Genetic analysis of Staphylococcus aureus RNA polymerase mutants.

Spontaneous mutants of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to rifampin, rifamycin SV, streptovaricin, or streptolydigin were isolated and shown to be resistant due to chromosomal rather than plasmid mutations. Based on data concerning spontaneous mutation rates, genetic cotransduction rates, and in vitro sensitivity studies, four major antibiotic cross-resistance patterns were found. The genetic markers responsible for these cross-resistance patterns were shown to be separable by transduction. Nonpurified RNA polymerase activity in lysates of mutants showed the same sensitivity to these antibiotics as shown by the mutants on solid media. A model is proposed explaining possible structure-function relationships involved in the binding of these antibiotics to the RNA polymerase molecule and the mutations resulting in resistance to these antibiotics. This model includes generally overlapping but different-sized binding sites on the RNA polymerase protein coded for by similarly arranged mutable sites on the DNA.     

Isolation and characterization of lysozyme-sensitive mutants of Staphylococcus aureus.

Four lysozyme-sensitive mutants were isolated after nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis of a lysozyme-insensitive strain of Staphylococcus aureus. One mutant was sufficiently effective for the isolation of macromolecules, such as plasmid deoxyribonucleic acids, from a cell after lysozyme-induced cell lysis.     

Enterotoxin B formation by fermentation mutants of Staphylococcus aureus.

An appreciable fraction of carbohydrate-negative (car) mutants of Staphylococcus aureus strains ATCC 14458, 778, and S-6 exhibit increased enterotoxin B (SEB) production. In addition, some lac and mtl mutants of these strains also display enhanced SEB formation. All such mutants appear to be point mutations. Mutagen-induced reversions of high SEB producing car, mtl, or lac mutants yield varying amounts of SEB and some clones seem to be restored to the characteristics of the parent type. A few sequentially isolated lac, mtl double mutants of strain 778 elaborate much more or much less SEB than either the lac or the mtl single mutants.     

Nitrate reductase activity in heme-deficient mutants of Staphylococcus aureus.

Mutants H-14 and H-18 of Staphylococcus aureus require hemin for growth on glycerol and other nonfermentable substrates. H-14 also responds to delta-aminolevulinate. Heme-deficient cells grown in the presence of nitrate do not have lactate-nitrate reductase activity but gain this activity when incubated with hemin in buffer and glucose. Lactate-nitrate reductase activity is also restored to the membrane fraction from such cells by incubation with hemin and dithiothreitol; addition of adenosine 5'-triphosphate has no effect upon the restoration. Cells grown with nitrate in the absence of hemin have two to five times more reduced benzyl viologen-nitrate reductase activity than do those grown with hemin. The activity increases throughout the growth period in the absence of hemin, but with hemin present enzyme formation ceases before the end of growth. There was no evidence of enzyme destruction. The distribution of nitrate reductase activity between membrane and cytoplasm was similar in cells grown with and without hemin; 70 to 90% was in the cytoplasm. It is concluded that heme-deficient staphylococci form apo-cytochrome b, which readily combines in vitro with its prosthetic group to restore normal function. The avaliability of the heme prosthetic group influences the formation of nitrate reductase.     

Staphylococcus aureus mutants with increased lysostaphin resistance

Staphylococcus simulans secretes lysostaphin, a bacteriolytic enzyme that specifically binds to the cell wall envelope of Staphylococcus aureus and cleaves the pentaglycine cross bridges of peptidoglycan, thereby killing staphylococci. The study of S. aureus mutants with resistance to lysostaphin-mediated killing has revealed biosynthetic pathways for cell wall assembly. To identify additional genes involved in cell wall envelope biosynthesis, we have screened a collection of S. aureus strain Newman transposon mutants for lysostaphin resistance. Bursa aurealis insertion in SAV2335, encoding a polytopic membrane protein with predicted protease domain, caused a high degree of lysostaphin resistance, similar to the case for a previously described femAB promoter mutant. In contrast to the case for this femAB mutant, transposon insertion in SAV2335, herein named lyrA (lysostaphin resistance A), did not cause gross alterations of cell wall cross bridges such as truncations of pentaglycine to tri- or monoglycine. Also, inactivation of LyrA in a methicillin-resistant S. aureus strain did not precipitate a decrease in beta-lactam resistance as observed for fem (factor essential for methicillin resistance) mutants. Lysostaphin bound to the cell wall envelopes of lyrA mutants in a manner similar to that for wild-type staphylococci. Lysostaphin resistance of lyrA mutants is attributable to altered cell wall envelope properties and may in part be due to increased abundance of altered cross bridges. Other lyr mutants with intermediate lysostaphin resistance carried bursa aurealis insertions in genes specifying GTP pyrophosphokinase or enzymes of the purine biosynthetic pathway.     

Genetic recombination between alpha-toxin mutants of Staphylococcus aureus

McClatchy, J. K. (The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas), and E. D. Rosenblum. Genetic recombination between alpha-toxin mutants of Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol. 92:580-583. 1966.-A demonstration of genetic recombination between Staphylococcus aureus nonhemolytic mutants was attempted by means of transduction. The results of two-point reciprocal transductions placed the mutants into two genetic groups. Recombination within each group was not detectable within the limits of the method, but hemolytic recombinants were obtained in transductional crosses when donor and recipient were from different groups. At least two genetic loci are therefore involved in alpha-toxin production. The 11 mutants of group II were fibrinolysin-negative. The recombinants were always found to be restored to fibrinolysin production as well as to alpha-toxin production. These data suggest the existence of a pleiotropic gene simultaneously affecting the synthesis of both alpha toxin and fibrinolysin. The nine mutants of group I were fibrinolysin-positive. Group I members are postulated to be alpha-toxin structural mutants. Three mutants were also negative for bound coagulase, but no linkage was observed between the locus controlling bound coagulase and the loci for either fibrinolysin or alpha-toxin production.     

Nitrate reductase system in Staphylococcus aureus wild type and mutants.

Respiratory nitrate reductase with lactate as a hydrogen donor has been studied in cells and spheroplast preparations of wild type and heme-deficienct mutants of Staphylococcus aureus. The activity is rapidly induced when suspensions of aerobically grown cells are incubated without aeration in a complete medium with nitrate. In ruptured spheroplast preparations, the activity with lactate as the donor is located in the membrane fraction, whereas at least 50% of the activity assayed with reduced benzyl viologen is in the cytoplasm. The reductase is inhibited by azide and cyanide, and the lactate-linked system is also sensitive to oxamate, 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide, dicoumarol, and p-chloromercuribenzoate. An inactive form of the reductase is apparently made during induction with tungstate; this can be activated by subsequent incubation with molybdate in the presence of chloramphenicol. Nitrate reductase activity with reduced benzyl viologen as the donor is induced in suspensions of heme-deficient mutants in the presence or absence of heme. The proportion of cytoplasmic activity is increased in the absence of heme. The staphylococcal nitrate reductase has many of the characteristics commonly associated with the respiratory enzyme in other organisms, but the apparent predominance of cytoplasmic activity is unusual.     

Inactivated pbp4 in highly glycopeptide-resistant laboratory mutants of Staphylococcus aureus.

Both vancomycin- and teicoplanin-resistant laboratory mutants of Staphylococcus aureus produce peptidoglycans of altered composition in which the proportion of highly cross-linked muropeptide species is drastically reduced with a parallel increase in the representation of muropeptide monomers and dimers (Sieradzki, K., and Tomasz, A. (1997) J. Bacteriol. 179, 2557-2566; and Sieradzki, K. , and Tomasz, A. (1998) Microb. Drug Resist. 4, 159-168). We now report that the distorted peptidoglycan composition is related to defects in penicillin-binding protein 4 (PBP4); no PBP4 was detectable by the fluorographic assay in membrane preparations from the mutants, and comparison of the sequence of pbp4 amplified from the mutants indicated disruption of the gene by two types of abnormalities, a 17-amino acid long duplication starting at position 305 of the pbp4 gene was detected in the vancomycin-resistant mutant, and a stop codon was found to be introduced into the pbp4 KTG motif at position 261 in the mutant selected for teicoplanin resistance. Additional common patterns of disturbances in the peptidoglycan metabolism of the mutants are indicated by the increased sensitivity of mutant cell walls to the M1 muramidase and decreased sensitivity to lysostaphin, which is a reversal of the susceptibility pattern of the parental cell walls. Furthermore, the results of high performance liquid chromatography analysis of lysostaphin digests of peptidoglycan suggest an increase in the average chain length of the glycan strands in the peptidoglycan of the glycopeptide-resistant mutants. The increased molar proportion of muropeptide monomers in the cell wall of the glycopeptide-resistant mutants should provide binding sites for the "capture" of vancomycin and teicoplanin molecules, which may be part of the mechanism of glycopeptide resistance in S. aureus.     

Isolation and characterization of two protease-producing mutants from Staphylococcus aureus

Two mutants with increased protease production were isolated after nitrosoguanidine treatment of Staphylococcus aureus 8325N. The wild type produces low amounts of extracellular proteolytic activity. The enzyme was inducible and could only be detected if casein or preferably skim milk powder was used as inducer. The optimal pH, salt concentration, and media for enzyme production were determined. The mutants differed from the wild type in several phenotypic characters. The pattern of extracellular deoxyribonuclease and alkaline phosphatase differed between the mutants and the wild type. Several carbohydrates such as lactose, galactose, and mannitol were not utilized by the mutants, probably owing to a block in the uptake. Glucose could, however, be utilized by the mutants. Reversion frequency to wild type with regard to carbohydrate utilization was spontaneously high, and all revertants regained the parental pattern irrespective of the carbohydrate used for selection. The results suggest that a single locus may control the excretion of extracellular enzymes and carbohydrate uptake in S. aureus.     

DNA-mediated transformation in mutants of phage group 2 Staphylococcus aureus

A large pool of antibiotic resistant and auxotrophic mutants was isolated from the Staphylococcus aureus phage group 2 strains UT0002-19 and UT0017 by (1) antibiotic gradient plates, (2) trimethoprim selection, and (3) nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis, which sometimes was coupled by enrichment with either penicillin or methicillin. Strain UT0002-19 has a chromosomal determinant for exfoliative toxin (ET), which causes "scalded skin syndrome" in man. A few mutants were isolated from the phage group 1 strain UT0080, which also produces ET. Two transformation regimens, called the broth and plate methods, were devised for the phage group 2 strains. They employed 80 alpha as helper phage, and recipient cells were incubated with transforming DNA in the presence of Ca2+. Strain UT0080 was transformed using phage 55 as helper. Maximum competence of the phage group 2 strains occurred during early logarithmic growth in trypticase soy broth, but cells grown overnight on heart infusion agar were also competent. Transformation frequencies of all markers ranged from 10(-6) to 10(-8). For phage 80 alpha, a multiplicity of infection of 4 was optimal in transforming a mutant of strain UT0002-19. Transformation of gly, lin, met, ole, rif, and ser markers in S. aureus is reported for the first time. Ery and ole markers in all three strains exhibited cross-resistance. Mapping studies, similar to those performed by DNA-mediated transformation in the phage group 3 strain 8325, can now be commenced for phage group 2 strains of S. aureus in order to elucidate the molecular genetics of this medically important bacterium.     

Peptidoglycan composition in heterogeneous Tn551 mutants of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain.

It was shown that Tn551 inactivation of two chromosomal (so-called auxiliary) loci other than the mec gene result in a dramatic reduction of methicillin resistance and decreased cell wall turnover and autolytic capacity in a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain (de Jonge, B. L. M., de Lencastre, H., and Tomasz, A. (1990) J. Bacteriol. 173, 1105-1110). To understand the mechanistic basis of these phenomena we have examined the status of the autolytic enzymes and the muropeptide composition of peptidoglycan using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectral analyses. While no differences could be detected in the number of autolytic hydrolases, the mutants showed major changes in peptidoglycan composition. Nine prominent muropeptides of the parental strain each carrying a pentaglycyl substituent were missing from the cell wall of one group of mutants. The second mutant lacked four parental muropeptides which were composed of the unsubstituted disaccharide pentapeptide and its alanyl-tetraglycine derivative. The auxiliary genes are genetic determinants involved with the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan precursors, the presence of which in the cell wall may be needed for optimal cell wall turnover.     

Conditional mutants of Staphylococcus aureus defective in cell wall precursor synthesis

Temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of Staphylococcus aureus with defective cell wall biosynthesis have been differentiated from other ts mutants by their ability to grow at the restrictive temperature (43 C) in the presence of 1 m NaCl. Under all conditions they possess normal colonial and cellular morphology at the level of resolution of the light microscope and are, therefore, not protoplasts. However, differences between mutant and wild-type cells can be seen by scanning electron microscopy. Many of the mutants contained concentrations of nucleotide precursors of peptidoglycan synthesis in excess of those present in wild-type cells, at both 30 and 43 C. The types of peptidoglycan precursors accumulated by six of the mutants have been determined, and specific enzymatic defects in three of these have been identified.     

Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus mutants expressing reduced susceptibility to common house-cleaners

AIMS: To characterize mutants of Staphylococcus aureus expressing reduced susceptibility to house cleaners (HC), assess the impact of the alternative sigma factor SigB on HC susceptibility, and determine the MIC of clinical methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) to a HC. METHODS AND RESULTS: Susceptibility to HC, HC components, H2O2, vancomycin and oxacillin and physiological parameters were determined for HC-reduced susceptibility (HCRS) mutants, parent strain COL and COLsigB::kan. HCRS mutants selected with three HC expressed reduced susceptibility to multiple HC, HC components, H2O2 and vancomycin. Two unique HCRS mutants also lost the methicillin resistance determinant. In addition, all HCRS mutants exhibited better growth at two temperatures, and one HCRS mutant expressed reduced carotenoid production. COLsigB::kan demonstrated increased susceptibility to all HC and many HC components. sigB operon mutations were not detected in one HCRS mutant background. Of 76 clinical MRSA, 20 exhibited reduced susceptibility to a HC. CONCLUSIONS: HCRS mutants demonstrate altered susceptibility to multiple antimicrobials. While sigB is required for full HC resistance, one HCRS mechanism does not involve sigB operon mutations. Clinical MRSA expressing reduced susceptibility to a common HC were detected. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study suggests that HCRS mutants are not protected against, nor selected by, practical HC concentrations.     

Replication mutants of Staphylococcus aureus macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B resistance plasmid pT48

Copy-number mutants of Staphylococcus aureus macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLS) resistance plasmid pT48 were isolated by their resistance to the non-inducing macrolide, tylosin. One mutant plasmid, pcopD3, showed a three- to five-fold cis-dominant increase in copy number, and nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the mutant had a single base change within the replication region. All other pT48 mutants examined had the unusual phenotype of increased plasmid multimerization and elevated copy number. These mutants were effective in trans and DNA sequencing showed that plasmids with this phenotype were deleted in one of two ways. The deletions caused similar alterations to the C-terminus of the wild-type pT48 Rep protein. The two types of mutant Rep proteins terminate with the same pentapeptide sequence: Ala-Asn-Glu-Ile-Asp. The multimerization phenotype of these mutants can be explained by defective termination of rolling-circle type replication.