Previous Article | Next Article 
Infection and Immunity, November 2001, p. 7074-7082, Vol. 69, No. 11
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.11.7074-7082.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
agr Expression Precedes Escape of Internalized
Staphylococcus aureus from the Host
Endosome
Saara N. A.
Qazi,1,2
Emilie
Counil,3
Julie
Morrissey,2
Catherine E. D.
Rees,1
Alan
Cockayne,2
Klaus
Winzer,2
Weng C.
Chan,4
Paul
Williams,2,4 and
Philip J.
Hill1,2,*
School of Biosciences, University of
Nottingham, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12
5RD,1 Institute of Infections and
Immunity, Queens Medical Centre, University of Nottingham,
Nottingham NG7 2UH,2 and School
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7
2RD,4 United Kingdom, and Institut
National Agronomique, Paris-Grignon,
France3
Received 11 April 2001/Returned for modification 1 June
2001/Accepted 23 July 2001
Staphylococcus aureus is a versatile pathogen
capable of causing life-threatening infections. Many of its cell wall
and exoproduct virulence determinants are controlled via the accessory
gene regulator (agr). Although considered primarily as
an extracellular pathogen, it is now recognized that S.
aureus can be internalized by epithelial and endothelial cells.
Traditional experimental approaches to investigate bacterial
internalization are extremely time-consuming and notoriously
irreproducible. We present here a new reporter gene method to assess
intracellular growth of S. aureus in MAC-T cells that
utilizes a gfp-luxABCDE reporter operon
under the control of the Bacillus megaterium
xylA promoter, which in S. aureus is expressed in a growth-dependent manner. This facilitates
assessment of the growth of internalized bacteria in a nondestructive
assay. The dual gfp-lux reporter cassette was
also evaluated as a reporter of agr expression and used
to monitor the temporal induction of agr during the
MAC-T internalization process. The data obtained suggest that
agr induction occurs prior to endosomal lysis and that
agr-regulated exoproteins appear to be required prior to the release and replication of S. aureus within the
infected MAC-T cells.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: University
of Nottingham, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus,
Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, United Kingdom. Phone:
44-115-951-6169. Fax: 44-115-951-6162. E-mail:
phil.hill{at}nottingham.ac.uk.
Infection and Immunity, November 2001, p. 7074-7082, Vol. 69, No. 11
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.11.7074-7082.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Atkinson, S., Williams, P.
(2009). Quorum sensing and social networking in the microbial world. J R Soc Interface
6: 959-978
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Sandberg, A., Hessler, J. H. R., Skov, R. L., Blom, J., Frimodt-Moller, N.
(2009). Intracellular Activity of Antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus in a Mouse Peritonitis Model. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.
53: 1874-1883
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Martinez-Pulgarin, S., Dominguez-Bernal, G., Orden, J. A., de la Fuente, R.
(2009). Simultaneous lack of catalase and beta-toxin in Staphylococcus aureus leads to increased intracellular survival in macrophages and epithelial cells and to attenuated virulence in murine and ovine models. Microbiology
155: 1505-1515
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Sastalla, I., Chim, K., Cheung, G. Y. C., Pomerantsev, A. P., Leppla, S. H.
(2009). Codon-Optimized Fluorescent Proteins Designed for Expression in Low-GC Gram-Positive Bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
75: 2099-2110
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Nakayama, J., Uemura, Y., Nishiguchi, K., Yoshimura, N., Igarashi, Y., Sonomoto, K.
(2009). Ambuic Acid Inhibits the Biosynthesis of Cyclic Peptide Quormones in Gram-Positive Bacteria. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.
53: 580-586
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Fang, F., Flynn, S., Li, Y., Claesson, M. J., van Pijkeren, J.-P., Collins, J. K., van Sinderen, D., O'Toole, P. W.
(2008). Characterization of Endogenous Plasmids from Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
74: 3216-3228
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Ferguson, C. C., Camp, A. H., Losick, R.
(2007). gerT, a Newly Discovered Germination Gene under the Control of the Sporulation Transcription Factor {sigma}K in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol.
189: 7681-7689
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Riedel, C. U., Casey, P. G., Mulcahy, H., O'Gara, F., Gahan, C. G. M., Hill, C.
(2007). Construction of p16Slux, a Novel Vector for Improved Bioluminescent Labeling of Gram-Negative Bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
73: 7092-7095
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Williams, P., Winzer, K., Chan, W. C, Camara, M.
(2007). Look who's talking: communication and quorum sensing in the bacterial world. Phil Trans R Soc B
362: 1119-1134
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Riedel, C. U., Monk, I. R., Casey, P. G., Morrissey, D., O'Sullivan, G. C., Tangney, M., Hill, C., Gahan, C. G. M.
(2007). Improved Luciferase Tagging System for Listeria monocytogenes Allows Real-Time Monitoring In Vivo and In Vitro. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
73: 3091-3094
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Zheng, L., Yu, C., Bayles, K., Lasa, I., Ji, Y.
(2007). Conditional Mutation of an Essential Putative Glycoprotease Eliminates Autolysis in Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol.
189: 2734-2742
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Sprague, G. F. Jr., Winans, S. C.
(2006). Eukaryotes learn how to count: quorum sensing by yeast.. Genes Dev.
20: 1045-1049
[Full Text]
-
Bron, P. A., Monk, I. R., Corr, S. C., Hill, C., Gahan, C. G. M.
(2006). Novel Luciferase Reporter System for In Vitro and Organ-Specific Monitoring of Differential Gene Expression in Listeria monocytogenes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
72: 2876-2884
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Doherty, N., Holden, M. T. G., Qazi, S. N., Williams, P., Winzer, K.
(2006). Functional Analysis of luxS in Staphylococcus aureus Reveals a Role in Metabolism but Not Quorum Sensing.. J. Bacteriol.
188: 2885-2897
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Qazi, S., Middleton, B., Muharram, S. H., Cockayne, A., Hill, P., O'Shea, P., Chhabra, S. R., Camara, M., Williams, P.
(2006). N-Acylhomoserine Lactones Antagonize Virulence Gene Expression and Quorum Sensing in Staphylococcus aureus. Infect. Immun.
74: 910-919
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Fournier, B., Philpott, D. J.
(2005). Recognition of Staphylococcus aureus by the Innate Immune System. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
18: 521-540
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Wiles, S., Ferguson, K., Stefanidou, M., Young, D. B., Robertson, B. D.
(2005). Alternative Luciferase for Monitoring Bacterial Cells under Adverse Conditions. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
71: 3427-3432
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Harraghy, N., Kormanec, J., Wolz, C., Homerova, D., Goerke, C., Ohlsen, K., Qazi, S., Hill, P., Herrmann, M.
(2005). sae is essential for expression of the staphylococcal adhesins Eap and Emp. Microbiology
151: 1789-1800
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Gonzalez-Zorn, B., Senna, J. P. M., Fiette, L., Shorte, S., Testard, A., Chignard, M., Courvalin, P., Grillot-Courvalin, C.
(2005). Bacterial and Host Factors Implicated in Nasal Carriage of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Mice. Infect. Immun.
73: 1847-1851
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Needham, A. J., Kibart, M., Crossley, H., Ingham, P. W., Foster, S. J.
(2004). Drosophila melanogaster as a model host for Staphylococcus aureus infection. Microbiology
150: 2347-2355
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Pragman, A. A., Yarwood, J. M., Tripp, T. J., Schlievert, P. M.
(2004). Characterization of Virulence Factor Regulation by SrrAB, a Two-Component System in Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol.
186: 2430-2438
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Perego, M., Hoch, J. A., Barrett, J. F.
(2004). Functional Genomics of Gram-Positive Microorganisms. J. Bacteriol.
186: 903-909
[Full Text]
-
Qazi, S. N. A., Harrison, S. E., Self, T., Williams, P., Hill, P. J.
(2004). Real-Time Monitoring of Intracellular Staphylococcus aureus Replication. J. Bacteriol.
186: 1065-1077
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Hautefort, I., Proenca, M. J., Hinton, J. C. D.
(2003). Single-Copy Green Fluorescent Protein Gene Fusions Allow Accurate Measurement of Salmonella Gene Expression In Vitro and during Infection of Mammalian Cells. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
69: 7480-7491
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Rothfork, J. M., Dessus-Babus, S., Van Wamel, W. J. B., Cheung, A. L., Gresham, H. D.
(2003). Fibrinogen Depletion Attenuates Staphyloccocus aureus Infection by Preventing Density-Dependent Virulence Gene Up-Regulation. J. Immunol.
171: 5389-5395
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Garvis, S., Mei, J.-M., Ruiz-Albert, J., Holden, D. W.
(2002). Staphylococcus aureus svrA: a gene required for virulence and expression of the agr locus. Microbiology
148: 3235-3243
[Abstract]
[Full Text]