Insights into a pyruvate sensing and uptake system in Vibrio campbellii and its importance for virulence
Göing, S.; Gasperotti, A.F.; Yang, Q.; Defoirdt, T.; Jung, K. (2021). Insights into a pyruvate sensing and uptake system in Vibrio campbellii and its importance for virulence. J. Bacteriol. 203(20): e00296-21. https://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JB.00296-21
In: Journal of Bacteriology. American Society of Microbiology: Washington DC. ISSN 0021-9193; e-ISSN 1098-5530, more
Pyruvate is a key metabolite in living cells and has been shown to play a crucial role in the virulence of several bacterial pathogens. The bioluminescent Vibrio campbellii, a severe infectious burden for marine aquaculture, excretes extraordinarily large amounts of pyruvate during growth and rapidly retrieves it by an as-yet-unknown mechanism. We have now identified the responsible pyruvate transporter, here named BtsU, and our results show that it is the only pyruvate transporter in V. campbellii. Expression of btsU is tightly regulated by the membrane-integrated LytS-type histidine kinase BtsS, a sensor for extracellular pyruvate, and the LytTR-type response regulator BtsR. Cells lacking either the pyruvate transporter or sensing system show no chemotactic response toward pyruvate, indicating that intracellular pyruvate is required to activate the chemotaxis system. Moreover, pyruvate sensing and uptake were found to be important for the resuscitation of V. campbellii from the viable but nonculturable state and the bacterium’s virulence against brine shrimp larvae.
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