Abstract
During evolution, both human and plant pathogens have evolved to utilize a diverse range of carbon sources. N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), an amino sugar, is one of the major carbon sources utilized by several human and phytopathogens. GlcNAc regulates the expression of many virulence genes of pathogens. In fact, GlcNAc catabolism is also involved in the regulation of virulence and pathogenesis of various human pathogens, including Candida albicans, Vibrio cholerae, Leishmania donovani, Mycobacterium, and phytopathogens such as Magnaporthe oryzae. Moreover, GlcNAc is also a well-known structural component of many bacterial and fungal pathogen cell walls, suggesting its possible role in cell signaling. Over the last few decades, many studies have been performed to study GlcNAc sensing, signaling, and metabolism to better understand the GlcNAc roles in pathogenesis in order to identify new drug targets. In this review, we provide recent insights into GlcNAc-mediated cell signaling and pathogenesis. Further, we describe how the GlcNAc metabolic pathway can be targeted to reduce the pathogens’ virulence in order to control the disease prevalence and crop productivity.
Highlights
Published: 5 February 2022Pathogens have developed numerous strategies for successful host colonization, which depends upon their ability to cope with a poor nutritional environment for the pathogens and stressful conditions inside the host
After the establishment of the fact that the GlcNAc catabolic pathway is essential for the virulence and pathogenesis of C. albicans, this pathway was explored in other human pathogens
The emerging role of the GlcNAc catabolic pathway in different human and plant pathogens establishes the importance of this pathway in pathogenic diseases
Summary
Pathogens have developed numerous strategies for successful host colonization, which depends upon their ability to cope with a poor nutritional environment for the pathogens and stressful conditions inside the host. One of the adaptative strategies that evolved in pathogens is their capability to utilize a diverse range of carbon sources for their survival under hostile environments [1]. Under these circumstances, the parasites living inside the PV depend heavily on the amino sugars present inside the PV. The utilization of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) as a carbon source under hostile conditions is an important adaptive mechanism found in many human pathogens [4,5,6,7]. GlcNAc is an important component during chitin metabolism, cell wall remodeling, and host colonization by fungal pathogens. The prospects of GlcNAc and its metabolic pathway genes as tools for drug discovery and plant immunity have been discussed
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