Transcriptional control of the agr-dependent virulence gene regulator, RNAIII, in Staphylococcus aureus

Many of the genes coding for extracellular toxins, enzymes and cell-surface proteins in Staphylococcus aureus are regulated by a 510 nt RNA molecule, RNAIII. Expression of the RNAIII gene is positively controlled by the closely linked agr operon, which encodes a multicomponent signal-transduction system, and by an unlinked operon called sar. We have analysed the 120 bp region that separates the RNAIII promoter, P3, from the divergent agr promoter, P2. By transcription analysis, it was shown that P3 can function in trans of the agr operon. A stretch of 53 bp upstream of P3, containing an interrupted repeat of 7 bp, was found to be required for the agr-dependent expression of RNAIII. A single cytoplasmic protein was shown to bind to at least two sites within this regulatory region. The protein, which was absent in extracts from a sarA mutant, was identified as the sarA product by N-terminal amino acid sequencing. A DNA fragment from the P2 region, encompassing an almost identical repeated DNA motif, competed for the same protein. No interaction between the regulatory DNA sequence and any agr-dependent products could be demonstrated. The results of this study suggest that P3 and P2 are controlled by a mechanism involving the binding of the SarA protein to multiple sites within the regulatory regions immediately upstream of each promoter, and the as yet unknown activity of AgrA.