Alternative sigma factor sigmaH modulates prophage integration and excision in Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT: The prophage is one of the most important components of variable regions in bacterial genomes. Some prophages carry additional genes that may enhance the toxicity and survival ability of their host bacteria. This phenomenon is predominant in Staphylococcus aureus, a very common human pathogen. Bioinformatics analysis of several staphylococcal prophages revealed a highly conserved 40-bp untranslated region upstream of the int gene. A small transcript encoding phage integrase was identified to be initiated from the region, demonstrating that the untranslated region contained a promoter for int. No typical recognition sequence for either sigma(A) or sigma(B) was identified in the 40-bp region. Experiments both in vitro and in vivo demonstrated that sigma(H) recognized the promoter and directe

SUBMITTER: Tao L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2869324 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature