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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

A Fluorescence-based Method to Study Bacterial Gene Regulation in Infected Tissues
Published on: February 19, 2019
Staphylococcus aureus nonribosomal peptide secondary metabolites regulate virulence
Morgan A Wyatt1, Wenliang Wang, Christelle M Roux
1Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, M. G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada.
Abstract:
Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen that is resistant to numerous antibiotics in clinical use. We found two nonribosomal peptide secondary metabolites--the aureusimines, made by S. aureus--that are not antibiotics, but function as regulators of virulence factor expression and are necessary for productive infections. In vivo mouse models of bacteremia showed that strains of S. aureus unable to produce aureusimines were attenuated and/or cleared from major organs, including the spleen, liver, and heart. Targeting aureusimine synthesis may offer novel leads for anti-infective drugs.
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