Journal
MOLECULAR CELL
Volume 32, Issue 1, Pages 150-158Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2008.08.005
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Cell-density-dependent gene regulation by quorum-sensing systems has a crucial function in bacterial physiology and pathogenesis. We demonstrate here that the Staphylococcus aureus agr quorum-sensing regulon is divided into (1) control of metabolism and PSM cytolysin genes, which occurs independently of the small regulatory RNA RNAIII, and (2) RNAIIII-dependent control of additional virulence genes. Remarkably, PSM expression was regulated by direct binding of the AgrA response regulator. Our findings suggest that quorum-sensing regulation of PSMs was established before wide-ranging control of virulence was added to the agr regulon, which likely occurred by development of the RNAIII-encoding region around the gene encoding the PSM delta-toxin. Moreover, the agr regulon in the community-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus MW2 considerably differed from that previously determined using laboratory strains. By establishing a two-level model of quorum-sensing target gene regulation in S. aureus, our study gives important insight into the evolution of virulence control in this leading human pathogen.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available