scholarly journals Interaction of the GraRS Two-Component System with the VraFG ABC Transporter To Support Vancomycin-Intermediate Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

2007 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 2679-2689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Meehl ◽  
Silvia Herbert ◽  
Friedrich Götz ◽  
Ambrose Cheung

ABSTRACTCurrent treatment for serious infections caused by methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureusrelies heavily upon the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin. Unfortunately, this practice has led to an intermediate resistance phenotype that is particularly difficult to treat in invasive staphylococcal diseases, such as septicemia and its metastatic complications, including endocarditis. Although the vancomycin-intermediate resistance phenotype has been linked to abnormal cell wall structures and autolytic rates, the corresponding genetic changes have not been fully elucidated. Previously, whole-genome array studies listed numerous genes that are overexpressed in vancomycin-intermediate sensitive strains, includinggraRS(SACOL0716 to -0717), encoding a two-component regulatory system (TCRS), as well as the adjacentvraFG(SACOL0718 to -0720), encoding an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter; but the exact contribution of these genes to increased vancomycin resistance has not been defined. In this study, we showed that isogenic strains with mutations in genes encoding the GraRS TCRS and the VraFG ABC transporter are hypersensitive to vancomycin as well as polymyxin B. Moreover, GraRS regulates the expression of the adjacent VraFG pump, reminiscent of gram-positive bacteriocin-immunity regulons. Mutations ofgraRSandvraFGalso led to increased autolytic rates and a more negative net surface charge, which may explain, in part, to their increased sensitivity to cationic antimicrobial peptides. Taken together, these data reveal an important genetic mediator to the vancomycin-intermediateS. aureusphenotype and may hold clues to the selective pressures on staphylococci upon exposure to selective cationic peptide antibiotics used in clinical practice.

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui-min Neoh ◽  
Longzhu Cui ◽  
Harumi Yuzawa ◽  
Fumihiko Takeuchi ◽  
Miki Matsuo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Multistep genetic alteration is required for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to achieve the level of vancomycin resistance of vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA). In the progression of vancomycin resistance, strains with heterogeneous vancomycin resistance, designated hetero-VISA, are observed. In studying the whole-genome sequencing of the representative hetero-VISA strain Mu3 and comparing it with that of closely related MRSA strains Mu50 (VISA) and N315 (vancomycin-susceptible S. aureus [VSSA]), we identified a mutation in the response regulator of the graSR two-component regulatory system. Introduction of mutated graR, designated graR*, but not intact graR, designated graRn, could convert the hetero-VISA phenotype of Mu3 into a VISA phenotype which was comparable to that of Mu50. The same procedure did not appreciably increase the vancomycin resistance of VSSA strain N315, indicating that graR* expression was effective only in the physiological milieu of hetero-VISA cell to achieve a VISA phenotype. Interestingly, the overexpression of graR* increased the daptomycin MICs in both Mu3 and N315 and decreased the oxacillin MIC in N315.


1996 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 1645-1648 ◽  
Author(s):  
M H Lai ◽  
D R Kirsch

The induction of vancomycin resistance in enterococci containing the vanA gene cluster is thought to be controlled by a two-component sensor-response regulator system encoded by vanR and vanS. Eight inducing compounds were identified by screening a panel of more than 6,800 antibiotics and synthetic compounds including the three tested glycopeptides (vancomycin, avoparcin, and ristocetin), two other cell wall biosynthesis inhibitors (moenomycin and bacitracin), two cyclic peptide antibiotics (antibiotic AO341 beta and polymyxin B), and a macrocyclic lactone antibiotic (moxidectin). Induction activity by structurally unrelated antibiotics suggests that the induction signal is not a structural feature of vancomycin.


2015 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 1199-1209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kivanc Bilecen ◽  
Jiunn C. N. Fong ◽  
Andrew Cheng ◽  
Christopher J. Jones ◽  
David Zamorano-Sánchez ◽  
...  

Two-component systems play important roles in the physiology of many bacterial pathogens.Vibrio cholerae's CarRS two-component regulatory system negatively regulates expression ofvps(Vibriopolysaccharide) genes and biofilm formation. In this study, we report that CarR confers polymyxin B resistance by positively regulating expression of thealmEFGgenes, whose products are required for glycine and diglycine modification of lipid A. We determined that CarR directly binds to the regulatory region of thealmEFGoperon. Similarly to acarRmutant, strains lackingalmE,almF, andalmGexhibited enhanced polymyxin B sensitivity. We also observed that strains lackingalmEor thealmEFGoperon have enhanced biofilm formation. Our results reveal that CarR regulates biofilm formation and antimicrobial peptide resistance inV. cholerae.


2012 ◽  
Vol 442 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne Appia-Ayme ◽  
Andrea Hall ◽  
Elaine Patrick ◽  
Shiny Rajadurai ◽  
Thomas A. Clarke ◽  
...  

The bacterial envelope is the interface with the surrounding environment and is consequently subjected to a barrage of noxious agents including a range of compounds with antimicrobial activity. The ESR (envelope stress response) pathways of enteric bacteria are critical for maintenance of the envelope against these antimicrobial agents. In the present study, we demonstrate that the periplasmic protein ZraP contributes to envelope homoeostasis and assign both chaperone and regulatory function to ZraP from Salmonella Typhimurium. The ZraP chaperone mechanism is catalytic and independent of ATP; the chaperone activity is dependent on the presence of zinc, which is shown to be responsible for the stabilization of an oligomeric ZraP complex. Furthermore, ZraP can act to repress the two-component regulatory system ZraSR, which itself is responsive to zinc concentrations. Through structural homology, ZraP is a member of the bacterial CpxP family of periplasmic proteins, which also consists of CpxP and Spy. We demonstrate environmental co-expression of the CpxP family and identify an important role for these proteins in Salmonella's defence against the cationic antimicrobial peptide polymyxin B.


2008 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 2469-2477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Q. Shanks ◽  
Michael A. Meehl ◽  
Kimberly M. Brothers ◽  
Raquel M. Martinez ◽  
Niles P. Donegan ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We reported previously that low concentrations of sodium citrate strongly promote biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus laboratory strains and clinical isolates. Here, we show that citrate promotes biofilm formation via stimulating both cell-to-surface and cell-to-cell interactions. Citrate-stimulated biofilm formation is independent of the ica locus, and in fact, citrate represses polysaccharide adhesin production. We show that fibronectin binding proteins FnbA and FnbB and the global regulator SarA, which positively regulates fnbA and fnbB gene expression, are required for citrate's positive effects on biofilm formation, and citrate also stimulates fnbA and fnbB gene expression. Biofilm formation is also stimulated by several other tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates in an FnbA-dependent fashion. While aconitase contributes to biofilm formation in the absence of TCA cycle intermediates, it is not required for biofilm stimulation by these compounds. Furthermore, the GraRS two-component regulator and the GraRS-regulated efflux pump VraFG, identified for their roles in intermediate vancomycin resistance, are required for citrate-stimulated cell-to-cell interactions, but the GraRS regulatory system does not impact the expression of the fnbA and fnbB genes. Our data suggest that distinct genetic factors are required for the early steps in citrate-stimulated biofilm formation. Given the role of FnbA/FnbB and SarA in virulence in vivo and the lack of a role for ica-mediated biofilm formation in S. aureus catheter models of infection, we propose that the citrate-stimulated biofilm formation pathway may represent a clinically relevant pathway for the formation of these bacterial communities on medical implants.


2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 2036-2039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Boyle-Vavra ◽  
Mamatha Challapalli ◽  
Robert S. Daum

ABSTRACT Four clinical U.S. glycopeptide intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus (GISA) isolates were resistant to Triton X-100-induced autolysis. Similar resistance was demonstrated in an isolate obtained after a single passage of a susceptible clinical isolate in low-level vancomycin. Strains with the vancomycin-induced Triton X-100 resistance phenotype produced active murein hydrolases but were resistant to lysis by murein hydrolases.


2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (8) ◽  
pp. 3875-3882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soo-Jin Yang ◽  
Yan Q. Xiong ◽  
Michael R. Yeaman ◽  
Kenneth W. Bayles ◽  
Wessam Abdelhady ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTMany host defense cationic antimicrobial peptides (HDPs) perturb the staphylococcal cell membrane (CM) and alter transmembrane potential (ΔΨ) as key parts of their lethal mechanism. Thus, a sense-response system for detecting and mediating adaptive responses to such stresses could impact organism survival; theStaphylococcus aureusLytSR two-component regulatory system (TCRS) may serve as such a ΔΨ sensor. One well-known target of this system is thelrgABoperon, which, along with the relatedcidABCoperon, has been shown to be a regulator in the control of programmed cell death and lysis. We used an isogenic set ofS. aureusstrains: (i) UAMS-1, (ii) its isogenic ΔlytSand ΔlrgABmutants, and (iii) plasmid-complemented ΔlytSRand ΔlrgABmutants. The ΔlytSstrain displayed significantly increasedin vitrosusceptibilities to all HDPs tested (neutrophil-derived human neutrophil peptide 1 [hNP-1], platelet-derived thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal proteins [tPMPs], and the tPMP-mimetic peptide RP-1), as well as to calcium-daptomycin (DAP), a cationic antimicrobial peptide (CAP). In contrast, the ΔlrgABstrain exhibited no significant changes in susceptibilities to these cationic peptides, indicating that althoughlytSRpositively regulates transcription oflrgAB, increased HDP/CAP susceptibilities in the ΔlytSmutant werelrgABindependent. Further, parental UAMS-1 (but not the ΔlytSmutant) became more resistant to hNP-1 and DAP following pretreatment with carbonyl cyanidem-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) (a CM-depolarizing agent). Of note,lytSR-dependent survival against CAP/HDP killing was not associated with changes in either surface positive charge, expression ofmprFanddlt, or CM fluidity. The ΔlytSstrain (but not the ΔlrgABmutant) displayed a significant reduction in target tissue survival in an endocarditis model during DAP treatment. Collectively, these results suggest that thelytSRTCRS plays an important role in adaptive responses ofS. aureusto CM-perturbing HDPs/CAPs, likely by functioning as a sense-response system for detecting subtle changes in ΔΨ.


2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 1425-1433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Gebhard ◽  
Chong Fang ◽  
Aishath Shaaly ◽  
David J. Leslie ◽  
Marion R. Weimar ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTResistance ofEnterococcus faecalisagainst antimicrobial peptides, both of host origin and produced by other bacteria of the gut microflora, is likely to be an important factor in the bacterium's success as an intestinal commensal. The aim of this study was to identify proteins with a role in resistance against the model antimicrobial peptide bacitracin. Proteome analysis of bacitracin-treated and untreated cells showed that bacitracin stress induced the expression of cell wall-biosynthetic proteins and caused metabolic rearrangements. Among the proteins with increased production, an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter with similarity to known peptide antibiotic resistance systems was identified and shown to mediate resistance against bacitracin. Expression of the transporter was dependent on a two-component regulatory system and a second ABC transporter, which were identified by genome analysis. Both resistance and the regulatory pathway could be functionally transferred toBacillus subtilis, proving the function and sufficiency of these components for bacitracin resistance. Our data therefore show that the two ABC transporters and the two-component system form a resistance network against antimicrobial peptides inE. faecalis, where one transporter acts as the sensor that activates the TCS to induce production of the second transporter, which mediates the actual resistance.


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