Golden pigment production and virulence gene expression are affected by metabolisms in Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT: The pathogenesis of staphylococcal infections is multifactorial. Golden pigment is an eponymous feature of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus that shields the microbe from oxidation-based clearance, an innate host immune response to infection. Here, we screened a collection of S. aureus transposon mutants for pigment production variants. A total of 15 previously unidentified genes were discovered. Notably, disrupting metabolic pathways such as the tricarboxylic acid cycle, purine biosynthesis, and oxidative phosphorylation yields mutants with enhanced pigmentation. The dramatic effect on pigment production seems to correlate with altered expression of virulence determinants. Microarray analysis further indicates that purine biosynthesis impacts the expression of approximately 400 gen

SUBMITTER: Lan L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2901709 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature