The mevalonate pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis supports metabolic flexibility in <i>Mycobacterium marinum</i>.

ABSTRACT: Isoprenoids are a diverse class of natural products that are essential in all domains of life. Most bacteria synthesize isoprenoids through either the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway or the mevalonate (MEV) pathway, while a small subset encodes both pathways, including the pathogen Mycobacterium marinum (Mm). It is unclear whether the MEV pathway is functional in Mm, or why Mm encodes seemingly redundant metabolic pathways. Here we show that the MEP pathway is essential in Mm while the MEV pathway is dispensable in culture, with the ΔMEV mutant having no growth defect in axenic culture but a competitive growth defect compared to WT Mm. We found that the MEV pathway does not play a role in ex vivo or in vivo infection but does play a role in survival of peroxid

SUBMITTER: Qabar CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12265665 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature