RelQ-mediated Alarmone Signalling Regulates Growth, Stress-induced Biofilm Formation and Spore Accumulation in

Overview

Journal Microbiology (Reading)

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2024 Jul 19

PMID 39028551

Authors

Areej Malik

Adenrele Oludiran

Asia Poudel

Orlando Berumen Alvarez

Charles Woodward

Erin B Purcell

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The bacterial stringent response (SR) is a conserved transcriptional reprogramming pathway mediated by the nucleotide signalling alarmones, (pp)pGpp. The SR has been implicated in antibiotic survival in , a biofilm- and spore-forming pathogen that causes resilient, highly recurrent infections. The role of the SR in other processes and the effectors by which it regulates physiology are unknown. RelQ is a clostridial alarmone synthetase. Deletion of dysregulates growth in unstressed conditions, affects susceptibility to antibiotic and oxidative stressors and drastically reduces biofilm formation. While wild-type displays increased biofilm formation in the presence of sublethal stress, the Δ strain cannot upregulate biofilm production in response to stress. Deletion of slows spore accumulation in planktonic cultures but accelerates it in biofilms. This work establishes biofilm formation and spore accumulation as alarmone-mediated processes in and reveals the importance of RelQ in stress-induced biofilm regulation.

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