<i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> growth arrest on propionate at acidic pH is suppressed by mutations in <i>phoPR</i> and pyrazinamide treatment.

ABSTRACT: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) arrests its growth at acidic pH when grown on specific single carbon sources, including propionate. However, Mtb grows well on propionate at pH 7.0, supporting that propionate can support growth as a sole carbon source. To understand the basis of the propionate-driven growth arrest at acidic pH, we performed a forward genetic selection for mutants that enable growth on propionate at pH 5.7. All the selected mutants had insertions in the two-component regulatory genes phoR or phoP. We hypothesized that growth arrest at acidic pH is caused by PhoPR diverting carbon from central carbon metabolism toward lipid anabolism and that when PhoPR is inactivated, growth is promoted through metabolizing propionate by the methylcitrate cycle (MCC) in

SUBMITTER: Murdoch HM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12802220 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature