Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus

The dangerous human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus relies heavily on toxins to cause disease, but toxin production can put a strong burden on the bacteria’s energy balance. Thus, controlling the synthesis of proteins solely needed in times of toxin production represents a way for the bacteria to avo...

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Main Authors: Hwang-Soo Joo, Michael Otto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Shared Science Publishers OG 2016-12-01
Series:Microbial Cell
Subjects:
Online Access:http://microbialcell.com/researcharticles/toxin-mediated-gene-regulatory-mechanism-in-staphylococcus-aureus/
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author Hwang-Soo Joo
Michael Otto
author_facet Hwang-Soo Joo
Michael Otto
author_sort Hwang-Soo Joo
collection DOAJ
description The dangerous human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus relies heavily on toxins to cause disease, but toxin production can put a strong burden on the bacteria’s energy balance. Thus, controlling the synthesis of proteins solely needed in times of toxin production represents a way for the bacteria to avoid wasting energy. One hypothetical manner to accomplish this sort of regulation is by gene regulatory functions of the toxins themselves. There have been several reports about gene regulation by toxins in S. aureus, but these were never verified on the molecular level. In our study published in MBio [Joo et al., 7(5). pii: e01579-16], we show that phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs), important peptide toxins of S. aureus, release a repressor from the promoter of the operon encoding the toxin export system, thereby enabling toxin secretion. This study describes the first molecular regulatory mechanism exerted by an S. aureus toxin, setting a paradigmatic example of how S. aureus toxins may influence cell functions to adjust them to times of toxin production.
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spelling doaj-art-4979ea96f9554279a56ba73fd8f86dab2025-08-20T02:05:20ZengShared Science Publishers OGMicrobial Cell2311-26382016-12-0141293110.15698/mic2017.01.553Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureusHwang-Soo Joo0Michael Otto1Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.The dangerous human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus relies heavily on toxins to cause disease, but toxin production can put a strong burden on the bacteria’s energy balance. Thus, controlling the synthesis of proteins solely needed in times of toxin production represents a way for the bacteria to avoid wasting energy. One hypothetical manner to accomplish this sort of regulation is by gene regulatory functions of the toxins themselves. There have been several reports about gene regulation by toxins in S. aureus, but these were never verified on the molecular level. In our study published in MBio [Joo et al., 7(5). pii: e01579-16], we show that phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs), important peptide toxins of S. aureus, release a repressor from the promoter of the operon encoding the toxin export system, thereby enabling toxin secretion. This study describes the first molecular regulatory mechanism exerted by an S. aureus toxin, setting a paradigmatic example of how S. aureus toxins may influence cell functions to adjust them to times of toxin production.http://microbialcell.com/researcharticles/toxin-mediated-gene-regulatory-mechanism-in-staphylococcus-aureus/Staphylococcus aureusphenol-soluble modulinstoxingene regulationGntRYtrA
spellingShingle Hwang-Soo Joo
Michael Otto
Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus
Microbial Cell
Staphylococcus aureus
phenol-soluble modulins
toxin
gene regulation
GntR
YtrA
title Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus
title_full Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus
title_fullStr Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus
title_full_unstemmed Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus
title_short Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus
title_sort toxin mediated gene regulatory mechanism in staphylococcus aureus
topic Staphylococcus aureus
phenol-soluble modulins
toxin
gene regulation
GntR
YtrA
url http://microbialcell.com/researcharticles/toxin-mediated-gene-regulatory-mechanism-in-staphylococcus-aureus/
work_keys_str_mv AT hwangsoojoo toxinmediatedgeneregulatorymechanisminstaphylococcusaureus
AT michaelotto toxinmediatedgeneregulatorymechanisminstaphylococcusaureus