Department of Chemistry, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA.
Nevada Center for Bioinformatics, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA.
Microbiology (Reading). 2022 Oct;168(10). doi: 10.1099/mic.0.001256.
is a recently identified member of the Mitis group of streptococci. This species has been associated with infective endocarditis; however its mechanisms of pathogenesis and virulence are not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the influence of the competence-stimulating peptide (CSP) and the competence regulon quorum-sensing circuitry (ComABCDE) on subsequent gene transcription and expression, as well as resultant phenotypes. In this study we confirmed the native CSP identity, ascertained when endogenous CSP was produced and completed a transcriptome-wide analysis of all genes following CSP exposure. RNA sequencing analysis revealed the upregulation of genes known to be associated with competence, biofilm formation and virulence. As such, a variety of phenotypic assays were utilized to assess the correlation between increased mRNA expression and potential phenotype response, ultimately gaining insight into the effects of CSP on both gene expression and developed phenotypes. The results indicated that the addition of exogenous CSP aided in competence development and successful transformation, yielding an average transformation efficiency comparable to that of other Mitis group streptococci. Additional studies are needed to further delineate the effects of CSP exposure on biofilm formation and virulence. Overall, this study provides novel information regarding and provides a substantial foundation on which this species and its role in disease pathogenesis can be further investigated.
是米蒂斯链球菌群中最近发现的一个成员。该物种与感染性心内膜炎有关；然而，其发病机制和毒力机制尚未完全了解。本研究旨在研究刺激肽 (CSP) 和竞争调节子群体感应电路 (ComABCDE) 对随后的基因转录和表达以及由此产生的表型的影响。在这项研究中，我们证实了内源性 CSP 产生时的天然 CSP 身份，并完成了 CSP 暴露后所有基因的全转录组分析。RNA 测序分析显示与竞争、生物膜形成和毒力相关的基因上调。因此，利用各种表型测定来评估增加的 mRNA 表达与潜在表型反应之间的相关性，最终深入了解 CSP 对基因表达和表型发展的影响。结果表明，添加外源性 CSP 有助于竞争能力的发展和成功转化，产生的平均转化效率可与其他米蒂斯链球菌相当。需要进一步的研究来进一步阐明 CSP 暴露对生物膜形成和毒力的影响。总的来说，这项研究提供了关于的新信息，并为进一步研究该物种及其在疾病发病机制中的作用提供了重要基础。
