Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38366323›Full record

ArticleMolecular microbiology2024

In Staphylococcus aureus, the acyl-CoA synthetase MbcS supports branched-chain fatty acid synthesis from carboxylic acid and aldehyde precursors.

Marcelle C Dos Santos Ferreira, Augustus Pendleton, Won-Sik Yeo, Fabiana C Málaga Gadea, Danna Camelo, Maeve McGuire, Shaun R Brinsmade

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular microbiology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. InJournal of bacteriology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. InbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Fatty acid synthesis and utilization in gram-positive bacteria: insights fromMicrobiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Marcelle C Dos Santos FerreiraDepartment of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Augustus PendletonDepartment of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Won-Sik YeoDepartment of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Fabiana C Málaga GadeaDepartment of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Danna CameloDepartment of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Maeve McGuireDepartment of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Shaun R BrinsmadeDepartment of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Georgetown University · US

Funding

Tissue Culture Shared ResourceP30CA051008 · NCI · GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY · PI Louis M Weiner · 1990 to 2026
$71.5M
Nutritional regulation of pathogenesis in Staphylococcus aureusR01AI137403 · NIAID · GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY · PI BRINSMADE, SHAUN R · 2018 to 2022
$2.2M
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA051008NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI137403NIH HHS R01 AI137403NIH/NCI/CCSG P30CA051008-29S2
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, branched-chain fatty acids (BCFAs) are the most abundant fatty acids in membrane phospholipids. Strains deficient for BCFAs synthesis experience auxotrophy in laboratory culture and attenuated virulence during infection. Furthermore, the membrane of S. aureus is among the main targets for antibiotic therapy. Therefore, determining the mechanisms involved in BCFAs synthesis is critical to manage S. aureus infections. Here, we report that the overexpression of SAUSA300_2542 (annotated to encode an acyl-CoA synthetase) restores BCFAs synthesis in strains lacking the canonical biosynthetic pathway catalyzed by the branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase (BKDH) complex. We demonstrate that the acyl-CoA synthetase activity of MbcS activates branched-chain carboxylic acids (BCCAs), and is required by S. aureus to utilize the isoleucine derivative 2-methylbutyraldehyde to restore BCFAs synthesis in S. aureus. Based on the ability of some staphylococci to convert branched-chain aldehydes into their respective BCCAs and our findings demonstrating that branched-chain aldehydes are in fact BCFAs precursors, we propose that MbcS promotes the scavenging of exogenous BCCAs and mediates BCFA synthesis via a de novo alternative pathway.

Indexed as

Coenzyme A LigasesFatty AcidsStaphylococcus aureusAldehydesBacterial ProteinsBiosynthetic PathwaysCarboxylic AcidsStaphylococcal InfectionsAldehydesBacterial ProteinsCarboxylic AcidsCoenzyme A LigasesFatty AcidsBKDH complexbranched‐chain fatty acidsfatty acids metabolismmembrane phospholipidsMRSAStaphylococcus aureus

Identifiers

PMID38366323
PMCPMC11167679
OpenAlexW4391913784

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.