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Distinct roles of phenol-soluble modulins in spreading of Staphylococcus aureus on wet surfaces.

ABSTRACT: The human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus is renowned for the rapid colonization of contaminated wounds, medical implants, and food products. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanisms that allow S. aureus to colonize the respective wet surfaces. The present studies were therefore aimed at identifying factors used by S. aureus cells to spread over wet surfaces, starting either from planktonic or biofilm-associated states. Through proteomics analyses we pinpoint phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) as prime facilitators of the spreading process. To dissect the roles of the eight PSMs produced by S. aureus, these peptides were chemically synthesized and tested in spreading assays with different psm mutant strains. The results show that PSM?3 and PSM? are the strongest facilitators of spreading both for planktonic cells and cells in catheter-associated biofilms. Compared to the six other PSMs of S. aureus, PSM?3 and PSM? combine strong surfactant activities with a relatively low overall hydropathicity. Importantly, we show that PSM-mediated motility of S. aureus facilitates the rapid colonization of wet surfaces next to catheters and the colonization of fresh meat.

SUBMITTER: Tsompanidou E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3568538 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Distinct roles of phenol-soluble modulins in spreading of Staphylococcus aureus on wet surfaces.

Tsompanidou Eleni E Denham Emma L EL Becher Dörte D de Jong Anne A Buist Girbe G van Oosten Marleen M Manson Willem L WL Back Jaap Willem JW van Dijl Jan Maarten JM Dreisbach Annette A

Applied and environmental microbiology 20121126 3

The human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus is renowned for the rapid colonization of contaminated wounds, medical implants, and food products. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanisms that allow S. aureus to colonize the respective wet surfaces. The present studies were therefore aimed at identifying factors used by S. aureus cells to spread over wet surfaces, starting either from planktonic or biofilm-associated states. Through proteomics analyses we pinpoint phenol-soluble modulins (PS ...[more]

PMID: 23183971

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Project description:Incomplete killing of bacterial pathogens by antibiotics is an underlying cause of treatment failure and accompanying complications. Among those avoiding chemotherapy are persisters being individual cells in a population that for extended periods of time survive high antibiotic concentrations proposedly by being in a quiescent state refractory to antibiotic killing. While investigating the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and the influence of growth phase on persister formation, we noted that spent supernatants of stationary phase cultures of S. aureus or S. epidermidis, but not of distantly related bacteria, significantly reduced the persister cell frequency upon ciprofloxacin challenge when added to exponentially growing and stationary phase S. aureus cells. Curiously, the persister reducing activity of S. aureus supernatants was also effective against persisters formed by either S. carnosus or Listeria monocytogenes. The persister reducing component, which resisted heat but not proteases and was produced in the late growth phase in an agr quorum-sensing dependent manner, was identified to be the phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) toxins. S. aureus express several PSMs, each with distinct cytolytic and antimicrobial properties; however, the persister reducing activity was specifically linked to synthesis of the PSM? family. Correspondingly, a high-persister phenotype of a PSM? mutant was observed upon fluoroquinolone or aminoglycoside challenge, demonstrating that the persister reducing activity of PSMs can be endogenously synthesized or extrinsically added. Given that PSMs have been associated with lytic activity against bacterial membranes we propose that PSM toxins increase the susceptibility of persister cells to killing by intracellularly acting antibiotics and that chronic and re-occurring infections with quorum sensing, agr negative mutants may be difficult to treat with antibiotics because of persister cells formed in the absence of PSM toxins.

Dataset Information

Distinct roles of phenol-soluble modulins in spreading of Staphylococcus aureus on wet surfaces.

Publications

Distinct roles of phenol-soluble modulins in spreading of Staphylococcus aureus on wet surfaces.

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