Analysis of a Cell Wall Mutant Highlights Rho-Dependent Genome Amplification Events in Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT: In a study of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus, specific cell wall mutants were previously generated for the peptidoglycan biosynthesis gene murF, by the insertion of an integrative plasmid. A collection of 30 independent mutants was obtained, and all harbored a variable number of copies of the inserted plasmid, arranged in tandem in the chromosome. Of the 30 mutants, only 3, F9, F20 and F26, with a lower number of plasmid copies, showed an altered peptidoglycan structure, lower resistance to β-lactams and a different loss-of-function mutation in rho gene, that encodes a transcription termination factor. The rho mutations were found to correlate with the level of oxacillin resistance, since genetic complementation with rho gene reestablished the re

SUBMITTER: Portela R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9603463 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature