A manganese-sparing response balances competing cellular demands to enable <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> infection.

ABSTRACT: Responding to stress is critical to the survival of life, especially for microbes that have a limited ability to manipulate their environment. During infection, Staphylococcus aureus and other invaders must overcome both the host-imposed absence of manganese and the oxidative burst of immune cells, which increases the need for this essential metal. The current investigations revealed that a small RNA, RsaC, integrates the staphylococcal responses to manganese starvation and oxidative stress. Upon manganese limitation, RsaC activates a manganese-sparing response, which decreases the cellular demand for manganese, enabling growth in manganese-restricted environments. However, the benefit of this response is environment-dependent as RsaC suppresses the expression of the manganese-depen

SUBMITTER: McFarlane RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12421985 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature