Response of Streptococcus suis to iron-restricted growth conditions at high and low oxygen availability.

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is an important pathogen in pigs and has to overcome strict iron limitations in its host environment. Here, we studied iron-restricted growth of a highly virulent S. suis strain in vitro at aerobic and CO2-enriched growth conditions. At both conditions, depleting of iron in the culture medium with nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) resulted in decreased growth rates and down regulation of several proteins. Sensitivity to NTA was significantly higher at aerobic versus CO2-enriched conditions. Growth could not be restored by addition of host iron sources such as ferritin, hemin, hemoglobin, lactoferrin or transferrin. Accordingly, S. suis was not able to produce detectable amounts of siderophores. On the other hand, growth at iron-restricted conditions was fully restored by addition of Mn2+ (at aerobic and CO2-enriched conditions) or Mg2+ (only at CO2-enriched conditions). In conclusion our results suggest that, unlike many other bacteria, S. suis adapts to iron restricted conditions by a change in its metabolism in order to replace Fe2+ by Mn2+ or Mg2+ rather than by expressing specific iron uptake systems.