Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as group A Streptococcus or GAS, is a human-restricted pathogen causing a diverse array of infections. The ability to adapt to different niches requires GAS to adjust gene expression in response to environmental cues. We previously identified the abundance of biometals and carbohydrates led to natural induction of the Rgg2/3 cell-cell communication system (quorum sensing, QS). Here we determined the mechanism by which the Rgg2/3 QS system is stimulated exclusively by mannose and repressed by glucose, a phenomenon known as carbon catabolite repression (CCR). Instead of carbon catabolite protein A, the primary mediator of CCR in Gram-positive bacteria; CCR of Rgg2/3 requires the PTS regulatory domain (PRD)-containing transcriptional regulator Mga. Deletion of Mga led to carbohydrate-independent activation of Rgg2/3 by down-regulating rgg3, the QS repressor. Through phosphoablative and phosphomimetic substitutions within Mga PRDs, we demonstrated that selective phosphorylation of PRD1 conferred repression of the Rgg2/3 system. Moreover, given the carbohydrate specificity mediating Mga-dependent governance over Rgg2/3, we tested mannose-specific PTS components and found the EIIA/B subunit ManL was required for Mga-dependent repression. These findings provide newfound connections between PTSMan , Mga, and QS, and further demonstrate that Mga is a central regulatory nexus for integrating nutritional status and virulence.
Keywords: Mga; carbon catabolism; mannose PTS; quorum sensing.
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.