Streptococcus pyogenes CovRS mediates growth in iron starvation and in the presence of the human cationic antimicrobial peptide LL-37.

We found that the global regulatory two-component signal transduction system CovRS mediates the ability of group A streptococcus (GAS) to grow under two stresses encountered during infection: iron starvation and the presence of LL-37. We also showed that CovRS regulates transcription of the multimetal transporter operon that is important for GAS growth in a low concentration of iron.