In vivo dual RNA-seq reveals that neutrophil recruitment underlies differential tissue tropism of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a genetically diverse human-adapted pathogen commonly carried asymptomatically in the nasopharynx. We have recently shown that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the raffinose pathway regulatory gene rafR accounts for a difference in the capacity of clonally-related strains to cause localised versus systemic infection. Using dual RNA-seq, we show that this SNP affects expression of bacterial genes encoding multiple sugar transporters, and fine-tunes carbohydrate metabolism, along with extensive rewiring of host transcriptional responses to infection, particularly expression of genes encoding cytokine and chemokine ligands and receptors. The data predict a crucial role for differential neutrophil recruitment (confirmed by in vivo neutrophil depletion and I

SUBMITTER: Minhas V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7275033 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature