Identification of novel genetic factors that regulate c-di-AMP production in Staphylococcus aureus using a riboswitch-based biosensor
Author(s)
Kviatkovski, Igor
Zhong, Qiyun
Vaidya, Sanika
Grundling, Angelika
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Nucleotide secondary messengers regulate various processes in bacteria allowing them to rapidly respond to changes in environmental conditions. c-di-AMP is an essential second messenger required for the growth of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, regulating potassium, osmolyte uptake, and beta-lactam resistance. Cellular concentrations of c-di-AMP are regulated by the activities of two enzymes, DacA and GdpP, which synthesize and hydrolyze c-di-AMP, respectively. Besides these, only a limited number of other factors are known to regulate c-di-AMP levels. Using a c-di-AMP biosensor consisting of the Bacillus subtilis c-di-AMP-binding kimA riboswitch and yfp, we were able to efficiently detect differences in cellular c-di-AMP levels in S. aureus. To identify novel factors that regulate c-di-AMP levels, we introduced the biosensor into a library of S. aureus transposon mutants. In this manner, we obtained mutants with increased c-di-AMP levels that contained insertions in gdpP coding for the c-di-AMP hydrolase and ybbR (cdaR) coding for a c-di-AMP cyclase regulator, thus validating our screen. We also identified two high c-di-AMP mutants with insertions upstream of the nrdIEF operon coding for the ribonucleotide reductase enzyme. Further analysis revealed that the insertion down-regulated nrdIEF expression, indicating that the enzyme is a negative regulator of c-di-AMP production. This negative regulation was dependent on rsh, encoding for the synthase of the endogenous GdpP inhibitor (p)ppGpp. The methods established in this work can be readily adapted for use in other bacteria to uncover genetic or environmental factors regulating c-di-AMP levels.
Date Issued
2024-10
Date Acceptance
2024-08-25
Citation
mSphere, 2024, 9 (10)
ISSN
2379-5042
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Journal / Book Title
mSphere
Volume
9
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
© 2024 Kviatkovski et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
License URL
Identifier
https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msphere.00321-24
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e00321-24
Date Publish Online
2024-09-17