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Infection and Immunity, February 2002, p. 444-450, Vol. 70, No. 2
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.2.444-450.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Regulation of Staphylococcus aureus Capsular Polysaccharide Expression by agr and sarA

Thanh Luong,1 Subrata Sau,1,{dagger} Marisa Gomez,2,{ddagger} Jean C. Lee,2 and Chia Y. Lee1*

Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160,1 Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 021152

Received 5 June 2001/ Returned for modification 2 August 2001/ Accepted 31 October 2001

This study addresses the regulation of Staphylococcus aureus type 8 capsular polysaccharide (CP8) expression by the global regulators agr and sarA. We analyzed CP8 production, cap8-specific mRNA synthesis, and blaZ reporter gene activities of the transcriptional and translational fusions in strain Becker and its agr, sarA, and agr-sarA isogenic mutants during different phases of bacterial growth. In the wild-type strain, cap8 mRNA was undetectable until the mid-logarithmic phase of growth, whereas CP8 production was undetectable until 2 h later, at the onset of stationary phase. The delay most likely reflects the time needed for completing CP8 synthesis resulting from translation of cap8 mRNA. The agr mutation caused drastic reductions in CP8 production and cap8 gene transcription, suggesting that agr is a major positive regulator of CP8 expression. The results of gene fusion studies indicated that regulation by agr is exerted at the transcriptional level. In contrast, the sarA mutation caused only a slight reduction in cap8 mRNA synthesis and reporter gene activities. By comparing CP8 production and cap8 transcription, we observed that sarA affected CP8 production both trancriptionally and posttranslationally. We showed that agr was a major activator for cap gene expression not only in type 8 strain Becker but also in strains representing the four agr groups.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology, Room 3025, WHW, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160. Phone: (913) 588-7156. Fax: (913) 588-7295. E-mail: clee{at}kumc.edu.

Editor: R. N. Moore

{dagger} Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Bose Institute, Calcutta, India.

{ddagger} Present address: School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Infection and Immunity, February 2002, p. 444-450, Vol. 70, No. 2
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.2.444-450.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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