Instability of ackA (Acetate Kinase) Mutations and Their Effects on Acetyl Phosphate and ATP Amounts in Streptococcus pneumoniae D39

Acetyl phosphate (AcP) is a small-molecule metabolite that can act as a phosphoryl group donor for response regulators of two-component systems (TCSs). The serious human respiratory pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) synthesizes AcP by the conventional pathway involving phosphotransacetylase and acetate kinase, encoded by pta and ackA, respectively. In addition, pneumococcus synthesizes copious amounts of AcP and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) by pyruvate oxidase, which is encoded by spxB. To assess possible roles of AcP in pneumococcal TCS regulation and metabolism, we constructed strains with combinations of spxB, pta, and ackA mutations and determined their effects on ATP, AcP, and H2O2 production. Unexpectedly, Delta ackA mutants were unstable and readily accumulated primary suppressor mutations in spxB or its positive regulator, spxR, thereby reducing H2O2 and AcP levels, and secondary capsule mutations in cps2E or cps2C. Delta ackA Delta spxB mutants contained half the cellular amount of ATP as a Delta spxB or spxB(+) strain. Acetate addition and anaerobic growth experiments suggested decreased ATP, rather than increased AcP, as a reason that Delta ackA mutants accumulated spxB or spxR suppressors, although experimental manipulation of the AcP amount was limited. This finding and other considerations suggest that coping with endogenously produced H2O2 may require energy. Starting with a Delta spxB mutant, we constructed Delta pta, Delta ackA, and Delta pta Delta ackA mutants. Epistasis and microarray experiment results were consistent with a role for the SpxB-Pta-AckA pathway in expression of the regulons controlled by the WalRK(Spn), CiaRH(Spn), and LiaSR(Spn) TCSs involved in sensing cell wall status. However, AcP likely does not play a physiological role in TCS sensing in S. pneumoniae.