Escherichia coli BarA-UvrY regulates the pks island and kills Staphylococci via the genotoxin colibactin during interspecies competition.

ABSTRACT: Wound infections are often polymicrobial in nature, biofilm associated and therefore tolerant to antibiotic therapy, and associated with delayed healing. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus are among the most frequently cultured pathogens from wound infections. However, little is known about the frequency or consequence of E. coli and S. aureus polymicrobial interactions during wound infections. Here we show that E. coli kills Staphylococci, including S. aureus, both in vitro and in a mouse excisional wound model via the genotoxin, colibactin. Colibactin biosynthesis is encoded by the pks locus, which we identified in nearly 30% of human E. coli wound infection isolates. While it is not clear how colibactin is released from E. coli or how it penetrates target cells, we found that th

SUBMITTER: Wong JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9481169 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature