Acquisition of the Phosphate Transporter NptA Enhances Staphylococcus aureus Pathogenesis by Improving Phosphate Uptake in Divergent Environments.

ABSTRACT: During infection, pathogens must obtain all inorganic nutrients, such as phosphate, from the host. Despite the essentiality of phosphate for all forms of life, how Staphylococcus aureus obtains this nutrient during infection is unknown. Differing from Escherichia coli, the paradigm for bacterial phosphate acquisition, which has two inorganic phosphate (P_i) importers, genomic analysis suggested that S. aureus possesses three distinct P_i transporters: PstSCAB, PitA, and NptA. While pitA and nptA are expressed in phosphate-replete media, expression of all three transporters is induced by phosphate limitation. The loss of a single transporter did not affect S. aureus However, disruption of any two systems significantly reduced P

SUBMITTER: Kelliher JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5736819 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature