Conserved bacterial de novo guanine biosynthesis pathway enables microbial survival and colonization in the environmental niche of the urinary tract.

ABSTRACT: In bacteria, guaA encodes guanosine monophosphate synthetase that confers an ability to biosynthesize guanine nucleotides de novo. This enables bacterial colonization in different environments and, while guaA is widely distributed among Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, its contribution to the inhabitation of the human microbiome by commensal bacteria is unclear. We studied Streptococcus as a commensal urogenital tract bacterium and opportunistic pathogen, and explored the role of guaA in bacterial survival and colonization of urine. Analysis of guaA-deficient Streptococcus revealed guanine utilization is essential for bacterial colonization of this niche. The genomic location of guaA in other commensals of the human urogenital tract revealed substantial cross-phyla diversity and organizationa

SUBMITTER: Ipe DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8245529 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature