ArticlePLoS pathogens2009
Glutathione provides a source of cysteine essential for intracellular multiplication of Francisella tularensis.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 135 citations in OpenAlex.
- Two cysteine dioxygenase homologs contribute to the fitness and virulence of a human pathogen.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Spermidine biosynthesis by hypervirulentJournal of bacteriology · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota induces dysspermatogenesis via microbial-derived phenylacetylglycine in Ggt1-deficient mice.Microbiome · 2026Article
- Managing dangerous liaisons: lessons fromJournal of bacteriology · 2026Review
- Article
- Inorganic sulfate is critical forProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Host glutathione is required for Rickettsia parkeri cell division and intracellular survival.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Sulphur-Acquisition Pathways for Cysteine Synthesis Confer a Fitness Advantage to Bacteria in Plant Extracts.Environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Microbial metabolism of host-derived antioxidants.Current opinion in chemical biology · 2025Review
- Review
- Article
- Microbes, macrophages, and melanin: a unifying theory of disease as exemplified by cancer.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Diverse roles of low-molecular weight thiol GSH inCurrent research in microbial sciences · 2024Article
- Pathogenicity and virulence ofVirulence · 2023Review
- Discovery of a glutathione utilization pathway in Francisella that shows functional divergence between environmental and pathogenic species.Cell host & microbe · 2023Article
- The glutathione import system satisfies the Staphylococcus aureus nutrient sulfur requirement and promotes interspecies competition.PLoS genetics · 2023Article
- Isotope tracing reveals bacterial catabolism of host-derived glutathione during Helicobacter pylori infection.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Francisella tularensis Exploits AMPK Activation to Harvest Host-Derived Nutrients Liberated from Host Lipolysis.Infection and immunity · 2022Article
- Article
- A Resourceful Race: Bacterial Scavenging of Host Sulfur Metabolism during Colonization.Infection and immunity · 2022Review
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Francisella tularensis is a highly infectious bacterium causing the zoonotic disease tularemia. Its ability to multiply and survive in macrophages is critical for its virulence. By screening a bank of HimarFT transposon mutants of the F. tularensis live vaccine strain (LVS) to isolate intracellular growth-deficient mutants, we selected one mutant in a gene encoding a putative gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). This gene (FTL_0766) was hence designated ggt. The mutant strain showed impaired intracellular multiplication and was strongly attenuated for virulence in mice. Here we present evidence that the GGT activity of F. tularensis allows utilization of glutathione (GSH, gamma-glutamyl-cysteinyl-glycine) and gamma-glutamyl-cysteine dipeptide as cysteine sources to ensure intracellular growth. This is the first demonstration of the essential role of a nutrient acquisition system in the intracellular multiplication of F. tularensis. GSH is the most abundant source of cysteine in the host cytosol. Thus, the capacity this intracellular bacterial pathogen has evolved to utilize the available GSH, as a source of cysteine in the host cytosol, constitutes a paradigm of bacteria-host adaptation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.