Open AccessThe major autolysin of S taphylococcus lugdunensis, A tl L , is involved in cell separation, stress‐induced autolysis and contributes to bacterial pathogenesis
Author(s) -
Gibert Laure,
Didi Jennifer,
Marlinghaus Lennart,
Lesouhaitier Olivier,
Legris Stéphanie,
Szabados Florian,
Pons JeanLouis,
PestelCaron Martine
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/1574-6968.12374
Subject(s) - autolysin , autolysis (biology) , staphylococcus lugdunensis , microbiology and biotechnology , peptidoglycan , biology , mutant , virulence , cell wall , biochemistry , staphylococcus , enzyme , bacteria , staphylococcus aureus , genetics , gene
S taphylococcus lugdunensis is a human skin commensal organism, but it is considered as a virulent Staphylococcus species. In a previous study, we described the first S . lugdunensis autolysin, A tl L . This enzyme displays two enzymatic domains and generates two peptidoglycan hydrolases, an N ‐acetylmuramoyl‐ l ‐alanine amidase and an N ‐acetylglucosaminidase. In this study, to further investigate the functions of this autolysin, a Δ atlL mutant was constructed. The microscopic examination of the mutant showed cell aggregates and revealed a rough outer cell surface demonstrating, respectively, the roles of A tl L in cell separation and peptidoglycan turnover. This Δ atlL mutant exhibited a lower susceptibility to Triton X‐100‐induced autolysis assays and appears to be more resistant to cell wall antibiotic‐induced lysis and death compared with its parental strain. The atlL mutation affected the biofilm formation capacity of S . lugdunensis . Furthermore, the Δ atlL mutant showed trends toward reduced virulence using the C aenorhabditis elegans model. Overall, A tl L appears as a major cell wall autolysin of S . lugdunensis implicated in cell separation, in stress‐induced autolysis and in bacterial pathogenesis.