The CiaRH system of Streptococcus pneumoniae prevents lysis during stress induced by treatment with cell wall inhibitors and by mutations in pbp2x involved in beta-lactam resistance.

ABSTRACT: The two-component signal-transducing system CiaRH of Streptococcus pneumoniae plays an important role during the development of beta-lactam resistance in laboratory mutants. We show here that a functional CiaRH system is required for survival under many different lysis-inducing conditions. Mutants with an activated CiaRH system were highly resistant to lysis induced by a wide variety of early and late cell wall inhibitors, such as cycloserine, bacitracin, and vancomycin, and were also less susceptible to these drugs. In contrast, loss-of-function CiaRH mutants were hypersusceptible to these drugs and were apparently unable to maintain a stationary growth phase in normal growth medium and under choline deprivation as well. Moreover, disruption of CiaR in penicillin-resistant mutants with an

SUBMITTER: Mascher T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1426552 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature