title: EsaD, a secretion factor for the Ess pathway in Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Staphylococcus aureus encodes the Sec-independent Ess secretion pathway, an ortholog of mycobacterial T7 secretion systems which is required for the virulence of this Gram-positive microbe. The Ess (ESX secretion) pathway was previously defined as a genomic cluster of eight genes, esxA, esaA, essA, essB, esaB, essC, esaC, and esxB. essABC encode membrane proteins involved in the stable expression of esxA, esxB, and esaC, genes specifying three secreted polypeptide substrates. esaB, which encodes a small cytoplasmic protein, represses the synthesis of EsaC but not that of EsxA and EsxB. Here we investigated a hitherto uncharacterized gene, esaD, located downstream of esxB. Expression of esaD is activated by mutations in esaB and essB. EsaD, the 617-amino-acid product of esaD, is positioned in the membrane and is also accessible to EsaD-specific antibodies on the bacterial surface. S. aureus mutants lacking esaD are defective in the secretion of EsxA. Following intravenous inoculation of mice, S. aureus esaD mutants generate fewer abscesses with a reduced bacterial load compared to wild-type parent strain Newman. The chromosomes of Listeria and Bacillus species with Ess pathways also harbor esaD homologues downstream of esxB, suggesting that the contributory role of EsaD in Ess secretion may be shared among Gram-positive pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Chicago, 920 East 58th St., CLSC 609, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. dmissiak@bsd.uchicago.edu
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Yi-Hsing
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Emily K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Dominique M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Missiakas
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000382:microbiology; D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009154:Mutation; D055571:Secretory Pathway; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins