title: PknE, a serine/threonine protein kinase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis has a role in adaptive responses.
abstract: Serine/threonine protein kinases (STPK) play a major role in the physiology and pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Here, we have examined the role of pknE, a STPK in the adaptive responses of M. tuberculosis using a deletion mutant ΔpknE. The survival of ΔpknE was assessed in the presence of stress (pH, surfactant and cell wall-damaging agents) and anti-tuberculosis drugs. ΔpknE had a defective growth in pH 7.0 and lysozyme (a cell wall-damaging agent) with better survival in pH 5.5, SDS and kanamycin (a second-line anti-tuberculosis drug). Furthermore, ΔpknE was reduced in cell size during growth in liquid media and exhibited hypervirulence in a guinea pig model of infection. In conclusion, our data suggest that pknE plays a role in adaptive response of M. tuberculosis regulating cellular integrity and survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis Indian Council of Medical Research, Chetpet, Chennai 600031, Tamilnadu, India.
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Kannan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Palaniyandi
authors.forename: Vijay K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Challu
authors.forename: Prahlad
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Sujatha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Narayanan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009113:Muramidase / Q000494:pharmacology; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017384:Sequence Deletion / Q000235:genetics; D012967:Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate / Q000494:pharmacology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D012967:Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; C477875:PknE protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D009113:Muramidase