title: Staphylococcus aureus NfrA (SA0367) is a flavin mononucleotide-dependent NADPH oxidase involved in oxidative stress response.
abstract: The NfrA protein, a putative essential oxidoreductase in the soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis, is induced under heat shock and oxidative stress conditions. In order to characterize the function of an homologous NfrA protein in Staphylococcus aureus, an nfrA deletion strain was constructed, the protein was purified, the enzymatic activity was determined, and the transcriptional regulation was investigated. The experiments revealed that NfrA is not essential in S. aureus. The purified protein oxidized NADPH but not NADH, producing NADP in the presence of flavin mononucleotide, suggesting that NfrA is an NADPH oxidase in S. aureus. In addition, the NfrA enzyme showed nitroreductase activity and weak disulfide reductase activity. Transcription was strongly induced by ethanol, diamide, and nitrofurantoin. Hydrogen peroxide induced nfrA transcription only at high concentrations. The expression of nfrA was independent of the alternative sigma factor sigma(B). Furthermore, the transcriptional start site was determined, which allowed identification of a PerR box homologous sequence upstream of the nfrA promoter. The observations presented here suggest that NfrA is a nonessential NADPH oxidoreductase which may play a role in the oxidative stress response of S. aureus, especially in keeping thiol-disulfide stress in balance.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Molekulare Infektionsbiologie, Röntgenring 11, D-97070 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Streker
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Freiberg
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Labischinski
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hacker
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohlsen
mesh_terms: D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003958:Diamide; D000431:Ethanol; D005486:Flavin Mononucleotide / Q000502:physiology*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D009249:NADP / Q000502:physiology; D019255:NADPH Oxidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009582:Nitrofurantoin; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D003958:Diamide; D000431:Ethanol; D009249:NADP; D005486:Flavin Mononucleotide; D009582:Nitrofurantoin; D019255:NADPH Oxidases