Fructose activates a stress response shared by methylglyoxal and hydrogen peroxide in <i>Streptococcus mutans</i>.

ABSTRACT: Fructose catabolism by Streptococcus mutans is initiated by three phosphotransferase (PTS) transporters yielding fructose-1-phosphate (F-1-P) or fructose-6-phosphate. Deletion of one such F-1-P-generating PTS, fruI, was shown to reduce the cariogenicity of S. mutans in rats fed a high-sucrose diet. Moreover, a recent study linked fructose metabolism in S. mutans to a reactive electrophile species methylglyoxal. Here, we conducted a comparative transcriptomic analysis of S. mutans treated briefly with 50 mM fructose, 50 mM glucose, 5 mM methylglyoxal, or 0.5 mM hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The results revealed a striking overlap between the fructose and methylglyoxal transcriptomes, totaling 176 genes, 61 of which were also shared with t

SUBMITTER: Walker AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12077213 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature