Analogs of Eap protein are conserved and prevalent in clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates.
Map and Eap are secreted Staphylococcus aureus proteins that interact with various extracellular matrix molecules. PCR analysis using map primers yielded positive reactions in 97.9% of S. aureus isolates but not in Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates. Cloning and sequencing of the conferring genes revealed a high degree of overall homology combined with size variability of the gene product due to various repeat numbers and early translation termination in a poly(A) region. Thus, Map and Eap may provide a potential novel tool for S. aureus identification and typing.
Hussain
M
M
Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany. muzaffa@uni-muenster.de
Becker
K
K
von Eiff
C
C
Peters
G
G
Herrmann
M
M
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics*; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; C444739:Eap-N protein, Staphylococcus aureus; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins