title: Specificity grouping of the accessory gene regulator quorum-sensing system of Staphylococcus epidermidis is linked to infection.
abstract: Staphylococcus epidermidis represents the most frequent pathogen involved in nosocomial infections and infections of indwelling medical devices. The strain-to-strain variation of the gene encoding the quorum-sensing pheromone of S. epidermidis as well as the correlation between specificity groups and origin from infection were determined. The pro-pheromone gene was highly conserved and showed infrequent, non-synonymous, single-nucleotide polymorphisms that led to conservative amino acid exchanges only. Importantly, one specificity group was significantly more frequent among strains isolated from infection. The finding that quorum-sensing specificity groups are linked to infection demonstrates the relevance of quorum-sensing for virulence in this critical human pathogen and contributes to the scientific basis needed for the development of quorum-sensing-targeting drugs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, The National Institutes of Health, 903 S. 4th Street, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Carmody
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Otto
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; D010675:Pheromones / Q000235:genetics; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C414532:AgrD protein, Staphylococcus; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; D010675:Pheromones; D037521:Virulence Factors