Characterizing the effects of inorganic acid and alkaline shock on the Staphylococcus aureus transcriptome and messenger RNA turnover.

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis can be attributed partially to its ability to adapt to otherwise deleterious host-associated stresses. Here, Affymetrix GeneChips® were used to examine the S. aureus responses to inorganic acid and alkaline shock and to assess whether stress-dependent changes in mRNA turnover are likely to facilitate the organism's ability to tolerate a pH challenge. The results indicate that S. aureus adapts to pH shock by eliciting responses expected of cells coping with pH alteration, including neutralizing cellular pH, DNA repair, amino acid biosynthesis, and virulence factor expression. Further, the S. aureus response to alkaline conditions is strikingly similar to that of stringent response-induced cells. Indeed, we show that alkaline shock stimulates the accumulati

SUBMITTER: Anderson KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2999002 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature