▁organ ism , ▁contrib uting ▁to ▁its ▁surv ival ▁and ▁vir ul ence . ▁ ▁Arg - ging ip ains ▁have ▁been ▁found ▁to ▁play ▁a ▁key ▁role ▁in ▁the ▁collection ▁of ▁nut ri ents ▁for ▁P . ▁ging ival is ▁surv ival . ▁R g p ▁de gr ades ▁large ▁pe pt ides ▁of ▁the ▁host ▁organ ism ▁to ▁provide ▁the ▁b acter ium ▁with ▁an ▁abund ant ▁nit ro gen ▁and ▁carbon ▁source ▁from ▁human ▁album in ▁ser um . ▁P . ▁ging ival is ▁can ▁also ▁deg rade ▁transfer rin ▁within ▁host ▁cells ▁which ▁provides ▁the ▁organ ism ▁with ▁an ▁abund ant ▁iron ▁source ▁needed ▁to ▁perform ▁multiple ▁cell ular ▁functions . ▁ ▁The ▁ging ip ains ▁are ▁also ▁responsible ▁for ▁a ▁number ▁of ▁necessary ▁functions ▁related ▁to ▁host ▁invasion ▁and ▁colon ization . ▁R g p ▁ging ip ains ▁are ▁necessary ▁for ▁ad hes ion ▁and ▁invasion ▁as ▁they ▁processed ▁prec ursor ▁prote ins ▁of ▁long ▁f imb ria e . ▁The ▁P . ▁ging ival is ▁gen es ▁encoding ▁R g p A , ▁K g p , ▁and ▁hem ag gl ut in in ▁A ▁( H ag A ) ▁were ▁strongly ▁expressed ▁after ▁inc ub ation ▁with ▁T . ▁d entic ola . ▁The ▁hem ag gl ut in in ▁ad hes ion ▁domain - cont aining ▁prote ins ▁act ▁to ▁increase ▁ad hes ive ▁capac ities ▁of ▁P . ▁ging ival is ▁with ▁other ▁b acter ial ▁species . ▁They ▁are ▁also ▁associated ▁with ▁coordin