Pheromone cross-inhibition between Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis - PubMed (original) (raw)

Pheromone cross-inhibition between Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis

M Otto et al. Infect Immun. 2001 Mar.

Abstract

Cross-inhibition by quorum-sensing pheromones between Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis was investigated using all known S. aureus agr pheromone subgroups. All S. aureus subgroups were sensitive towards the S. epidermidis pheromone, with the exception of the recently identified subgroup 4. The subgroup 4 pheromone was also the only S. aureus pheromone able to inhibit the S. epidermidis agr response. The close relation of subgroup 4 to subgroup 1 suggests that subgroup 4 might have evolved from subgroup 1 by mutation under the selective pressure of competition with S. epidermidis. The competition between S. aureus and S. epidermidis by means of quorum-sensing cross talk seems to be generally in favor of S. epidermidis, which might explain the predominance of S. epidermidis on the skin and in infections on indwelling medical devices.

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Figures

FIG. 1

FIG. 1

Synthetic agr pheromone and derivatives used in this study.

FIG. 2

FIG. 2

Cross-inhibition of S. epidermidis and S. aureus by agr pheromones. The amount of delta-toxin in 500 μl of supernatant was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography after 8 h of growth and under the influence of different concentrations of added pheromone or pheromone derivatives. Pheromones were diluted in dimethyl sulfoxide; the control received only dimethyl sulfoxide. Cultures were grown in basic medium (1% tryptone [Difco], 0.5% yeast extract [Gibco BRL], 0.5% NaCl, 0.1% K2HPO4, 0.1% glucose) with shaking at 37°C. (A) Effect of the S. epidermidis pheromone on delta-toxin production of S. aureus agr subgroups. (B) Effect of the pheromones of different S. aureus agr subgroups on delta-toxin production of S. epidermidis.

FIG. 3

FIG. 3

Inhibition of the agr response in S. aureus agr subgroups by S. epidermidis pheromone derivatives. The amount of delta-toxin in the supernatants of S. aureus agr subgroup strains after addition of the S. epidermidis pheromone derivatives was determined as outlined in the legend for Fig. 2. Symbols used for S. aureus agr subgroups are the same as in Fig. 2A. Structures of the derivatives are shown in Fig. 1.

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