TY - JOUR
T1 - Microarray-based identification of htrA, a Streptococcus pneumoniae gene that is regulated by the CiaRH two-component system and contributes to nasopharyngeal colonization
AU - Sebert, M. E.
AU - Palmer, L. M.
AU - Rosenberg, M.
AU - Weiser, J. N.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Nasopharyngeal carriage is the reservoir from which most disease with Streptococcus pneumoniae arises. Survival as a commensal in this environment is likely to require a set of adaptations distinct from those needed to cause disease, some of which may be mediated by two-component signal transduction systems (TCSTS). We examined the contributions of nine pneumococcal TCSTS to the process of nasopharyngeal colonization by using an infant rat model. Whereas deletions in all but one of these systems have been associated previously with a high degree of attenuation in a murine model of pneumonia, only the CiaRH system was necessary for efficient carriage. Transcriptional analysis by using microarray hybridization identified a locus consisting of two adjacent genes, htrA and spoJ, that was specifically and strongly downregulated in a ΔciaRH-null mutant. A S. pneumoniae strain lacking the htrA gene encoding a putative serine protease, but not one lacking spoJ, showed decreased fitness in a competitive model of colonization, a finding consistent with this gene mediating a portion of the carriage deficit observed with the ΔciaRH strain.
AB - Nasopharyngeal carriage is the reservoir from which most disease with Streptococcus pneumoniae arises. Survival as a commensal in this environment is likely to require a set of adaptations distinct from those needed to cause disease, some of which may be mediated by two-component signal transduction systems (TCSTS). We examined the contributions of nine pneumococcal TCSTS to the process of nasopharyngeal colonization by using an infant rat model. Whereas deletions in all but one of these systems have been associated previously with a high degree of attenuation in a murine model of pneumonia, only the CiaRH system was necessary for efficient carriage. Transcriptional analysis by using microarray hybridization identified a locus consisting of two adjacent genes, htrA and spoJ, that was specifically and strongly downregulated in a ΔciaRH-null mutant. A S. pneumoniae strain lacking the htrA gene encoding a putative serine protease, but not one lacking spoJ, showed decreased fitness in a competitive model of colonization, a finding consistent with this gene mediating a portion of the carriage deficit observed with the ΔciaRH strain.
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U2 - 10.1128/IAI.70.8.4059-4067.2002
DO - 10.1128/IAI.70.8.4059-4067.2002
M3 - Article
C2 - 12117912
AN - SCOPUS:0036074050
SN - 0019-9567
VL - 70
SP - 4059
EP - 4067
JO - Infection and immunity
JF - Infection and immunity
IS - 8
ER -