RNase R, a New Virulence Determinant of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

ABSTRACT: Pneumococcal infections have increasingly high mortality rates despite the availability of vaccines and antibiotics. Therefore, the identification of new virulence determinants and the understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind pathogenesis have become of paramount importance in the search of new targets for drug development. The exoribonuclease RNase R has been involved in virulence in a growing number of pathogens. In this work, we used Galleria mellonella as an infection model to demonstrate that the presence of RNase R increases the pneumococcus virulence. Larvae infected with the RNase R mutant show an increased expression level of antimicrobial peptides. Furthermore, they have a lower bacterial load in the hemolymph in the later stages of infection, leading to a higher survival

SUBMITTER: Barria C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8875335 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature