Abstract
Neal Hammer works in the field of bacterial pathogenesis, metabolism, and antibiotic resistance. In this mSphere of Influence article, he reflects on how "Gut inflammation provides a respiratory electron acceptor for Salmonella" by Winter and colleagues (S. E. Winter, P. Thiennimitr, M. G. Winter, B. P. Butler, et al., Nature 467:426-429, 2010, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09415) made an impact on him by demonstrating that Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium metabolism is uniquely suited to exploit the chemical by-products that result from the host's inflammatory response.
Highlights
The mechanisms of a particular diagnostic phenotype are known, but an explanation for it in the context of pathogenesis is not as obtained. Such was the case with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium and its ability to utilize tetrathionate as an alternative terminal electron acceptor for anaerobic respiration
“Gut inflammation provides a respiratory electron acceptor for Salmonella” demonstrated that tetrathionate was present in the host, though it had to be coaxed into existence via induction of the host’s oxidative inflammatory response [1]
@NealHammer1 reflects on 'Gut inflammation provides a respiratory electron acceptor for Salmonella' and how pathogens are uniquely suited to exploit the chemical by-products that result from the host's inflammatory response Published 26 February 2020 msphere.asm.org 1
Summary
Such was the case with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium and its ability to utilize tetrathionate as an alternative terminal electron acceptor for anaerobic respiration. S. Typhimurium utilization of tetrathionate as an alternative terminal acceptor has been exploited to enrich this pathogen from samples containing mixed populations of microbes since 1923—nearly a century ago. Typhimurium utilizes such an unusual terminal electron acceptor for anaerobic respiration was not known.
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