title: Transcriptional repressor Rex is involved in regulation of oxidative stress response and biofilm formation by Streptococcus mutans.
abstract: The transcriptional repressor Rex has been implicated in the regulation of energy metabolism and fermentative growth in response to redox potential. Streptococcus mutans, the primary causative agent of human dental caries, possesses a gene that encodes a protein with high similarity to members of the Rex family of proteins. In this study, we showed that Rex-deficiency compromised the ability of S. mutans to cope with oxidative stress and to form biofilms. The Rex-deficient mutant also accumulated less biofilm after 3 days than the wild-type strain, especially when grown in sucrose-containing medium, but produced more extracellular glucans than the parental strain. Rex-deficiency caused substantial alterations in gene transcription, including those involved in heterofermentative metabolism, NAD(+) regeneration and oxidative stress. Among the upregulated genes was gtfC, which encodes glucosyltransferase C, an enzyme primarily responsible for synthesis of water-insoluble glucans. These results reveal that Rex plays an important role in oxidative stress responses and biofilm formation by S. mutans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Craniofacial Biology, School of Dentistry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, USA.
authors.forename: Jacob P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bitoun
authors.forename: Anne H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Yuwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Burne
authors.forename: Zezhang T
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D018441:Biofilms; D005936:Glucans / Q000378:metabolism; D005964:Glucosyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009154:Mutation; D009243:NAD / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018085:Regulon; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C454866:BrpA protein, Streptococcus mutans; D005936:Glucans; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D009243:NAD; D005964:Glucosyltransferases