Bacterial doubling time modulates the effects of opsonisation and available iron upon interactions between...

Staphylococcus aureus was grown exponentially at two doubling times (DT), one related to in vivo (DT 60 min) and one typical of laboratory conditions (DT 24 min), and under iron-poor and iron-rich conditions. Relative to the fast-grown phenotypes, both slow-grown phenotypes exhibited low surface hydrophobicity and low protein A expression, induced poorly in non-opsonised and opsonised chemiluminescence, and survived well in whole blood killing. In particular, slow-grown, iron-poor cocci demonstrated enhanced survival in whole blood killing which correlated with significant reduction in their association with polymorphonuclear leukocytes, compared to the three other phenotypes; iron sufficiency increased the ability to stimulate polymorphonuclear leukocytes irrespective of opsonisation status. Staphylococcal DT may, by influencing surface hydrophobicity, modify interactions with immune system components.