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Essential functional role of the polysaccharide intercellular adhesin of Staphylococcus epidermidis in
1Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Immunologie, Universit atskrankenhaus Eppendorf, D-20246 Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany.
Abstract:
Hemagglutination of erythrocytes is a common property of Staphylococcus epidermidis strains, which is related to adherence and biofilm formation and may be essential for the pathogenesis of biomaterial-associated infections caused by S. epidermidis. In three independent biofilm-producing, hemagglutination-positive S. epidermidis isolates, interruption of the icaADBC operon essential for polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) synthesis by Tn917 insertions led to a hemagglutination-negative phenotype. An immunoglobulin G fraction of antiserum to PIA greatly reduced hemagglutination. Purified PIA led to a 64-fold decrease of hemagglutination titers of these strains; however, it did not mediate hemagglutination by itself. These observations define PIA as the hemagglutinin of S. epidermidis or at least as its major functional component.