| Autor: |
Nathaniel C. Esteves, Birgit E. Scharf |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2024 |
| Předmět: |
|
| Zdroj: |
Scientific Reports, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2024) |
| Druh dokumentu: |
article |
| ISSN: |
2045-2322 |
| DOI: |
10.1038/s41598-024-68747-3 |
| Popis: |
Abstract Serratia marcescens is an opportunistic human pathogen that produces a vibrant red pigment called prodigiosin. Prodigiosin has implications in virulence of S. marcescens and promising clinical applications. We discovered that addition of the virulent flagellotropic bacteriophage χ (Chi) to a culture of S. marcescens stimulates a greater than fivefold overproduction of prodigiosin. Active phage infection is required for the effect, as a χ-resistant strain lacking flagella does not respond to phage presence. Via a reporter fusion assay, we have determined that the addition of a χ-induced S. marcescens cell lysate to an uninfected culture causes a threefold increase in transcription of the pig operon, containing genes essential for pigment biosynthesis. Replacement of the pig promoter with a constitutive promoter abolished the pigmentation increase, indicating that regulatory elements present in the pig promoter likely mediate the phenomenon. We hypothesize that S. marcescens detects the threat of phage-mediated cell death and reacts by producing prodigiosin as a stress response. Our findings are of clinical significance for two main reasons: (i) elucidating complex phage-host interactions is crucial for development of therapeutic phage treatments, and (ii) overproduction of prodigiosin in response to phage could be exploited for its biosynthesis and use as a pharmaceutical. |
| Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
