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Identification of three additional femAB-like open reading frames in Staphylococcus aureus.
M Tschierske1, C Mori, S Rohrer
1Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
FEMS Microbiology Letters
|March 17, 1999
Summary
Three new Staphylococcus aureus proteins, FmhA, FmhB, and FmhC, were identified. FmhB appears essential, potentially playing a role in peptidoglycan synthesis, unlike FmhA and FmhC.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Staphylococcus aureus is a significant human pathogen.
- Peptidoglycan synthesis is crucial for bacterial cell wall integrity.
- Fem proteins are known to be involved in peptidoglycan cross-linking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize novel proteins in Staphylococcus aureus with homology to known Fem proteins.
- To investigate the function and essentiality of these newly identified proteins.
Main Methods:
- Bioinformatic analysis of the Staphylococcus aureus genome database.
- Gene mapping to specific chromosomal fragments.
- Insertional inactivation of identified genes.
- Assessment of growth, antibiotic susceptibility, lysostaphin resistance, and peptidoglycan composition.
Main Results:
- Three novel proteins, FmhA, FmhB, and FmhC, were identified with significant identity to FemA and FemB.
- FmhA and FmhC inactivation had no observable effects on bacterial phenotypes.
- FmhB could not be inactivated, indicating it is likely an essential gene.
Conclusions:
- FmhB is a strong candidate for the essential FemX protein involved in peptidoglycan biosynthesis.
- FmhA and FmhC are non-essential under tested conditions.
- These findings contribute to understanding peptidoglycan synthesis pathways in Staphylococcus aureus.