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Significance Fusobacterium nucleatum is an abundant member of the oral microbiome that can spread throughout the body and colonize secondary sites, including cancer tissues, where it promotes tumor progression. Understanding… Click to show full abstract
Significance Fusobacterium nucleatum is an abundant member of the oral microbiome that can spread throughout the body and colonize secondary sites, including cancer tissues, where it promotes tumor progression. Understanding how F. nucleatum adapts to these various environments might open new therapeutic opportunities, but we currently lack basic molecular knowledge of gene regulation in this phylogenetically distinct bacterium. We developed much-needed genetic tools for use in F. nucleatum and with their aid uncovered a stress response mediated by the transcriptional activator σE and an associated small RNA. Our findings in an early-branching bacterium reveal surprising parallels to and differences from the σE response in well-characterized model bacteria, and provide a framework that will accelerate research into the understudied phylum Fusobacteriota.
Journal Title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Year Published: 2022
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