Potassium response and homeostasis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis modulates environmental adaptation and is important for host colonization.

ABSTRACT: Successful host colonization by bacteria requires sensing and response to the local ionic milieu, and coordination of responses with the maintenance of ionic homeostasis in the face of changing conditions. We previously discovered that Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) responds synergistically to chloride (Cl-) and pH, as cues to the immune status of its host. This raised the intriguing concept of abundant ions as important environmental signals, and we have now uncovered potassium (K+) as an ion that can significantly impact colonization by Mtb. The bacterium has a unique transcriptional response to changes in environmental K+ levels, with both distinct and shared regulatory mechanisms controlling Mtb response to the ionic signals of K+, Cl-, and pH. We demonstrate that intraphagosomal K+

SUBMITTER: MacGilvary NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6375644 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature