Agr function in clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates.

ABSTRACT: The accessory gene regulator (agr) of Staphylococcus aureus is a global regulator of the staphylococcal virulon, which includes secreted virulence factors and surface proteins. The agr locus is important for virulence in a variety of animal models of infection, and has been assumed by inference to have a major role in human infection. Although most human clinical S. aureus isolates are agr(+), there have been several reports of agr-defective mutants isolated from infected patients. Since it is well known that the agr locus is genetically labile in vitro, we have addressed the question of whether the reported agr-defective mutants were involved in the infection or could have arisen during post-isolation handling. We obtained a series of new staphylococcal isolates from local clinical infect

SUBMITTER: Traber KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4904715 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature