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In most bacteria, nutrient limitations provoke the stringent control through the rapid synthesis of the alarmones pppGpp and ppGpp. Little is known about the stringent control in the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus , partly due to the essentiality of the major (p)ppGpp synthase/hydrolase enzyme RSH (RelA/SpoT homolog). Here, we show that mutants defective only in the synthase domain of RSH ( rsh syn ) are not impaired in growth under nutrient-rich conditions. However, these mutants were more sensitive toward mupirocin and were impaired in survival when essential amino acids were depleted from the medium. RSH is the major enzyme responsible for (p)ppGpp synthesis in response to amino acid deprivation (lack of Leu/Val) or mupirocin treatment. Transcriptional analysis showed that the RSH-dependent stringent control in S. aureus is characterized by repression of genes whose products are predicted to be involved in the translation machinery and by upregulation of genes coding for enzymes involved in amino acid metabolism and transport which are controlled by the repressor CodY. Amino acid starvation also provoked stabilization of the RNAs coding for major virulence regulators, such as SaeRS and SarA, independently of RSH. In an animal model, the rsh syn mutant was shown to be less virulent than the wild type. Virulence could be restored by the introduction of a codY mutation into the rsh syn mutant. These results indicate that stringent conditions are present during infection and that RSH-dependent derepression of CodY-regulated genes is essential for virulence in S. aureus .

Certain strains of Clostridium difficile produce the ADP-ribosyltransferase CDT, which is a binary actin ADP-ribosylating toxin. The toxin consists of the binding component CDTb, which mediates receptor binding and cellular uptake, and the enzyme component CDTa. Here we studied the enzyme component (CDTa) of the toxin using the binding component of Clostridium perfringens iota toxin (Ib), which is interchangeable with CDTb as a transport component. Ib was used because CDTb was not expressed as a recombinant protein in Escherichia coli . Similar to iota toxin, CDTa ADP-ribosylates nonmuscle and skeletal muscle actin. The N-terminal part of CDTa (CDTa 1–240 ) competes with full-length CDTa for binding to the iota toxin binding component. The C-terminal part (CDTa 244–263 ) harbors the enzyme activity but was much less active than the full-length CDTa. Changes of Glu428 and Glu430 to glutamine, Ser388 to alanine, and Arg345 to lysine blocked ADP-ribosyltransferase activity. Comparison of CDTa with C. perfringens iota toxin and Clostridium botulinum C2 toxin revealed full enzyme activity of the fragment Ia 208–413 but loss of activity of several N-terminally deleted C2I proteins including C2I 103–431 , C2I 190–431 , and C2I 30–431 . The data indicate that CDTa belongs to the iota toxin subfamily of binary actin ADP-ribosylating toxins with respect to interaction with the binding component and substrate specificity. It shares typical conserved amino acid residues with iota toxin and C2 toxin that are suggested to be involved in NAD-binding and/or catalytic activity. The enzyme components of CDT, iota toxin, and C2 toxin differ with respect to the minimal structural requirement for full enzyme activity.

The human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus successfully colonizes its primary reservoir, the nasal cavity, most likely by regulatory adaptation to the nose environment. Cotton rats represent an excellent model for the study of bacterial gene expression in the initial phases of colonization. To gain insight into the expression profile necessary for the establishment of colonization, we performed direct transcript analysis by quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction on cotton rat noses removed from euthanized animals on days 1, 4, or 10 after instillation of 2 human S. aureus nose isolates. Global virulence regulators (agr, sae) were not active in this early phase, but the essential 2-component regulatory system WalKR seems to play an important role. Accordingly, an elevated expression of walKR target genes (sak, sceD) could be detected. In agreement with previous studies that demonstrated the essential role played by wall teichoic acid (WTA) polymers in nasal colonization, we detected a strongly increased expression of WTA-biosynthetic genes. The expression profile switched to production of the adhesive proteins ClfB and IsdA at later stages of the colonization process. These data underscore the temporal differences in the roles of WTA and surface proteins in nasal colonization, and they provide the first evidence for a regulation of WTA biosynthesis in vivo.

The binary Clostridium botulinum C2 toxin is composed of the enzyme component C2I and the binding component C2II, which are individual and non-linked proteins. Activated C2IIa mediates cell binding and translocation of C2I into the cytoplasm. C2I ADP-ribosylates G-actin at Arg-177 to depolymerize actin filaments. A fusion toxin containing the N-terminal domain of C2I (residues 1-225) transports C3 ADP-ribosyltransferase from Clostridium limosum into cells (Barth, H., Hofmann, F., Olenik, C., Just, I., and Aktories, K. (1998) Infect. Immun. 66, 1364-1369). We characterized the adaptor function of C2I and its interaction with C2IIa. The fusion toxin GST-C2I(1-225)-C3 was efficiently transported by C2IIa, indicating that C2IIa translocates proteins into the cytosol even when the C2I(1-225) adaptor was positioned in the middle of a fusion protein. Amino acid residues 1-87 of C2I were sufficient for interaction with C2IIa and for translocation of C2I fusion toxins into HeLa cells. Residues 1-87 were the minimal part of C2I to bind to C2IIa on the cell surface, as detected by fluorescence-activated cytometry. An excess of C2I(1-87) (but not of further truncated C2I fragments) competed with Alexa488-labeled C2I for binding to C2IIa. Also, the fragment C2I(30-431) and the fusion toxin C2I(30-225)-C3 competed with C2I-Alexa488 for binding to C2IIa. C2I(30-225)-C3 did not induce cytotoxic effects on cells when applied together with C2IIa, indicating that amino acid residues 1-29 are involved in translocation of C2I but are not absolutely essential for binding to C2IIa.