title: RecA mediated spontaneous deletions of the icaADBC operon of clinical Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates: a new mechanism of phenotypic variations.
abstract: Phenotypic variation in biofilm formation is common in clinical isolates of S. epidermidis. In the current study, nearly 5% of all clinical isolates analysed showed phenotypic variation in biofilm forming ability and electrophoretic mobility (EM). This is the first report of S. epidermidis strains irreversibly switching from biofilm-positive to biofilm-negative phenotype by spontaneous deletion of icaADBC genes which represents a new, possibly common mechanism of phenotypic variation.
authors.affiliation: Department of BioMedical Engineering, University Medical Center Groningen and University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nuryastuti
authors.forename: CvdM
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Henny
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Henk
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Roel
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Abu
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Bastiaan
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018441:Biofilms; D004586:Electrophoresis; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D000099160:LexA Repressor Protein
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D000099160:LexA Repressor Protein