Central carbon flux controls growth/damage balance for Streptococcus pyogenes.

ABSTRACT: Microbial pathogens balance growth against tissue damage to achieve maximum fitness. Central carbon metabolism is connected to growth, but how it influences growth/damage balance is largely unknown. Here we examined how carbon flux through the exclusively fermentative metabolism of the pathogenic lactic acid bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes impacts patterns of growth and tissue damage. Using a murine model of soft tissue infection, we systematically examined single and pair-wise mutants that constrained carbon flux through the three major pathways that S. pyogenes employs for reduction of the glycolytic intermediate pyruvate, revealing distinct disease outcomes. Its canonical lactic acid pathway (via lactate dehydrogenase) made a minimal contribution to virulence. In contrast, its two para

SUBMITTER: Merriman JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10337930 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature