Open AccessStaphylococcus aureus MazF Specifically Cleaves a Pentad Sequence, UACAU, Which Is Unusually Abundant in the mRNA for Pathogenic Adhesive Factor SraP
Author(s) -
Ling Zhu,
Kazuhiro Inoue,
Satoshi Yoshizumi,
Hiroshi Kobayashi,
Yonglong Zhang,
Ming Ouyang,
Fuminori Kato,
Motoyuki Sugai,
Masayori Inouye
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.01815-08
Subject(s) - biology , rna , gene , staphylococcus aureus , messenger rna , escherichia coli , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression , genetics , bacteria
Escherichia coli mRNA interferases, such as MazF and ChpBK, are sequence-specific endoribonucleases encoded by toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems present in its genome. A MazF homologue inStaphylococcus aureus (MazFSa ) has been shown to inhibit cell growth when induced inE. coli . Here, we determined the cleavage site for MazFSa with the use of phage MS2 RNA as a substrate and CspA, an RNA chaperone, which prevents the formation of secondary structures in the RNA substrate. MazFSa specifically cleaves the RNA at a pentad sequence, U↓ACAU. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that this pentad sequence is significantly abundant in several genes, including thesraP gene in theS. aureus N315 strain. This gene encodes a serine-rich protein, which is known to play an important role in adhesion of the pathogen to human tissues and thus in endovascular infection. We demonstrated that thesraP mRNA became extremely unstable in comparison with theompA mRNA only when MazFSa was induced inE. coli . Further bioinformatics analysis indicated that the pentad sequence is also significantly abundant in the mRNAs for all the pathogenic factors inS. aureus . This observation suggests a possible regulatory relationship between the MazEFSa TA module and the pathogenicity inS. aureus .