Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-6-2019
Department
Biological Sciences
School
Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences
Abstract
In Staphylococcus aureus, the transcription factor CodY modulates the expression of hundreds of genes, including most virulence factors, in response to the availability of key nutrients like GTP and branched‐chain amino acids. Despite numerous studies examining how CodY controls gene expression directly or indirectly, virtually nothing is known about the extent to which CodY exerts its effect through small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs). Herein, we report the first set of sRNAs under the control of CodY. We reveal that staphylococcal sRNA RsaD is overexpressed >20‐fold in a CodY‐deficient strain in three S. aureus clinical isolates and in S. epidermidis. We validated the CodY‐dependent regulation of rsaD and demonstrated that CodY directly represses rsaD expression by binding the promoter. Using a combination of molecular techniques, we show that RsaD posttranscriptionally regulates alsS (acetolactate synthase) mRNA and enzyme levels. We further show that RsaD redirects carbon overflow metabolism, contributing to the stationary phase cell death during exposure to weak acid stress. Taken together, our data delineate a role for CodY in controlling sRNA expression in a major human pathogen and indicate that RsaD may integrate nutrient depletion and other signals to mount a response to physiological stress experienced by S. aureus in diverse environments.
Publication Title
Molecular Microbiology
Volume
113
Issue
2
First Page
309
Last Page
325
Recommended Citation
Augagneur, . Y.,
King, A. N.,
Germain-Amiot, N.,
Sassi, M.,
Fitzgerald, J. W.,
Sahukhal, G. S.,
Elasri, M. O.,
Felden, B.,
Brinsmade, S. R.
(2019). Analysis of the CodY Rnome Reveals RsaD as a Stress-Responsive Riboregulator of Overflow Metabolism in Staphylococcus aureus. Molecular Microbiology, 113(2), 309-325.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/16815
Comments
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Analysis of the CodY RNome reveals RsaD as a stress‐responsive riboregulator of overflow metabolism in Staphylococcus aureus. Molecular Microbiology 113, 2 p309-325 (2019)], which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.14418. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions: https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing/self-archiving.html#3.