Stress-induced iron-sulfur cluster damage as a conserved trigger of the bacterial stringent response - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #bacterial stringent response
- #pathogenic bacteria
- #iron-sulfur clusters
- Stress-induced iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster damage triggers the bacterial stringent response in Gram-negative pathogens like Salmonella, Enterobacter, and Klebsiella.
- Fe-S cluster disruption, caused by oxidative stress or metal imbalance, limits sulfur-containing and branched-chain amino acids, activating the (p)ppGpp synthetase RelA.
- (p)ppGpp plays a dual role during Fe-S cluster stress: enhancing bacterial fitness and promoting virulence by upregulating the Salmonella SPI-2 type III secretion system.
- Fe-S cluster integrity acts as a central hub for environmental sensing during infection, linking host-associated stresses to adaptive transcriptional responses.