Accessory Gene Regulator ( agr ) Allelic Variants in Cognate Staphylococcus aureus Strain Display Similar Phenotypes

• Published in: Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 13; p. 700894
• Main Authors: Tan, Li, Huang, Yuyang, Shang, Weilong, Yang, Yi, Peng, Huagang, Hu, Zhen, Wang, Yuting, Rao, Yifan, Hu, Qiwen, Rao, Xiancai, Hu, Xiaomei, Li, Ming, Chen, Kaisen, Li, Shu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 25.02.2022
• Subjects: accessory gene regulator (agr) alleles; agr polymorphisms; Microbiology; quorum sensing system; Staphylococcus aureus; virulence factors; accessory gene regulator (agr) alleles; quorum sensing system; agr polymorphisms; Staphylococcus aureus; virulence factors
• ISSN: 1664-302X; 1664-302X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.700894

The accessory gene regulator ( ) quorum-sensing system is an important global regulatory system of and contributes to its pathogenicity. The system is divided into four groups based on the amino acid polymorphisms of AgrB, AgrD, and AgrC. The activation is group-specific, resulting in variations in activity and pathogenicity among the four groups. Strains with divergent system always have different phenotypes. In the present report, we, respectively, exchanged the system of a certain with other three alleles and assessed the corresponding phenotypes of these congenic strains. Replacement of the system led to significant variations in hemolytic activity, protein expression, and virulence gene expression comparing with that of the parental strain. Interestingly, we found that the biological characteristics of these congenic strains in the same strain background were highly similar to each other, and the allele-dependent differences of the systems were weakened. These findings indicate that the allele-dependent predilections of are determined by some factors in addition to the polymorphisms of AgrB, AgrD, and AgrC. Future studies may reveal the novel mechanism to improve our understanding of the network.