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JAC Advance Access originally published online on March 10, 2005
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2005 55(5):686-691; doi:10.1093/jac/dki070
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions{at}oupjournals.org

In vitro resistance to the CS{alpha}ß-type antimicrobial peptide ASABF- is conferred by overexpression of sigma factor sigB in Staphylococcus aureus

Hong Zhang1, Kazuya Morikawa2, Toshiko Ohta2 and Yusuke Kato1,*

1 Department of Developmental Biology, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Oowashi 1-2, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8634; 2 Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tennoudai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan

* Corresponding author. Tel/Fax: +81-298-38-6059; Email: kato{at}affrc.go.jp

Objectives: ASABF (Ascaris suum antibacterial factor) is a CS{alpha}ß-type antimicrobial peptide isolated from nematodes. ASABF-, a member of ASABF, is particularly effective against the Gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. In this study, we investigated the role of sigB expression on ASABF-resistance in S. aureus.

Methods: Based on preliminary characterization of the ASABF-resistant strain, Mu50, we speculated that the alternative sigma factor sigB may regulate resistance against antimicrobial peptides. To test this hypothesis, the ASABF susceptibility was compared between NKSB (a sigB-knockout derivative of N315) and its sigB-overexpressing derivative. In addition, similar experiments were carried out for N315ex, a deletion mutant of N315 for SCCmec (Staphylococcus cassette chromosome mec) which contains essential genes for ß-lactam resistance.

Results: The sigB-overexpressing NKSB acquired an increased resistance to ASABF- compared with the parent strain. The sigB-induced ASABF- resistance was also observed in N315ex.

Conclusions: The overexpression of sigB confers resistance to the antimicrobial peptide, ASABF-. SCCmec is not essential for this resistance.

Keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans , Ascaris suum , stress response , defensin , antibiotics , CS{alpha}ß motif


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