Site-Specific Mutations of GalR Affect Galactose Metabolism in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Copyright © 2020 American Society for Microbiology..

Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is a formidable human pathogen that is capable of asymptomatically colonizing the nasopharynx. Progression from colonization to invasive disease involves adaptation to distinct host niches, which vary markedly in the availability of key nutrients such as sugars. We previously reported that cell-cell signaling via the autoinducer 2 (AI-2)/LuxS quorum-sensing system boosts the capacity of S. pneumoniae to utilize galactose as a carbon source by upregulation of the Leloir pathway. This resulted in increased capsular polysaccharide production and a hypervirulent phenotype. We hypothesized that this effect was mediated by phosphorylation of GalR, the transcriptional activator of the Leloir pathway. GalR is known to possess three putative phosphorylation sites, S317, T319, and T323. In the present study, derivatives of S. pneumoniae D39 with putative phosphorylation-blocking alanine substitution mutations at each of these GalR sites (singly or in combination) were constructed. Growth assays and transcriptional analyses revealed complex phenotypes for these GalR mutants, with impacts on the regulation of both the Leloir and tagatose 6-phosphate pathways. The alanine substitution mutations significantly reduced the capacity of pneumococci to colonize the nasopharynx, middle ear, and lungs in a murine intranasal challenge model.IMPORTANCE Pneumococcal survival in the host and capacity to transition from a commensal to a pathogenic lifestyle are closely linked to the organism's ability to utilize specific nutrients in distinct niches. Galactose is a major carbon source for pneumococci in the upper respiratory tract. We have shown that both the Leloir and tagatose 6-phosphate pathways are necessary for pneumococcal growth in galactose and demonstrated GalR-mediated interplay between the two pathways. Moreover, the three putative phosphorylation sites in the transcriptional regulator GalR play a critical role in galactose metabolism and are important for pneumococcal colonization of the nasopharynx, middle ear, and lungs.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2020

Erschienen:

2020

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:203

Enthalten in:

Journal of bacteriology - 203(2020), 1 vom: 07. Dez.

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

McLean, Kimberley T [VerfasserIn]
Tikhomirova, Alexandra [VerfasserIn]
Brazel, Erin B [VerfasserIn]
Legendre, Salomé [VerfasserIn]
Haasbroek, Gian [VerfasserIn]
Minhas, Vikrant [VerfasserIn]
Paton, James C [VerfasserIn]
Trappetti, Claudia [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Carbon metabolism
GalR
Galactose
Journal Article
Pneumococcus
Protein phosphorylation
Repressor Proteins
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Virulence
X2RN3Q8DNE

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 27.04.2021

Date Revised 08.06.2021

published: Electronic-Print

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1128/JB.00180-20

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM316163333