ArticlePLoS biology2023
Competence remodels the pneumococcal cell wall exposing key surface virulence factors that mediate increased host adherence.
Article in PLoS biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- A synopsis of competence-regulated virulence inVirulence · 2026Review
- Antimicrobial Resistance and Genomic Characterization of a Novel ST181Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- LytF contributes to pilus extrusion during natural competence inJournal of bacteriology · 2026Article
- On the role of choline in natural DNA transformation inFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Lipoteichoic acid mediates binding ofmSphere · 2025Article
- Colocalisation of lanthipeptide production with genetic exchange and defence systems across prokaryote genomes.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Transcriptomic analysis ofMicrobial genomics · 2025Article
- Dual glycosylation of wall teichoic acid modulates the O-antigen pattern and virulence in serovar 4bmLife · 2025Article
- CRISPRi-seq in Haemophilus influenzae reveals genome-wide and medium-specific growth determinants.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- LytF contributes to pilus extrusion during natural competence inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Structure, Function, and Regulation of LytA: TheMicroorganisms · 2025Review
- Streptococcus pneumoniae epidemiology, pathogenesis and control.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
- Article
- Competence Regulation inCurrent medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Biosynthesis of mitis group streptococcal glycolipids and their roles in physiology and antibiotic susceptibility.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- The rise and future of CRISPR-based approaches for high-throughput genomics.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2024Review
- Genetic modification ofmSphere · 2024Article
- Pneumococcal competence is a populational health sensor driving multilevel heterogeneity in response to antibiotics.Nature communications · 2024Article
- A comprehensive analysis of pneumococcal two-component system regulatory networks.NAR genomics and bioinformatics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Competence development in the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae controls several features such as genetic transformation, biofilm formation, and virulence. Competent bacteria produce so-called "fratricins" such as CbpD that kill noncompetent siblings by cleaving peptidoglycan (PGN). CbpD is a choline-binding protein (CBP) that binds to phosphorylcholine residues found on wall and lipoteichoic acids (WTA and LTA) that together with PGN are major constituents of the pneumococcal cell wall. Competent pneumococci are protected against fratricide by producing the immunity protein ComM. How competence and fratricide contribute to virulence is unknown. Here, using a genome-wide CRISPRi-seq screen, we show that genes involved in teichoic acid (TA) biosynthesis are essential during competence. We demonstrate that LytR is the major enzyme mediating the final step in WTA formation, and that, together with ComM, is essential for immunity against CbpD. Importantly, we show that key virulence factors PspA and PspC become more surface-exposed at midcell during competence, in a CbpD-dependent manner. Together, our work supports a model in which activation of competence is crucial for host adherence by increased surface exposure of its various CBPs.
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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.