Fluorescent Protein Sensors Illuminate Cellular pH Changes in Enterobacter cloacae: Unravelling the Mechanisms of TolC-Dependent Acid Survival

Clicks: 1
ID: 317170
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #203 of 206 articles by views in FEMS microbiology letters

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 206 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract TolC is the outer membrane component of the tripartite RND efflux pump AcrAB-TolC. The underlying mechanism of TolC-dependent acid survival at physiological pH remains unclear. The present study aimed at understanding mechanism of TolC mediated acid survival in logarithmic phase culture of Enterobacter cloacae subsp. cloacae ATCC 13047 not preconditioned to acidic pH. Of the three distinct loci encoding tolC and tolC like proteins, only ECL_04363 (hereafter referred to as EctolC2) exhibited 86% identity with TolC protein from E. coli K12; deletion of which compromised survival at pH4.0. Tracking the periplasmic and cytoplasmic pH changes with fluorescent protein sensors indicated deletion of EctolC2 resulted in sustained cytoplasmic acidification and loss of pH homeostasis causing cell death. Exogenous supplementation of lysine significantly rescued acid induced lethality in EcΔtolC2 mutants. ΔmarRAB mutants exhibited slower death rate compared to Δrob mutants; underpinning role of the latter in upregulating EctolC2 at early time point of growth at pH4.0. Results of the study construe that EctolC2 provides reinforcement to the outer membrane preventing extreme acidification of the periplasm and thereby restoring cytoplasmic pH homeostasis. This study provides significant insight into mechanism of TolC dependent acid survival in E. cloacae.
Reference Key
openalex_W7164594177 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Sanchari Chowdhury, Harapriya Mohapatra
Journal FEMS microbiology letters
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/femsle/fnag070
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/femsle/fnag070
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.