Genes for Enzymes Degrading Poly-ß-Acetyl Glucosamine in Staphylococcus Aureus Environmental Biofilms

Research output: Conference materialsPosterpeer-review

Abstract

Hospital-associated infections caused by resistant and antibiotic-tolerant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) are of great concern. S. aureus attachment on medical devices in the form of biofilm can lead to serious infections. Poly-ß-
acetyl glucosamine is a key compound in S. aureus biofilm matrix. Glycoside hydrolases, degrading poly-ß-acetyl glucosamine as
substrate, can be promising agents in the treatment of S. aureus environmental biofilms. By lysing single-cell bacteria and
decomposing biofilm structure, glycoside hydrolases found in methicillin-resistant S. aureus could have a high potential in therapy for
serious staphylococcal infections. The autolysin of S. aureus is a sub-group of glucoside hydrolases, which is encoded by the gene
AtlA. Autolysin has been reported to degrade poly-ß-acetyl glucosamine in S. aureus cell wall during the biofilm formation. This is a
bifunctional enzyme consisting of a glucosaminidase domain and an amidase domain. As the most common hydrolases found in S.
aureus were suggested to cause the cell lysis of different S. aureus strains, we screened the occurrence of hydrolase genes in S. aureus
genomes. The genomes of 135 sequenced methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains were screened for the genes of enzymes degrading
poly-ß-acetyl glucosamine. Atl sequences and autolysin-related genes were selected, and the pairwise comparisons of the selected
sequences were carried out. The frequency and distribution of the sequences encoding for amidase and glucosaminidase were
evaluated. As a result, the autolysin-coding genes occurred in all 135 S. aureus genomes. The locations of the sequences encoding for
amidases were similar in most of the genomes. Some strains even contain the phage-related lytic genes. Moreover, many other genes
in S. aureus genomes were suggested to encode enzymes degrading poly-ß-acetyl glucosamine. They may be important in the
prevention of hospital associated S. aureus MRSA infections.
Original languageEnglish
PagesPP02-068
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jun 2018
MoE publication typeNot Eligible
Event2nd International Conference on Bioresources, Energy, Environment, and Materials Technology (BEEM2018) - Gangwon Province, Korea, Republic of
Duration: 10 Jun 201813 Jun 2018
Conference number: 2

Conference

Conference2nd International Conference on Bioresources, Energy, Environment, and Materials Technology (BEEM2018)
Abbreviated titleBEEM2018
Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
CityGangwon Province
Period10/06/201813/06/2018

Fields of Science

  • 1182 Biochemistry, cell and molecular biology

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