Method for Screening Compounds That Influence Virulence Gene Expression in Staphylococcus Aureus

Overview

Journal Antimicrob Agents Chemother

Publisher American Society for Microbiology

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2009 Nov 18

PMID 19917763

Citations 20

Authors

Anita Nielsen

Kristian F Nielsen

Dorte Frees

Thomas O Larsen

Hanne Ingmer

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

We present a simple assay to examine effects of compounds on virulence gene expression in the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. The assay employs transcriptional reporter strains carrying lacZ fused to central virulence genes. Compounds affecting virulence gene expression and activity of the agr locus are scored based on color change in the presence of a chromogenic beta-galactosidase substrate. The assay can be used to screen for novel antivirulence compounds from many different sources, such as fungi, as demonstrated here.

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