Open AccessPleiotropic Roles of Polyglycerolphosphate Synthase of Lipoteichoic Acid in Growth of Staphylococcus aureus Cells
Author(s) -
Yusuke Oku,
Kenji Kurokawa,
Miki Matsuo,
Sakuo Yamada,
Bok-Luel Lee,
Kazuhisa Sekimizu
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.652
H-Index - 246
eISSN - 1067-8832
pISSN - 0021-9193
DOI - 10.1128/jb.01221-08
Subject(s) - lipoteichoic acid , mutant , peptidoglycan , biology , teichoic acid , cell division , osmotic concentration , staphylococcus aureus , biochemistry , autolysis (biology) , cell wall , microbiology and biotechnology , cell growth , bacteria , cell , enzyme , gene , genetics
Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is one of two anionic polymers on the surface of the gram-positive bacteriumStaphylococcus aureus . LTA is critical for the bacterium-host cell interaction and has recently been shown to be required for cell growth and division. To determine additional biological roles of LTA, we found it necessary to identify permissive conditions for the growth of an LTA-deficient mutant. We found that an LTA-deficientS. aureus ΔltaS mutant could grow at 30°C but not at 37°C. Even at the permissive temperature, ΔltaS mutant cells had aberrant cell division and separation, decreased autolysis, and reduced levels of peptidoglycan hydrolases. Upshift of ΔltaS mutant cells to a nonpermissive temperature caused an inability to exclude Sytox green dye. A high-osmolarity growth medium remarkably rescued the colony-forming ability of the ΔltaS mutant at 37°C, indicating that LTA synthesis is required for growth under low-osmolarity conditions. In addition, the ΔltaS mutation was found to be synthetically lethal with the ΔtagO mutation, which disrupts the synthesis of the other anionic polymer, wall teichoic acid (WTA), at 30°C, suggesting that LTA and WTA compensate for one another in an essential function.