Lipoteichoic acid deficiency permits normal growth but impairs virulence of Streptococcus pneumoniae.
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Authors
Heß, NathalieWaldow, Franziska
Kohler, Thomas P
Rohde, Manfred
Kreikemeyer, Bernd
Gómez-Mejia, Alejandro
Hain, Torsten
Schwudke, Dominik
Vollmer, Waldemar
Hammerschmidt, Sven
Gisch, Nicolas
Issue Date
2017-12-12
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Teichoic acid (TA), a crucial cell wall constituent of the pathobiont Streptococcus pneumoniae, is bound to peptidoglycan (wall teichoic acid, WTA) or to membrane glycolipids (lipoteichoic acid, LTA). Both TA polymers share a common precursor synthesis pathway, but differ in the final transfer of the TA chain to either peptidoglycan or a glycolipid. Here, we show that LTA exhibits a different linkage conformation compared to WTA, and identify TacL (previously known as RafX) as a putative lipoteichoic acid ligase required for LTA assembly. Pneumococcal mutants deficient in TacL lack LTA and show attenuated virulence in mouse models of acute pneumonia and systemic infections, although they grow normally in culture. Hence, LTA is important for S. pneumoniae to establish systemic infections, and TacL represents a potential target for antimicrobial drug development.Affiliation
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH, Inhoffenstr. 7, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany.PubMed ID
29233962Type
ArticleISSN
2041-1723ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/s41467-017-01720-z
Scopus Count
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