESULTS: Strain 36-25-1 possessed all of the virulence-related genes analyzed. Of the analyzed genes, only 4 genes (dltA, gtcA, iap, and inlA) differed when the nucleotide sequences of strain 36-25-1 and the clinical wild-type strain were compared. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequences found no mutations that significantly influenced virulence in genes other than inlA. CONCLUSIONS: The virulence-associated genes in strain 36-25-1 differ little from those of the clinical wild-type strain, indicating that a slight mutation in the nucleotide sequence determines the virulence of the InlA-truncated strain. In addition, the results suggest that, aside from InlA-mediated cell invasiveness, there is almost no difference between the virulence of strain 36-25-1 and that of the clinical wild-type strain.