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Journal of Bacteriology, October 2007, p. 7316-7325, Vol. 189, No. 20
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.00734-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom,1 Department of Microbiology and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, United Kingdom,2 Department of Rheumatology and Inflammation Research, University of Göteborg, Guldhedsgatan 10, S-413 46 Göteborg, Sweden,3 Biosynexus Incorporated, 9119 Gaither Road, Gaithersburg, Maryland 208774
Received 10 May 2007/ Accepted 19 July 2007
Bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan is a dynamic structure requiring hydrolysis to allow cell wall growth and division. Staphylococcus aureus has many known and putative peptidoglycan hydrolases, including two likely lytic transglycosylases. These two proteins, IsaA and SceD, were both found to have autolytic activity. Regulatory studies showed that the isaA and sceD genes are partially mutually compensatory and that the production of SceD is upregulated in an isaA mutant. The expression of sceD is also greatly upregulated by the presence of NaCl. Several regulators of isaA and sceD expression were identified. Inactivation of sceD resulted in impaired cell separation, as shown by light microscopy, and "clumping" of bacterial cultures. An isaA sceD mutant is attenuated for virulence, while SceD is essential for nasal colonization in cotton rats, thus demonstrating the importance of cell wall dynamics in host-pathogen interactions.
Published ahead of print on 3 August 2007.
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