{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,13]],"date-time":"2026-09-13T00:53:33Z","timestamp":1789260813283,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788912000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788912000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["mBio"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Streptococcus pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      is a major colonizer of the human nasopharynx, where inter- and intra-strain competition plays a critical role in shaping population structure and influencing vaccine outcomes. Bacteriocins are key mediators of intra-species competition, yet many of their functions and regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we identify and characterize streptolancidin D, a previously uncharacterized bacteriocin encoded by the\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">sldA-T<\/jats:italic>\n                      locus, and demonstrate its contribution to pneumococcal competition. Using isogenic streptolancidin-producing and non-producing variants of a naturally colonizing strain, we show that\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">sldA-T<\/jats:italic>\n                      contributes to the inhibition of competitor strains in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      biofilms and during murine co-colonization. Importantly, streptolancidin D also inhibited\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      a subset of genetically diverse pneumococcal isolates representing multiple serotypes, whereas non-producing variants showed no activity. This indicates that its effect is broad and not restricted to isogenic interactions. Genomic analysis of over 7,500 pneumococcal genomes revealed that\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">sldA-T<\/jats:italic>\n                      is present in ~12% of isolates, with lineage-associated distribution patterns, and is consistently encoded downstream of the Rgg\n                      <jats:sub>144<\/jats:sub>\n                      \/SHP\n                      <jats:sub>144<\/jats:sub>\n                      quorum sensing system. We further demonstrate that\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">sldA-T<\/jats:italic>\n                      is regulated by this system, with\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">sldA-T<\/jats:italic>\n                      promoter activity abolished in a SHP-deficient background and partially restored by exogenous peptide stimulation. Finally, we show that streptolancidin D acts in concert with other bacteriocin systems and competence-mediated fratricide, highlighting a multifactorial antimicrobial strategy that enhances pneumococcal competitiveness. Overall, our findings identify a quorum sensing-regulated bacteriocin that contributes to pneumococcal competition and helps shape population dynamics.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Bacteriocins are central to bacterial competition and niche occupation, particularly in structured environments like the human nasopharynx. While several pneumococcal bacteriocins have been characterized, the functions of many remain unknown, limiting our understanding of how these systems shape strain fitness and population dynamics. We characterize streptolancidin D, a bacteriocin that enhances intraspecies competitiveness\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                      and contributes to the inhibition of genetically diverse pneumococcal strains. We demonstrate that its expression is tightly regulated by the conserved Rgg\n                      <jats:sub>144<\/jats:sub>\n                      \/SHP\n                      <jats:sub>144<\/jats:sub>\n                      quorum sensing system and that the locus is distributed and shows synteny across multiple pneumococcal lineages. Our findings reveal that streptolancidin D operates within a broader network of bacteriocins and competence-associated mechanisms that collectively shape competitive interactions. By integrating genomic, functional, and regulatory analyses, this work expands the known repertoire of pneumococcal antimicrobial systems and provides new insights into the mechanisms underpinning competition and population structure in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">S. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      .\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.01596-26","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T13:00:48Z","timestamp":1786107648000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Rgg\n                    <sub>144<\/sub>\n                    \/SHP\n                    <sub>144<\/sub>\n                    -controlled streptolancidin D mediates intra-species competition in\n                    <i>Streptococcus pneumoniae<\/i>\n                    with cumulative effect from other bacteriocins and fratricide"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1864-6080","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Carina","family":"Valente","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02xankh89","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology of Human Pathogens, Instituto de Tecnologia Qu\u00edmica e Biol\u00f3gica Ant\u00f3nio Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa","place":["Oeiras, Portugal"]},{"name":"Polytechnic University of Castelo Branco","place":["Castelo Branco, Portugal"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sofia","family":"Dias","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02xankh89","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology of Human Pathogens, Instituto de Tecnologia Qu\u00edmica e Biol\u00f3gica Ant\u00f3nio Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa","place":["Oeiras, Portugal"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ozcan","family":"Gazioglu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04h699437","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Division of Microbiology and Infection, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of Leicester","place":["Leicester, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ana R.","family":"Cruz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02xankh89","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology of Human Pathogens, Instituto de Tecnologia Qu\u00edmica e Biol\u00f3gica Ant\u00f3nio Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa","place":["Oeiras, Portugal"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4292-4802","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Adriano O.","family":"Henriques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/038792a28","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Laboratory of Microbial Development, Instituto de Tecnologia Qu\u00edmica e Biol\u00f3gica Ant\u00f3nio Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa","place":["Oeiras, Portugal"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hasan","family":"Yesilkaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04h699437","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Division of Microbiology and Infection, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of Leicester","place":["Leicester, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6572-1368","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"N. 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