Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.

It has long been a question whether Staphylococcus aureus, a major human pathogen, is able to develop natural competence for transformation by DNA. We previously showed that a novel staphylococcal secondary sigma factor, SigH, was a likely key component for competence development, but the correspond...

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Autores principales:	Kazuya Morikawa, Aya J Takemura, Yumiko Inose, Melody Tsai, Le Thuy Nguyen Thi, Toshiko Ohta, Tarek Msadek
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Materias:	Immunologic diseases. Allergy RC581-607 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f4ca0375bb6947148941ab15ace826d7
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f4ca0375bb6947148941ab15ace826d72021-11-18T06:06:24ZExpression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.1553-73661553-737410.1371/journal.ppat.1003003https://doaj.org/article/f4ca0375bb6947148941ab15ace826d72012-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23133387/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1553-7366https://doaj.org/toc/1553-7374It has long been a question whether Staphylococcus aureus, a major human pathogen, is able to develop natural competence for transformation by DNA. We previously showed that a novel staphylococcal secondary sigma factor, SigH, was a likely key component for competence development, but the corresponding gene appeared to be cryptic as its expression could not be detected during growth under standard laboratory conditions. Here, we have uncovered two distinct mechanisms allowing activation of SigH production in a minor fraction of the bacterial cell population. The first is a chromosomal gene duplication rearrangement occurring spontaneously at a low frequency [≤10(-5)], generating expression of a new chimeric sigH gene. The second involves post-transcriptional regulation through an upstream inverted repeat sequence, effectively suppressing expression of the sigH gene. Importantly, we have demonstrated for the first time that S. aureus cells producing active SigH become competent for transformation by plasmid or chromosomal DNA, which requires the expression of SigH-controlled competence genes. Additionally, using DNA from the N315 MRSA strain, we successfully transferred the full length SCCmecII element through natural transformation to a methicillin-sensitive strain, conferring methicillin resistance to the resulting S. aureus transformants. Taken together, we propose a unique model for staphylococcal competence regulation by SigH that could help explain the acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer in this important pathogen.Kazuya MorikawaAya J TakemuraYumiko InoseMelody TsaiLe Thuy Nguyen ThiToshiko OhtaTarek MsadekPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleImmunologic diseases. AllergyRC581-607Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENPLoS Pathogens, Vol 8, Iss 11, p e1003003 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Immunologic diseases. Allergy RC581-607 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Immunologic diseases. Allergy RC581-607 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Kazuya Morikawa Aya J Takemura Yumiko Inose Melody Tsai Le Thuy Nguyen Thi Toshiko Ohta Tarek Msadek Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.
description	It has long been a question whether Staphylococcus aureus, a major human pathogen, is able to develop natural competence for transformation by DNA. We previously showed that a novel staphylococcal secondary sigma factor, SigH, was a likely key component for competence development, but the corresponding gene appeared to be cryptic as its expression could not be detected during growth under standard laboratory conditions. Here, we have uncovered two distinct mechanisms allowing activation of SigH production in a minor fraction of the bacterial cell population. The first is a chromosomal gene duplication rearrangement occurring spontaneously at a low frequency [≤10(-5)], generating expression of a new chimeric sigH gene. The second involves post-transcriptional regulation through an upstream inverted repeat sequence, effectively suppressing expression of the sigH gene. Importantly, we have demonstrated for the first time that S. aureus cells producing active SigH become competent for transformation by plasmid or chromosomal DNA, which requires the expression of SigH-controlled competence genes. Additionally, using DNA from the N315 MRSA strain, we successfully transferred the full length SCCmecII element through natural transformation to a methicillin-sensitive strain, conferring methicillin resistance to the resulting S. aureus transformants. Taken together, we propose a unique model for staphylococcal competence regulation by SigH that could help explain the acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer in this important pathogen.
format	article
author	Kazuya Morikawa Aya J Takemura Yumiko Inose Melody Tsai Le Thuy Nguyen Thi Toshiko Ohta Tarek Msadek
author_facet	Kazuya Morikawa Aya J Takemura Yumiko Inose Melody Tsai Le Thuy Nguyen Thi Toshiko Ohta Tarek Msadek
author_sort	Kazuya Morikawa
title	Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.
title_short	Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.
title_full	Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.
title_fullStr	Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.
title_full_unstemmed	Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.
title_sort	expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for dna transformation in staphylococcus aureus.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/f4ca0375bb6947148941ab15ace826d7
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Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.

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