Oxidative Stress Responses in Bacterial Systems

Bacteria encounter reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated both endogenously and by external threats such as host immune cells or disinfectants. Key ROS include superoxide (O₂⁻), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and hydroxyl radicals, which can oxidise proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and metal cofactors. To survive, bacteria deploy multilayered defence strategies encompassing enzymatic scavengers, damage repair, metabolic adjustments and community‐level adaptations. Central to these responses are redox‐sensitive transcription factors—most notably OxyR and PerR—which detect oxidant levels and activate regulons encoding catalases, peroxidases, superoxide dismutases and DNA repair enzymes. Concurrently, bacteria remodel central metabolism to rebalance redox cofactors, regulate iron homeostasis to limit Fenton chemistry, and, in some species, shift towards biofilm formation or phenotypic heterogeneity for collective protection. Emerging evidence highlights the role of cell‐cell interactions in shielding subpopulations, and of transcription‐elongation factors in fine‐tuning metabolic gene expression. Understanding these conserved and species‐specific adaptations has broad implications for infection control, industrial bioprocessing and the development of novel antimicrobials.

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Oxidative Stress Responses in Bacterial Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in oxidative stress responses in bacterial systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Reactive oxygen species (ROS): molecules such as superoxide and hydrogen peroxide that can damage cellular components.

OxyR: a redox‐sensing transcriptional regulator that detects hydrogen peroxide and orchestrates expression of defence genes.

Fe‐S cluster: iron–sulfur cofactors in enzymes vulnerable to oxidative damage and central to bacterial metabolism.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD): enzyme that converts superoxide radicals into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, mitigating oxidative stress.

Transcriptional regulon: a group of genes co‐regulated by a common transcription factor in response to a stimulus.

References

1. The master regulator OxyR orchestrates bacterial oxidative stress response genes in space and time. Cell Systems (2024).
2. Phenotypic heterogeneity in the bacterial oxidative stress response is driven by cell-cell interactions. Cell Reports (2023).
3. Gre factors help Salmonella adapt to oxidative stress by improving transcription elongation and fidelity of metabolic genes. PLOS Biology (2023).