The stringent response is essential for Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence in the rat lung agar bead and Drosophila melanogaster feeding models of infection.

ABSTRACT: The stringent response is a regulatory system that allows bacteria to sense and adapt to nutrient-poor environments. The central mediator of the stringent response is the molecule guanosine 3',5'-bispyrophosphate (ppGpp), which is synthesized by the enzymes RelA and SpoT and which is also degraded by SpoT. Our laboratory previously demonstrated that a relA mutant of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the principal cause of lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients, was attenuated in virulence in a Drosophila melanogaster feeding model of infection. In this study, we examined the role of spoT in P. aeruginosa virulence. We generated an insertion mutation in spoT within the previously constructed relA mutant, thereby producing a ppGpp-devoid strain. The relA spoT double mutant was unable to establish

SUBMITTER: Vogt SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3187270 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature