Activator role of the pneumococcal Mga-like virulence transcriptional regulator.

ABSTRACT: Global transcriptional regulators that respond to specific environmental signals are crucial in bacterial pathogenesis. In the case of the Gram-positive pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus), the sp1800 gene of the clinical isolate TIGR4 encodes a protein that exhibits homology to the Mga "stand-alone" response regulator of the group A Streptococcus. Such a pneumococcal protein was shown to play a significant role in both nasopharyngeal colonization and development of pneumonia in murine infection models. Moreover, it was shown to repress the expression of several genes located within the rlrA pathogenicity islet. The pneumococcal R6 strain, which derives from the D39 clinical isolate, lacks the rlrA islet but has a gene (here named mga(Spn)) equivalent to the sp1800 gene. I

SUBMITTER: Solano-Collado V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3416215 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature