A glimpse at the evolution of virulence control.
Studies of the accessory gene regulator (agr) of Staphylococcus aureus often focus on the associated RNA regulator RNAIII. Recently, Queck et al. (2008) reported on RNAIII-independent gene regulation in highly virulent, community-associated S. aureus and proposed that two independent regulatory systems were integrated during the pathogenic evolution of S. aureus.
Sittka
Alexandra
A
Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Charitéplatz 1, D-10117 Berlin, Germany.
Vogel
Jörg
J
D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D037521:Virulence Factors