Silkworm Apolipophorin Protein Inhibits Hemolysin Gene Expression of Staphylococcus aureus via Binding to Cell Surface Lipoteichoic Acids

We previously reported that a silkworm hemolymph protein, apolipophorin (ApoLp), binds to the cell surface of Staphylococcus aureus and inhibits expression of the saePQRS operon encoding a two-component system, SaeRS, and hemolysin genes. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory mechanism of ApoLp on S. aureus hemolysin gene expression. ApoLp bound to lipoteichoic acids (LTA), an S. aureus cell surface component. The addition of purified LTA to liquid medium abolished the inhibitory effect of ApoLp against S. aureus hemolysin production. In an S. aureus knockdown mutant of ltaS encoding LTA synthetase, the inhibitory effects of ApoLp on saeQ expression and hemolysin production were attenuated. Furthermore, the addition of anti-LTA monoclonal antibody to liquid medium decreased the expression of S. aureus saeQ and hemolysin genes. In S. aureus strains expressing SaeS mutant proteins with a shortened extracellular domain, ApoLp did not decrease saeQ expression. These findings suggest that ApoLp binds to LTA on the S. aureus cell surface and inhibits S. aureus hemolysin gene expression via a two-component regulatory system, SaeRS.     

金黄色葡萄球菌基因调节系统研究进展

金黄色葡萄球菌是人类的一种重要病原菌,可以引起许多临床表现不同的感染性疾病。它所致感染的多样性和严重度取决于不同毒力因子的协同表达,而这些数量众多的毒力因子的表达会受到不同调节系统的控制,同时这些调节系统之间也存在着复杂的相互作用关系。这些基因调节系统主要有两大类：一类是双组分信号转导系统（如Agr、SaeRS、SrrAB、ArlSR、LytRS、WalKR）;另一类是转录因子f如Sar、Rot、MgrA、SigmaB）。它们的协同作用有助于金黄色葡萄球菌对外界环境信号做出反应,调节致病过程中毒力因子在不同情况下的表达。     

The GacA global regulator is required for the appropriate expression of Erwinia chrysanthemi 3937 pathogenicity genes during plant infection

Pathogenicity of the phytopathogenic enterobacterium Erwinia chrysanthemi , the causal agent of soft rot disease on many plants, is a complex process involving several factors whose production is regulated by a complex, intertwined regulatory network. In this work we characterized the GacA regulator, member of the GacS–GacA two-component system, as a global regulator which is required for disease expression but not for bacterial multiplication in planta during the first stages of the plant infection. GacA was shown to control the expression of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes and hrp genes in vitro . Analysis of virulence gene expression during infection of Arabidopsis thaliana revealed a coordinated expression of these virulence genes at 12 h post infection and showed that GacA is required for the appropriate production of virulence factors in planta . GacA might partly act by negatively controlling the expression of the pecT gene encoding the global repressor PecT, indicating a hierarchy in the pathways involved in the E. chrysanthemi regulatory network.