PhoPR Contributes to Staphylococcus aureus Growth during Phosphate Starvation and Pathogenesis in an Environment-Specific Manner
Microbial pathogens must obtain all essential nutrients, including phosphate, from the host. To optimize phosphate acquisition in diverse and dynamic environments, such as mammalian tissues, many bacteria use the PhoPR two-component system. Despite the necessity of this system for virulence in sever...
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Published in | Infection and immunity Vol. 86; no. 10 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
American Society for Microbiology
01.10.2018
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Microbial pathogens must obtain all essential nutrients, including phosphate, from the host. To optimize phosphate acquisition in diverse and dynamic environments, such as mammalian tissues, many bacteria use the PhoPR two-component system. Despite the necessity of this system for virulence in several species, PhoPR has not been studied in the major human pathogen
To illuminate its role in staphylococcal physiology, we initially assessed whether PhoPR controls the expression of the three inorganic phosphate (P
) importers (PstSCAB, NptA, and PitA) in
This analysis revealed that PhoPR is required for the expression of
and
and can modulate
expression. Consistent with a role in phosphate homeostasis, PhoPR-mediated regulation of the transporters is influenced by phosphate availability. Further investigations revealed that PhoPR is necessary for growth under P
-limiting conditions, and in some environments, its primary role is to induce the expression of
or
Interestingly, in other environments, PhoPR is necessary for growth independent of P
transporter expression, indicating that additional PhoPR-regulated factors promote
adaptation to low-P
conditions. Together, these data suggest that PhoPR differentially contributes to growth in an environment-specific manner. In a systemic infection model, a mutant of
lacking PhoPR is highly attenuated. Further investigation revealed that PhoPR-regulated factors, in addition to P
transporters, are critical for staphylococcal pathogenesis. Cumulatively, these findings point to an important role for PhoPR in orchestrating P
acquisition as well as transporter-independent mechanisms that contribute to
virulence. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Citation Kelliher JL, Radin JN, Kehl-Fie TE. 2018. PhoPR contributes to Staphylococcus aureus growth during phosphate starvation and pathogenesis in an environment-specific manner. Infect Immun 86:e00371-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00371-18. |
ISSN: | 0019-9567 1098-5522 |
DOI: | 10.1128/IAI.00371-18 |