ArticleMolecular microbiology2015
Deletion analysis of Streptococcus pneumoniae late competence genes distinguishes virulence determinants that are dependent or independent of competence induction.
Article in Molecular microbiology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- A synopsis of competence-regulated virulence inVirulence · 2026Review
- Structure, Function, and Regulation of LytA: TheMicroorganisms · 2025Review
- Comparative analysis of theFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Signal recognition particle RNA is critical for genetic competence and virulence ofJournal of bacteriology · 2024Article
- Time-resolved RNA-seq analysis to unravel theMicrobiology spectrum · 2024Article
- Fever-like temperature bursts promote competence development via an HtrA-dependent pathway in Streptococcus pneumoniae.PLoS genetics · 2023Article
- Airway proteolytic control of pneumococcal competence.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Pharmacological Evaluation of Synthetic Dominant-Negative Peptides Derived from the Competence-Stimulating Peptide ofACS pharmacology & translational science · 2022Article
- Attenuating theJournal of medicinal chemistry · 2022Article
- Antimicrobial Random Peptide Mixtures EradicateAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Transposon mutagenesis in oralJournal of oral microbiology · 2022Review
- Strategies to Attenuate the Competence Regulon inPeptide science (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Article
- The alternative sigma factor σeLife · 2020Article
- Amino AcidBiology · 2020Article
- Biological Evaluation of Native Streptococcal Competence Stimulating Peptides Reveal Potential Crosstalk BetweenRSC chemical biology · 2020Article
- Article
- Designing cyclic competence-stimulating peptide (CSP) analogs with pan-group quorum-sensing inhibition activity inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2020Article
- DprA-Dependent Exit from the Competent State Regulates Multifaceted Streptococcus pneumoniae Virulence.Infection and immunity · 2019Article
- In vivo proteomics identifies the competence regulon and AliB oligopeptide transporter as pathogenic factors in pneumococcal meningitis.PLoS pathogens · 2019Article
- Unveiling the Importance of Amide Protons in CSP:ComD Interactions inACS medicinal chemistry letters · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The competence regulon of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is crucial for genetic transformation. During competence development, the alternative sigma factor ComX is activated, which in turn, initiates transcription of 80 'late' competence genes. Interestingly, only 16 late genes are essential for genetic transformation. We hypothesized that these late genes that are dispensable for competence are beneficial to pneumococcal fitness during infection. These late genes were systematically deleted, and the resulting mutants were examined for their fitness during mouse models of bacteremia and acute pneumonia. Among these, 14 late genes were important for fitness in mice. Significantly, deletion of some late genes attenuated pneumococcal fitness to the same level in both wild-type and ComX-null genetic backgrounds, suggesting that the constitutive baseline expression of these genes was important for bacterial fitness. In contrast, some mutants were attenuated only in the wild-type genetic background but not in the ComX-null background, suggesting that specific expression of these genes during competence state contributed to pneumococcal fitness. Increased virulence during competence state was partially caused by the induction of allolytic enzymes that enhanced pneumolysin release. These results distinguish the role of basal expression versus competence induction in virulence functions encoded by ComX-regulated late competence genes.
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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.