{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T13:47:36Z","timestamp":1791985656253,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791936000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791936000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01AI148241"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01AI148241"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000057","name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["P20GM125504"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P20GM125504"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000057","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["mBio"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Y\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">ersinia pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                      is a vector-borne pathogen that evolved from the enteric pathogen\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Yersinia pseudotuberculosis<\/jats:italic>\n                      . Despite different routes of infection, both pathogens need to overcome host-mediated zinc limitation.\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                      relies on the transporter ZnuABC and the metallophore yersiniabactin, but surprisingly, disruption of these systems in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pseudotuberculosis<\/jats:italic>\n                      did not limit growth during zinc limitation, suggesting the presence of additional mechanisms. Here, we identify the opine-type metallophore yersinopine, encoded by the\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">cnt<\/jats:italic>\n                      operon, as a primary zinc uptake system in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pseudotuberculosis<\/jats:italic>\n                      . While a\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">znuA ybtX<\/jats:italic>\n                      mutant was not attenuated for growth in metal-limited medium,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">cnt znuA<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">cnt ybtX<\/jats:italic>\n                      mutants both had significant growth defects. Moreover, a\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">znuA ybtX cnt<\/jats:italic>\n                      mutant was completely attenuated for growth, which was rescued by zinc but not iron supplementation. While the\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">cnt<\/jats:italic>\n                      operon is present in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                      , growth of analogous\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">cnt<\/jats:italic>\n                      mutants was not altered. Comparison of the\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">cnt<\/jats:italic>\n                      operons indicated the presence of two frameshift mutations in the predicted yersinopine importer\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">cntQ<\/jats:italic>\n                      in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                      , suggesting that it is a pseudogene. Indeed, introduction of the same mutations into\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">cntQ<\/jats:italic>\n                      in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pseudotuberculosis znuA ybtX<\/jats:italic>\n                      phenocopied a\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">znuA ybtX cnt<\/jats:italic>\n                      mutant. Finally, yersinopine also contributed to\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pseudotuberculosis<\/jats:italic>\n                      fitness in the presence of calprotectin and during infection in the murine model of yersiniosis. These data establish yersinopine as a primary zinc acquisition system in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pseudotuberculosis<\/jats:italic>\n                      that is not required for\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                      to overcome zinc-mediated nutritional immunity and show divergent evolution in zinc acquisition strategies in these closely related species.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>\n                        <jats:bold>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:bold>\n                      <\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>\n                        Zinc sequestration by the host is a major component of nutritional immunity that restricts bacterial growth during infection. Here, we identify the opine metallophore yersinopine as a primary zinc acquisition system in\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Yersinia pseudotuberculosis<\/jats:italic>\n                        . Yersinopine promotes fitness during calprotectin-mediated zinc starvation and contributes to virulence during infection. In contrast, yersinopine does not support zinc uptake in\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Yersinia pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                        due to inactivating mutations in the protein required for uptake of zinc-bound yersinopine. These findings establish yersinopine-dependent zinc acquisition as a critical virulence factor in\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Y. pseudotuberculosis<\/jats:italic>\n                        and reveal a previously unrecognized evolutionary divergence in metal acquisition strategies among closely related\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Yersinia<\/jats:italic>\n                        species.\n                      <\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.02000-26","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T13:04:11Z","timestamp":1789650251000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Yersinopine is a primary zinc acquisition system for\n                    <i>Yersinia pseudotuberculosis<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4790-4202","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Mahendar","family":"Kadari","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01ckdn478","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Louisville School of Medicine","place":["Louisville, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Casey","family":"Weber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01ckdn478","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Louisville School of Medicine","place":["Louisville, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8234-1113","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Thomas 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