Proteases are critical virulence determinants of Porphyromonas gingivalis, an emerging Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and arthritis pathogen and established agent of periodontitis. Transposon sequencing has been employed to define the core essential genome of this bacterium and genes conditionally essential in multiple environments – abscess formation; epithelial colonization; and cigarette smoke toxin exposure; as well as to elucidate genes required for iron acquisition and a functional type 9 secretion system. Validated and predicted protein catabolism genes identified include a combination of established virulence factors and a larger set of seemingly more mundane proteolytic genes. The functions and relevance of genes that share essentiality in multiple disease-relevant conditions are examined. These common stress-related genes may represent particularly attractive therapeutic targets for the control of P. gingivalis infections.

蛋白酶是牙龈卟啉单胞菌的关键毒力决定因素，一种新出现的阿尔茨海默病、癌症和关节炎病原体和牙周炎的既定病原体。转座子测序已被用于定义这种细菌的核心必需基因组和在多种环境中条件必需的基因——脓肿形成；上皮定植；和香烟烟雾毒素暴露；以及阐明铁获取和功能性 9 型分泌系统所需的基因。经验证和预测的蛋白质分解代谢基因包括已确定的毒力因子和更大的一组看似更普通的蛋白水解基因的组合。检查了在多种疾病相关条件下共享必要性的基因的功能和相关性。这些常见的压力相关基因可能代表了特别有吸引力的治疗靶点，用于控制牙龈卟啉单胞菌感染。