title: The giant protein Ebh is a determinant of Staphylococcus aureus cell size and complement resistance.
abstract: Staphylococcus aureus USA300, the clonal type associated with epidemic community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections, displays the giant protein Ebh on its surface. Mutations that disrupt the ebh reading frame increase the volume of staphylococcal cells and alter the cross wall, a membrane-enclosed peptidoglycan synthesis and assembly compartment. S. aureus ebh variants display increased sensitivity to oxacillin (methicillin) as well as susceptibility to complement-mediated killing. Mutations in ebh are associated with reduced survival of mutant staphylococci in blood and diminished virulence in mice. We propose that Ebh, following its secretion into the cross wall, contributes to the characteristic cell growth and envelope assembly pathways of S. aureus, thereby enabling complement resistance and the pathogenesis of staphylococcal infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Alice G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Missiakas
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schneewind
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C469917:Ebh protein, Staphylococcus aureus; D003165:Complement System Proteins