Spontaneous Mutants of Streptococcus sanguinis with Defects in the Glucose-Phosphotransferase System Show Enhanced Post-Exponential-Phase Fitness.

ABSTRACT: Genetic truncations in a gene encoding a putative glucose-phosphotransferase system (PTS) protein (manL, EIIAB^Man) were identified in subpopulations of two separate laboratory stocks of Streptococcus sanguinis SK36; the mutants had reduced PTS activities on glucose and other monosaccharides. To understand the emergence of these mutants, we engineered deletion mutants of manL and showed that the ManL-deficient strain had improved bacterial viability in the stationary phase and was better able to inhibit the growth of the dental caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans. Transcriptional analysis and biochemical assays suggested that the manL mutant underwent reprograming of central carbon metabolism that directed pyruvate away from production of lactate, increasing

SUBMITTER: Zeng L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8544416 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature