De Novo Guanine Biosynthesis but Not the Riboswitch-Regulated Purine Salvage Pathway Is Required for Staphylococcus aureus Infection In Vivo.

ABSTRACT:

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De novo guanine biosynthesis is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that creates sufficient nucleotides to support DNA replication, transcription, and translation. Bacteria can also salvage nutrients from the environment to supplement the de novo pathway, but the relative importance of either pathway during Staphylococcus aureus infection is not known. In S. aureus, genes important for both de novo and salvage pathways are regulated by a guanine riboswitch. Bacterial riboswitches have attracted attention as a novel class of antibacterial drug targets because they have high affinity for small molecules, are absent in humans, and regulate the expression of multiple genes, including those essential for cell viability. Genetic and biophysical methods confirm the existence of

SUBMITTER: Kofoed EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4936099 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature