Circuitry Rewiring Directly Couples Competence to Predation in the Gut Dweller Streptococcus salivarius

Autor: Johann Mignolet, Laetitia Fontaine, Andrea Sass, Catherine Nannan, Jacques Mahillon, Tom Coenye, Pascal Hols
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Cell Reports, Vol 22, Iss 7, Pp 1627-1638 (2018)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2211-1247
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.01.055
Popis: Summary: Small distortions in transcriptional networks might lead to drastic phenotypical changes, especially in cellular developmental programs such as competence for natural transformation. Here, we report a pervasive circuitry rewiring for competence and predation interplay in commensal streptococci. Canonically, in streptococci paradigms such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus mutans, the pheromone-based two-component system BlpRH is a central node that orchestrates the production of antimicrobial compounds (bacteriocins) and incorporates signal from the competence activation cascade. However, the human commensal Streptococcus salivarius does not contain a functional BlpRH pair, while the competence signaling system ComRS directly couples bacteriocin production and competence commitment. This network shortcut might underlie an optimal adaptation against microbial competitors and explain the high prevalence of S. salivarius in the human digestive tract. Moreover, the broad spectrum of bacteriocin activity against pathogenic bacteria showcases the commensal and genetically tractable S. salivarius species as a user-friendly model for competence and bacterial predation.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals