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Journal of Bacteriology, January 2009, p. 571-575, Vol. 191, No. 2
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00950-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Hydrogen Peroxide-Mediated Interference Competition by Streptococcus pneumoniae Has No Significant Effect on Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Colonization of Neonatal Rats{triangledown}

Elisa Margolis*

Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322

Received 10 July 2008/ Accepted 31 October 2008

It has been proposed that the relative scarcity of Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae cocolonization in the nasopharynxes of humans can be attributed to hydrogen peroxide-mediated interference competition. Previously it has been shown in vitro that H2O2 produced by S. pneumoniae is bactericidal to S. aureus. To ascertain whether H2O2 has this inhibitory effect in the nasal passages of neonatal rats, colonization experiments were performed with S. aureus and S. pneumoniae. The results of these experiments with neonatal rats are inconsistent with the hypothesis that hydrogen peroxide-mediated killing of S. aureus by S. pneumoniae is responsible for the relative scarcity of cocolonization by these bacteria. In mixed-inoculum colonization experiments and experiments where S. aureus invaded the nasopharynxes of rats with established S. pneumoniae populations, the density of S. aureus did not differ whether the S. pneumoniae strain was H2O2 secreting or non-H2O2 secreting (SpxB). Moreover, the advantage of catalase production by S. aureus in competition with a non-catalase-producing strain (KatA) during nasal colonization was no greater in the presence of H2O2-producing S. pneumoniae than in the presence of non-H2O2-producing S. pneumoniae.

* Mailing address: Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322. Phone: (404) 727-2956. Fax: (404) 727-2880. E-mail: emargol{at}emory.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 14 November 2008.

Journal of Bacteriology, January 2009, p. 571-575, Vol. 191, No. 2
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00950-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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