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Infection and Immunity, September 2007, p. 4562-4571, Vol. 75, No. 9
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00392-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

^B and the ^B-Dependent arlRS and yabJ-spoVG Loci Affect Capsule Formation in Staphylococcus aureus

Stefan Meier,¹ Christiane Goerke,² Christiane Wolz,² Kati Seidl,¹ Dagmar Homerova,³ Bettina Schulthess,¹ Jan Kormanec,³ Brigitte Berger-Bächi,¹ and Markus Bischoff^1,4*

Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland,¹ Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany,² Institute of Molecular Biology, Center of Excellence for Molecular Medicine, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic,³ Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany⁴

Received 15 March 2007/ Returned for modification 25 May 2007/ Accepted 3 July 2007

The alternative transcription factor ^B of Staphylococcus aureus affects the transcription of the cap gene cluster, required for the synthesis of capsular polysaccharide (CP), although this operon is lacking an apparent ^B-dependent promoter. Regulation of cap expression and CP production in S. aureus strain Newman was shown here to be influenced by ^B, the two-component signal transduction regulatory system ArlRS, and the yabJ-spoVG locus to different extents. Inactivation of arlR or deletion of the sigB operon strongly suppressed capA (CP synthesis enzyme A) transcription. Deletion of spoVG had a polar effect on yabJ-spoVG transcription and resulted in a two- to threefold decrease in capA transcription. Interestingly, immunofluorescence showed that CP production was strongly impaired in all three mutants, signaling that the yabJ-spoVG inactivation, despite its only partial effect on capA transcription, abolished capsule formation. trans-Complementation of the spoVG mutant with yabJ-spoVG under the control of its native promoter restored CP-5 production and capA expression to levels seen in the wild type. Northern analyses revealed a strong impact of ^B on arlRS and yabJ-spoVG transcription. We hypothesize that ArlR and products of the yabJ-spoVG locus may serve as effectors that modulate ^B control over ^B-dependent genes lacking an apparent ^B promoter.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zürich, Gloriastr. 32, 8006 Zürich, Switzerland. Phone: 41 44 634 26 70. Fax: 41 44 634 49 06. E-mail: Bischoff{at}immv.uzh.ch

Published ahead of print on 16 July 2007.

Editor: V. J. DiRita

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Infection and Immunity, September 2007, p. 4562-4571, Vol. 75, No. 9
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00392-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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