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Infection and Immunity, March 2002, p. 1635-1639, Vol. 70, No. 3
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.3.1635-1639.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Virulence of Streptococcus pneumoniae: PsaA Mutants Are Hypersensitive to Oxidative Stress

Centre for Metals in Biology and Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Molecular and Microbial Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072,¹ Department of Molecular Biosciences, Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia²

Received 17 September 2001/ Returned for modification 1 November 2001/ Accepted 27 November 2001

psaA encodes a 37-kDa pneumococcal lipoprotein which is part of an ABC Mn(II) transport complex. Streptococcus pneumoniae D39 psaA mutants have previously been shown to be significantly less virulent than wild-type D39, but the mechanism underlying the attenuation has not been resolved. In this study, we have shown that psaA and psaD mutants are highly sensitive to oxidative stress, i.e., to superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, which might explain why they are less virulent than the wild-type strain. Our investigations revealed altered expression of the key oxidative-stress response enzymes superoxide dismutase and NADH oxidase in psaA and psaD mutants, suggesting that PsaA and PsaD may play important roles in the regulation of expression of oxidative-stress response enzymes and intracellular redox homeostasis.

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