Signalling and virulence in bacterial pathogens
Pictured: Ms Yvonne McCarthy, School of Microbiology, UCC, Dr Robert Ryan, University of Dundee and Dr Max Dow, School of Microbiology, UCC.
- 21 Aug 2013
The regulation of virulence factors by pathogenic bacteria is tightly controlled in response to environmental and cellular signals or cues. Understanding these regulatory pathways may reveal potential targets for intervention in the disease process. New insights into these pathways and processes are published today in the prestigious The EMBO Journal.
The research, which was a collaborative effort involving Max Dow and Yvonne McCarthy at UCC together with the University of Dundee, UK, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan and The Genome Analysis Centre, Norwich, UK, addressed the role of the second messenger cyclic GMP in control of bacterial virulence.
The roles of cyclic nucleotides such as cyclic AMP and cyclic di-GMP in control of a variety of bacterial processes including virulence are now well established. Almost nothing is known about the role of cyclic GMP however. The work addressed this topic in the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris, an economically important pathogen and a model organism for the study of plant-microbe interactions. The findings demonstrate for the first time a role for cyclic GMP in bacterial virulence and biofilm formation and provide structural and mechanistic insights that may inform future work on cyclic GMP signalling in many other plant and human pathogens.The research, which was funded by Science Foundation Ireland, the Wellcome Trust and the National Science Foundation, Taiwan is a collaborative effort between the groups of Melanie Febrer and Jane Rogers at The Genome Analysis Centre, UK, Shan-Ho Chou at the National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan, Max Dow at UCC and Robert Ryan at the University of Dundee. The work is published online in The EMBO journal doi:10.1038/emboj.2013.165
“A cyclic GMP-dependent signaling pathway regulates bacterial phytopathogenesis” Authors: Shi-Qi An, Melanie Febrer, Ko-Hsin Chin, Yvonne McCarthy, Jauo-Guey Yang, Chung-Liang Liu, David Swarbreck, Jane Rogers, J. Maxwell Dow, Shan-Ho Chou and Robert P. Ryan. A commentary on this work is also online in the same journal doi:10.1038/emboj.2013.193 and in Nature Reviews Microbiology 11, 596 (2013) doi:10.1038/nrmicro3103
Pictured: Ms Yvonne McCarthy, School of Microbiology, UCC, Dr Robert Ryan, University of Dundee and Dr Max Dow, School of Microbiology, UCC.
