StkP- and PhpP-Mediated Posttranslational Modifications Modulate the S. pneumoniae Metabolism, Polysaccharide Capsule, and Virulence.

ABSTRACT: Pneumococcal Ser/Thr kinase (StkP) and its cognate phosphatase (PhpP) play a crucial role in bacterial cytokinesis. However, their individual and reciprocal metabolic and virulence regulation-related functions have yet to be adequately investigated in encapsulated pneumococci. Here, we demonstrate that the encapsulated pneumococcal strain D39-derived D39ΔPhpP and D39ΔStkP mutants displayed differential cell division defects and growth patterns when grown in chemically defined media supplemented with glucose or nonglucose sugars as the sole carbon source. Microscopic and biochemical analyses supported by RNA-seq-based global transcriptomic analyses of these mutants revealed significantly down- and upregulated polysaccharide capsule formation and cps2 genes in D39ΔPhpP and D39ΔStkP mu

SUBMITTER: Kant S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10112228 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature