Transposon Mutagenesis Identifies Novel Genes Associated with Staphylococcus aureus Persister Formation.

ABSTRACT: Pathogenic bacterial persisters are responsible for the recalcitrance of chronic and persistent infections to antimicrobial therapy. Although the mechanisms of persister formation and survival have been widely studied in Escherichia coli, persistence mechanisms in Staphylococcus aureus remain largely unknown. Here, we screened a transposon mutant library of a clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA)strain, USA500 (ST8), under antibiotic pressure and identified 13 genes whose insertion mutations resulted in a defect in persistence. These candidate genes were further confirmed by evaluating the survival of the mutants upon exposure to levofloxacin and several other stress conditions. We found 13 insertion mutants with significantly lower persister numbers under several stre

SUBMITTER: Wang W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4689057 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature