The salt-resistance mechanism of Staphylococcus aureus examined by salt-sensitive mutants

Two NaCl-sensitive mutants of S. aureus 209P (S-16 and S-23) were isolated after treatment of the parental strain with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. Examination of the lipid components revealed that S-16 contained no cardiolipin and that S-23 contained only a small amount of cardiolipin. An increase of cardiolipin was indispensable for S. aureus proliferation in high NaCl medium.