Open AccessInactivation of the SauI Type I Restriction-Modification System Is Not Sufficient To Generate Staphylococcus aureus Strains Capable of Efficiently Accepting Foreign DNA
Author(s) -
Helena Veiga,
Mariana G. Pinho
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
applied and environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.552
H-Index - 324
eISSN - 1070-6291
pISSN - 0099-2240
DOI - 10.1128/aem.01862-08
Subject(s) - staphylococcus aureus , biology , gene , dna , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , phenotype , transformation (genetics) , plasmid , strain (injury) , organism , bacteria , anatomy
Genetic manipulation ofStaphylococcus aureus is limited by the availability of only a single strain, RN4220, that is capable of easily accepting foreign DNA. Inactivation of thehsdR gene of the SauI type I restriction-modification system was shown previously to be responsible for the high transformation efficiency of RN4220 (D. E. Waldron and J. A. Lindsay, J Bacteriol.188: 5578-5585, 2006). However, deletion of this gene in three differentS. aureus strains was not sufficient to make them readily transformable, which would be remarkably useful for genetic studies of this pathogenic organism. These results indicate that another unknown factor(s) is required for the transformable phenotype inS. aureus .