VirB, a key transcriptional regulator of <i>Shigella</i> virulence, requires a CTP ligand for its regulatory activities.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Shigella species cause bacillary dysentery, the second leading cause of diarrheal deaths worldwide. There is a pressing need to identify novel molecular drug targets. Shigella virulence phenotypes are controlled by the transcriptional regulator, VirB. We show that VirB belongs to a fast-evolving, plasmid-borne clade of the ParB superfamily, which has diverged from versions with a distinct cellular role-DNA partitioning. We report that, like classic members of the ParB family, VirB binds a highly unusual ligand, CTP. Mutants predicted to be defective in CTP binding are compromised in a variety of virulence attributes controlled by VirB, likely because these mutants cannot engage DNA. This study (i) reveals that VirB binds CTP, (ii) provides a link between Vi

SUBMITTER: Gerson TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10653881 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature