Mobile-Genetic-Element-Encoded Hypertolerance to Copper Protects Staphylococcus aureus from Killing by Host Phagocytes.

ABSTRACT: Pathogens are exposed to toxic levels of copper during infection, and copper tolerance may be a general virulence mechanism used by bacteria to resist host defenses. In support of this, inactivation of copper exporter genes has been found to reduce the virulence of bacterial pathogens in vivo Here we investigate the role of copper hypertolerance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We show that a copper hypertolerance operon (copB-mco), carried on a mobile genetic element (MGE), is prevalent in a collection of invasive S. aureus strains and more widely among clonal complex 22, 30, and 398 strains. The copB and mco genes encode a copper efflux pump and a multicopper oxidase, respectively. Isogenic mutants lacking copB or

SUBMITTER: Zapotoczna M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6191537 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature