A toxin-antitoxin module of Salmonella promotes virulence in mice.

ABSTRACT: Toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules are widely prevalent in both bacteria and archaea. Originally described as stabilizing elements of plasmids, TA modules are also widespread on bacterial chromosomes. These modules promote bacterial persistence in response to specific environmental stresses. So far, the possibility that TA modules could be involved in bacterial virulence has been largely neglected, but recent comparative genomic studies have shown that the presence of TA modules is significantly associated with the pathogenicity of bacteria. Using Salmonella as a model, we investigated whether TA modules help bacteria to overcome the stress conditions encountered during colonization, thereby supporting virulence in the host. By bioinformatics analyses, we found that the genome of the pathogenic

SUBMITTER: De la Cruz MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3868539 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature