ArticlePLoS genetics2023
Fever-like temperature bursts promote competence development via an HtrA-dependent pathway in Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- A synopsis of competence-regulated virulence inVirulence · 2026Review
- The gram-positive HtrA, the protease that is also a chaperone.Journal of bacteriology · 2026Review
- A toxin/antitoxin system targeting the replication sliding-clamp induces competence in Streptococcus pneumoniae.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Structure, Function, and Regulation of LytA: TheMicroorganisms · 2025Review
- Competence Regulation inCurrent medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Pneumococcal competence is a populational health sensor driving multilevel heterogeneity in response to antibiotics.Nature communications · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is well known for its ability to develop competence for natural DNA transformation. Competence development is regulated by an autocatalytic loop driven by variations in the basal level of transcription of the comCDE and comAB operons. These genes are part of the early gene regulon that controls expression of the late competence genes known to encode the apparatus of transformation. Several stressful conditions are known to promote competence development, although the induction pathways are remain poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that transient temperature elevation induces an immediate increase in the basal expression level of the comCDE operon and early genes that, in turn, stimulates its full induction, including that of the late competence regulon. This thermal regulation depends on the HtrA chaperone/protease and its proteolytic activity. We find that other competence induction stimulus, like norfloxacin, is not conveyed by the HtrA-dependent pathway. This finding strongly suggests that competence can be induced by at least two independent pathways and thus reinforces the view that competence is a general stress response system in the pneumococcus.
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Registered trials
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