ArticleNature communications2022
Discovery and structure of a widespread bacterial ABC transporter specific for ergothioneine.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is Ergothioneine an Important Source of Plasma TrimethylamineAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- CH•••S hydrogen bonds drive molecular recognition of ergothioneine by the microbial transporter.Science advances · 2026Article
- Enhancement of ergothioneine production in Corynebacterium glutamicum by increasing osmotic pressure.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Disulphide bond-forming enzymes in clostridial species.Microbiology (Reading, England) · 2025Article
- Phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses ofJournal of medical microbiology · 2025Article
- Metabolic cross-feeding of a dietary antioxidant enhances anaerobic energy metabolism by human gut bacteria.Cell host & microbe · 2025Article
- Article
- An affinity-based depletion strategy for evaluating the effects of ergothioneine on bacterial physiology.Cell chemical biology · 2025Article
- Expression and purification of the intact bacterial ergothioneine transporter EgtU.Protein expression and purification · 2025Article
- A genome-wide screen in ex vivo gallbladders identifies Listeria monocytogenes factors required for virulence in vivo.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Microbial metabolism of host-derived antioxidants.Current opinion in chemical biology · 2025Review
- Ergothioneine biosynthesis: The present state and future prospect.Synthetic and systems biotechnology · 2025Review
- Analysis of genetic requirements and nutrient availability forbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- The Biology and Biochemistry of Kynurenic Acid, a Potential Nutraceutical with Multiple Biological Effects.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Bacterial cell volume regulation and the importance of cyclic di-AMP.Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2024Review
- Ergothioneine and its congeners: anti-ageing mechanisms and pharmacophore biosynthesis.Protein & cell · 2024Review
- Impact of Difluoromethylornithine and AMXT 1501 on Gene Expression and Capsule Regulation inBiomolecules · 2024Article
- Understanding mechanisms of antioxidant action in health and disease.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2024Review
- Sensing and regulation of reactive sulfur species (RSS) in bacteria.Current opinion in chemical biology · 2023Review
- Emerging roles of low-molecular-weight thiols at the host-microbe interface.Current opinion in chemical biology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
L-Ergothioneine (ET), the 2-thioimidazole derivative of trimethylhistidine, is biosynthesized by select fungi and bacteria, notably Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and functions as a scavenger of reactive oxygen species. The extent to which ET broadly functions in bacterial cells unable to synthesize it is unknown. Here we show that spd_1642-1643 in Streptococcus pneumoniae, a Gram-positive respiratory pathogen, encodes an ET uptake ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, designated EgtU. The solute binding domain (SBD) of EgtU, EgtUC, binds ET with high affinity and exquisite specificity in a cleft between the two subdomains, with cation-π interactions engaging the betaine moiety and a network of water molecules that surround the thioimidazole ring. EgtU is highly conserved among known quaternary amine compound-specific transporters and widely distributed in Firmicutes, including the human pathogens Listeria monocytogenes, as BilEB, Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus. ET increases the chemical diversity of the low molecular weight thiol pool in Gram-positive human pathogens and may contribute to antioxidant defenses in the infected host.
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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.