Coexistence of two divergent TprA/PhrA cell-cell communication systems in Streptococcus mitis coordinate bacteriocin production, competence, oxidative stress responses, and interspecies competition with S. pneumoniae

Abstract

Cell-cell communication (CCC) systems are key regulators of bacterial behaviors and adaptation. The human upper respiratory tract is co-colonized by commensal and pathogenic streptococci, but how CCC systems mediate their interactions remains unclear. Here, we investigated the TprA/PhrA quorum-sensing system, composed of the transcription factor TprA and its cognate signaling peptide PhrA, across Streptococcus mitis and S. pneumoniae. Comparative genomics showed that this system is broadly distributed across both species, with most strains sharing identical phrA alleles that enable interspecies signaling. In both species, the tprA/phrA module is commonly linked to the streptococcin E (sce) locus, encoding a putative bacteriocin. We show that activation of the sce operon enhances the competitive fitness of S. mitis in biofilm and infection models. In S. mitis strain C22, two diverse copies of tprA/phrA are present and differentially regulated, coordinating expression of tprA/phrA and the downstream sce locus through both shared and independent pathways. Transcriptomic analyses revealed redundancy, additivity, and cross-regulation between the two systems, linking them to the control of bacteriocin production, competence, and oxidative stress responses. Distinct promoter architectures and TprA-binding motifs underlie the functional divergence of these paralogues, highlighting how regulatory diversification can expand quorum-sensing outputs. Together, our findings show that S. mitis has evolved a flexible and layered communication network that integrates population sensing with antimicrobial and competence responses, providing a molecular basis for its competitive interactions with S. pneumoniae during colonization of the human respiratory tract.