Large-Scale CRISPRi and Transcriptomics of Staphylococcus epidermidis Identify Genetic Factors Implicated in Lifestyle Versatility.

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus epidermidis is a ubiquitous human commensal skin bacterium that is also one of the most prevalent nosocomial pathogens. The genetic factors underlying this remarkable lifestyle plasticity are incompletely understood, mainly due to the difficulties of genetic manipulation, precluding high-throughput functional profiling of this species. To probe the versatility of S. epidermidis to survive across a diversity of environmental conditions, we developed a large-scale CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) screen complemented by transcriptional profiling (RNA sequencing) across 24 diverse conditions and piloted a droplet-based CRISPRi approach to enhance throughput and sensitivity. We identified putative essential genes, importantly revealing amino acid metabolism as crucial to survival ac

SUBMITTER: Spoto M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9765180 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature