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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

A Fluorescence-based Method to Study Bacterial Gene Regulation in Infected Tissues
Published on: February 19, 2019
A new oxidative sensing and regulation pathway mediated by the MgrA homologue SarZ in Staphylococcus aureus
Peng R Chen1, Satoshi Nishida, Catherine B Poor
1Department of Chemistry, 929 East 57th Street, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Abstract:
Oxidative stress serves as an important host/environmental signal that triggers a wide range of responses from the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Among these, a thiol-based oxidation sensing pathway through a global regulator MgrA controls the virulence and antibiotic resistance of the bacterium. Herein, we report a new thiol-based oxidation sensing and regulation system that is mediated through a parallel global regulator SarZ. SarZ is a functional homologue of MgrA and is shown to affect the expression of approximately 87 genes in S. aureus. It uses a key Cys residue, Cys-13, to sense oxidative stress and to co-ordinate the expression of genes involved in metabolic switching, antibiotic resistance, peroxide stress defence, virulence, and cell wall properties. The discovery of this SarZ-mediated regulation, mostly independent from the MgrA-based regulation, fills a missing gap of oxidation sensing and response in S. aureus.
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