The Staphylococcus aureus KdpDE Two-Component System Couples Extracellular K+ Sensing and Agr Signaling to Infection Programming
The Staphylococcus aureus KdpDE Two-Component System Couples Extracellular K+ Sensing and Agr Signaling to Infection Programming
复制标题
金黄色葡萄球菌 KdpDE 双组分系统将细胞外 K 感应和 Agr 信号传导与感染编程结合起来
DOI:
10.1128/iai.01180-10
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发表时间:
2011-06-01
影响因子:
3.1
通讯作者:
Sun, Baolin
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Xue, Ting;You, Yibo;Sun, Baolin
ABSTRACT The Kdp system is widely distributed among bacteria. In Escherichia coli, the Kdp-ATPase is a high-affinity K+ uptake system and its expression is activated by the KdpDE two-component system in response to K+ limitation or salt stress. However, information about the role of this system in many bacteria still remains obscure. Here we demonstrate that KdpFABC in Staphylococcus aureus is not a major K+ transporter and that the main function of KdpDE is not associated with K+ transport but that instead it regulates transcription for a series of virulence factors through sensing external K+ concentrations, indicating that this bacterium might modulate its infectious status through sensing specific external K+ stimuli in different environments. Our results further reveal that S. aureus KdpDE is upregulated by the Agr/RNAIII system, which suggests that KdpDE may be an important virulence regulator coordinating the external K+ sensing and Agr signaling during pathogenesis in this bacterium.