A Metabolic Dependency for Host Isoprenoids in the Obligate Intracellular Pathogen Rickettsia parkeri Underlies a Sensitivity to the Statin Class of Host-Targeted Therapeutics.

ABSTRACT: Gram-negative bacteria in the order Rickettsiales have an obligate intracellular growth requirement, and some species cause human diseases such as typhus and spotted fever. The bacteria have evolved a dependence on essential nutrients and metabolites from the host cell as a consequence of extensive genome reduction. However, it remains largely unknown which nutrients they acquire and whether their metabolic dependency can be exploited therapeutically. Here, we describe a genetic rewiring of bacterial isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways in the Rickettsiales that has resulted from reductive genome evolution. Furthermore, we investigated whether the spotted fever group Rickettsia species Rickettsia parkeri scavenges isoprenoid precursors directly from the host. Using

SUBMITTER: Ahyong V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6854040 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature