The Novel Streptococcal Transcriptional Regulator XtgS Negatively Regulates Bacterial Virulence and Directly Represses PseP Transcription
Guangjin Liu, Tingting Gao, Xiaojun Zhong, Jiale Ma, Yumin Zhang, Shiyu Zhang, Zongfu Wu, Zihao Pan, Yinchu Zhu, Huochun Yao, Yongjie Liu, Chengping Lu
Abstract
Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus [GBS]) has received continuous attention for its involvement in invasive infections and its broad host range. Transcriptional regulators have an important impact on bacterial adaptation to various environments. Research on transcriptional regulators will shed new light on GBS pathogenesis. In this study, we identified a novel XRE-family transcriptional regulator encoded on the GBS genome, designated XtgS. Our data demonstrate that XtgS inactivation significantly increases bacterial survival in host blood and animal challenge test, suggesting that it is a negative regulator of GBS pathogenicity.