A Highly Conserved Bacterial D-Serine Uptake System Links Host Metabolism and Virulence.

ABSTRACT: The ability of any organism to sense and respond to challenges presented in the environment is critically important for promoting or restricting colonization of specific sites. Recent work has demonstrated that the host metabolite D-serine has the ability to markedly influence the outcome of infection by repressing the type III secretion system of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) in a concentration-dependent manner. However, exactly how EHEC monitors environmental D-serine is not understood. In this work, we have identified two highly conserved members of the E. coli core genome, encoding an inner membrane transporter and a transcriptional regulator, which collectively help to "sense" levels of D-serine by regulating its uptake from the environment and in turn influencing global

SUBMITTER: Connolly JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4699771 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature