Inorganic Polyphosphate Accumulation in Escherichia coli Is Regulated by DksA but Not by (p)ppGpp.

ABSTRACT: Production of inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) by bacteria is triggered by a variety of different stress conditions. polyP is required for stress survival and virulence in diverse pathogenic microbes. Previous studies have hypothesized a model for regulation of polyP synthesis in which production of the stringent-response second messenger (p)ppGpp directly stimulates polyP accumulation. In this work, I have now shown that this model is incorrect, and (p)ppGpp is not required for polyP synthesis in Escherichia coli However, stringent mutations of RNA polymerase that frequently arise spontaneously in strains defective in (p)ppGpp synthesis and null mutations of the stringent-response-associated transcription factor DksA both strongly inhibit polyP accumulation. The loss of polyP synthesis in

SUBMITTER: Gray MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6456864 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature