Experimental evolution of Staphylococcus aureus in macrophages: dissection of a conditional adaptive trait promoting intracellular survival.

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen associated with important diseases in humans and animals. Macrophages are a key component of the innate immune response to S. aureus infection and play a major role in disease outcomes. To investigate the adaptive evolution of S. aureus in response to macrophages, we developed an experimental infection assay. S. aureus strains representing major human epidemic clones were passaged many times in a macrophage cell line, accumulating mutations in an array of genomic loci. Phenotypic analysis revealed the emergence of a lineage exhibiting increased survival in macrophages and human blood, and resistance to vancomycin. The evolved lineage exhibited a previously undescribed small colony variant (SCV) phenotype characterized by

SUBMITTER: Alves J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11237485 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature