The virulence regulator Sae of Staphylococcus aureus: promoter activities and response to phagocytosis-related signals.

ABSTRACT: The two-component system SaeRS of Staphylococcus aureus is closely involved in the regulation of major virulence factors. However, little is known about the signals leading to saeRS activation. A total of four overlapping transcripts (T1 to T4) from three different transcription starting points are expressed in the sae operon. We used a beta-galactosidase reporter assay to characterize the putative promoter regions within the saeRS upstream region. The main transcript T2 is probably generated by endoribonucleolytic processing of the T1 transcript. Only two distinct promoter elements (P1 and P3) could be detected within the saeRS upstream region. The P3 promoter, upstream of saeRS, generates the T3 transcript, includes a cis-acting enhancer element and is repressed by saeRS. The most distal

SUBMITTER: Geiger T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2395011 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature