Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants (SCVs): A Road Map for the Metabolic Pathways Involved in Persistent Infections
Persistent and relapsing infections, despite apparently adequate antibiotic therapy, occur frequently with many pathogens, but it is an especially prominent problem with Staphylococcus aureus infections. For the purposes of this review, persistence will encompass both of the concepts of long term s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2014-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fcimb.2014.00099/full |
| _version_ | 1811282099664060416 |
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| author | Richard Allan Proctor Andre eKriegeskorte Barbara eKahl Karsten eBecker Bettina eLöffler Georg ePeters |
| author_facet | Richard Allan Proctor Andre eKriegeskorte Barbara eKahl Karsten eBecker Bettina eLöffler Georg ePeters |
| author_sort | Richard Allan Proctor |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Persistent and relapsing infections, despite apparently adequate antibiotic therapy, occur frequently with many pathogens, but it is an especially prominent problem with Staphylococcus aureus infections. For the purposes of this review, persistence will encompass both of the concepts of long term survival within the host, including colonization, and the concept of resisting antibiotic therapy even when susceptible in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Over the past two decades, the mechanisms whereby bacteria achieve persistence are slowly being unraveled. S. aureus small colony variants (SCVs) are linked to chronic, recurrent, and antibiotic-resistant infections, and the study of SCVs has contributed significantly to understanding of persistence. In our earlier work, defects in electron transport and thymidylate biosynthesis were linked to the development of the SCV phenotype (reviewed in 2006), thus this work will be discussed only briefly. Since 2006, it has been found that persistent organisms including SCVs are part of the normal life cycle of bacteria, and often they arise in response to harsh conditions, e.g., antibiotics, starvation, host cationic peptides. Many of the changes found in these early SCVs have provided a map for the discovery mechanisms (pathways) for the development of persistent organisms. For example, changes in RNA processing, stringent response, toxin-antitoxin, ribosome protein L6 (RplF), and cold shock protein B (CspB) found in SCVs are also found in other persisters. In addition, many classic persister organisms also show slow growth, hence SCVs. Recent work on S. aureus USA300 has elucidated the impact of aerobic expression of arginine deiminase genes on its ability to chronically colonize the skin and survive in abscesses. S. aureus SCVs also express arginine deiminase genes aerobically as well. Thus, many pathways found activated in electron transport type of SCVs are also increased in persisters that have intact electr |
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b5943b49889f4a4a809aeb13cef3775c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2235-2988 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T01:45:34Z |
| publishDate | 2014-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-b5943b49889f4a4a809aeb13cef3775c2022-12-22T03:08:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology2235-29882014-07-01410.3389/fcimb.2014.00099101813Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants (SCVs): A Road Map for the Metabolic Pathways Involved in Persistent InfectionsRichard Allan Proctor0Andre eKriegeskorte1Barbara eKahl2Karsten eBecker3Bettina eLöffler4Georg ePeters5University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public HealthUniversity of MünsterUniversity of MünsterUniversity of MünsterUniversity of MünsterUniversity of MünsterPersistent and relapsing infections, despite apparently adequate antibiotic therapy, occur frequently with many pathogens, but it is an especially prominent problem with Staphylococcus aureus infections. For the purposes of this review, persistence will encompass both of the concepts of long term survival within the host, including colonization, and the concept of resisting antibiotic therapy even when susceptible in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Over the past two decades, the mechanisms whereby bacteria achieve persistence are slowly being unraveled. S. aureus small colony variants (SCVs) are linked to chronic, recurrent, and antibiotic-resistant infections, and the study of SCVs has contributed significantly to understanding of persistence. In our earlier work, defects in electron transport and thymidylate biosynthesis were linked to the development of the SCV phenotype (reviewed in 2006), thus this work will be discussed only briefly. Since 2006, it has been found that persistent organisms including SCVs are part of the normal life cycle of bacteria, and often they arise in response to harsh conditions, e.g., antibiotics, starvation, host cationic peptides. Many of the changes found in these early SCVs have provided a map for the discovery mechanisms (pathways) for the development of persistent organisms. For example, changes in RNA processing, stringent response, toxin-antitoxin, ribosome protein L6 (RplF), and cold shock protein B (CspB) found in SCVs are also found in other persisters. In addition, many classic persister organisms also show slow growth, hence SCVs. Recent work on S. aureus USA300 has elucidated the impact of aerobic expression of arginine deiminase genes on its ability to chronically colonize the skin and survive in abscesses. S. aureus SCVs also express arginine deiminase genes aerobically as well. Thus, many pathways found activated in electron transport type of SCVs are also increased in persisters that have intact electrhttp://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fcimb.2014.00099/fullMetabolismRNA Processing, Post-TranscriptionalStaphylococcus aureusPersistencesmall colony variants |
| spellingShingle | Richard Allan Proctor Andre eKriegeskorte Barbara eKahl Karsten eBecker Bettina eLöffler Georg ePeters Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants (SCVs): A Road Map for the Metabolic Pathways Involved in Persistent Infections Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology Metabolism RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional Staphylococcus aureus Persistence small colony variants |
| title | Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants (SCVs): A Road Map for the Metabolic Pathways Involved in Persistent Infections |
| title_full | Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants (SCVs): A Road Map for the Metabolic Pathways Involved in Persistent Infections |
| title_fullStr | Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants (SCVs): A Road Map for the Metabolic Pathways Involved in Persistent Infections |
| title_full_unstemmed | Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants (SCVs): A Road Map for the Metabolic Pathways Involved in Persistent Infections |
| title_short | Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants (SCVs): A Road Map for the Metabolic Pathways Involved in Persistent Infections |
| title_sort | staphylococcus aureus small colony variants scvs a road map for the metabolic pathways involved in persistent infections |
| topic | Metabolism RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional Staphylococcus aureus Persistence small colony variants |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fcimb.2014.00099/full |
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