Journal article

Stringent Response-Mediated Control of GTP Homeostasis Is Required for Long-Term Viability of Staphylococcus aureus

L Carrilero, L Urwin, E Ward, NR Choudhury, IR Monk, CE Turner, TP Stinear, RM Corrigan

Microbiology Spectrum | Published : 2023

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that often results in difficult-to-treat infections. One mechanism used by S. aureus to enhance survival during infection is the stringent response. This is a stress survival pathway that utilizes the nucleotides (p)ppGpp to reallocate bacterial resources, shutting down growth until conditions improve. Small colony variants (SCVs) of S. aureus are frequently associated with chronic infections, and this phenotype has previously been linked to a hyperactive stringent response. Here, we examine the role of (p)ppGpp in the long-term survival of S. aureus under nutrient-restricted conditions. When starved, a (p)ppGpp-null S. aureus muta..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine


Funding Acknowledgements

The work was supported by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society, grant number (104110/Z/14/A) (to R.M.C.); a Lister Institute Research Prize 2018 (to R.M.C.); and a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant, GNT1105525 (to T.P.S.). For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright license to any author accepted manuscript version arising from this submission. We declare no conflicts of interest.