This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ji, G.
Right arrow Articles by Novick, R. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ji, G.
Right arrow Articles by Novick, R. P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, May 2005, p. 3139-3150, Vol. 187, No. 9
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.9.3139-3150.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Staphylococcus intermedius Produces a Functional agr Autoinducing Peptide Containing a Cyclic Lactone

Guangyong Ji,1* Wuhong Pei,1 Linsheng Zhang,1,{dagger} Rongde Qiu,1 Jianqun Lin,1 Yvonne Benito,2 Gerard Lina,2 and Richard P. Novick3*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd., Bethesda, Maryland 20814,1 Centre National de Référence des Staphylocoques, INSERM E0230, IFR62 Laennec, 7 rue Guillaume Paradin, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France,2 Molecular Pathogenesis Program, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University Medical Center, 540 First Ave., New York, New York 100163

Received 31 July 2004/ Accepted 19 January 2005

The agr system is a global regulator of accessory functions in staphylococci, including genes encoding exoproteins involved in virulence. The agr locus contains a two-component signal transduction module that is activated by an autoinducing peptide (AIP) encoded within the agr locus and is conserved throughout the genus. The AIP has an unusual partially cyclic structure that is essential for function and that, in all but one case, involves an internal thiolactone bond between a conserved cysteine and the C-terminal carboxyl group. The exceptional case is a strain of Staphylococcus intermedius that has a serine in place of the conserved cysteine. We demonstrate here that the S. intermedius AIP is processed by the S. intermedius AgrB protein to generate a cyclic lactone, that it is an autoinducer as well as a cross-inhibitor, and that all of five other S. intermedius strains examined also produce serine-containing AIPs.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address for R. P. Novick: Departments of Microbiology and Medicine, Molecular Pathogenesis Program, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University Medical Center, 540 First Ave., New York, NY 10016. Phone: (212) 263-6290. Fax: (212) 263-5711. E-mail: novick{at}saturn.med.nyu.edu. Mailing address for G. Ji: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd., Bethesda, MD 20814. Phone: (301) 295-9621. Fax: (301) 295-1545. E-mail: gji{at}usuhs.mil.

{dagger} Present address: Division of Pediatric Oncology, The Johns Hopkins University, 1650 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD 21231.

Journal of Bacteriology, May 2005, p. 3139-3150, Vol. 187, No. 9
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.9.3139-3150.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Bannoehr, J., Ben Zakour, N. L., Waller, A. S., Guardabassi, L., Thoday, K. L., van den Broek, A. H. M., Fitzgerald, J. R. (2007). Population Genetic Structure of the Staphylococcus intermedius Group: Insights into agr Diversification and the Emergence of Methicillin-Resistant Strains. J. Bacteriol. 189: 8685-8692 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Malone, C. L., Boles, B. R., Horswill, A. R. (2007). Biosynthesis of Staphylococcus aureus Autoinducing Peptides by Using the Synechocystis DnaB Mini-Intein. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6036-6044 [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]  
  • Wright, J. S. III, Traber, K. E., Corrigan, R., Benson, S. A., Musser, J. M., Novick, R. P. (2005). The agr Radiation: an Early Event in the Evolution of Staphylococci. J. Bacteriol. 187: 5585-5594 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»