title: Identification of a novel essential two-component signal transduction system, YhcSR, in Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Two-component signal transduction systems play an important role in the ability of bacteria to adapt to various environments by sensing changes in their habitat and by altering gene expression. In this study, we report a novel two-component system, YhcSR, in Staphylococcus aureus which is required for bacterial growth in vitro. We found that the down-regulation of yhcSR expression by induced yhcS antisense RNA can inhibit and terminate bacterial growth. Moreover, without complementary yhcS or yhcR, no viable yhcS or yhcR gene replacement mutant was recoverable. Collectively, these results demonstrated that the YhcSR regulatory system is indispensable for S. aureus growth in culture. Moreover, induced yhcS antisense RNA selectively increased bacterial susceptibility to phosphomycin. These data suggest that YhcSR probably modulates the expression of genes critical for bacterial survival and may be a potential target for the development of novel antibacterial agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Junsong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Landwehr
authors.forename: Junshu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yinduo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005578:Fosfomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D020043:Genes, Essential; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D016372:RNA, Antisense / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D016372:RNA, Antisense; D005578:Fosfomycin