Evaluating the Contribution of the Predicted Toxin-Antitoxin System HigBA to Persistence, Biofilm Formation, and Virulence in Burkholderia pseudomallei.

ABSTRACT: Melioidosis is an underreported human disease caused by the Gram-negative intracellular pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bpm). Both the treatment and the clearance of the pathogen are challenging, with high relapse rates leading to latent infections. This has been linked to the bacterial persistence phenomenon, a growth arrest strategy that allows bacteria to survive under stressful conditions, as in the case of antibiotic treatment, within a susceptible clonal population. At a molecular level, this phenomenon has been associated with the presence of toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems. We annotated the Bpm K96243 genome and selected 11 pairs of genes encoding for these TA systems, and their expression was evaluated under different conditions (supralethal antibiotic conditions; i

SUBMITTER: Chapartegui-Gonzalez I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9302164 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature