NYU scientists discover dangerous new method for bacterial toxi...(The distinct chromosomal regions within ...)

Date:1/6/2009

>The distinct chromosomal regions within Staph aureus that carry many of its toxins, the pathogenicity islands, are actually related to phages, allowing them to be easily activated and packaged into phage particles, says Dr. Novick. Most phages, however, require a very specific DNA sequence for attaching this packaged genetic material to the genome of other bacteria. "If you knock out that attachment site, the phage has a very difficult time finding another one," he says.

He and Dr. Chen found that the rules of the attachment process in both Staph aureus and L. monocytogenes have been relaxed to allow attachment at more DNA sites, thus removing a major barrier for integrating new genetic elements like the pathogenicity islands.

Drs. Chen and Novick have not thus far been able to demonstrate that other bacterial species whose outer cell walls are similar in structure to that of L. monocytogenes could take up the Staph aureus pathogenicity islands through phage infection. They hope to cast a wider net in follow-up studies to determine whether other species could be hosts for pathogenic Staph aureus genes. In addition, they plan to follow the fate of an S. aureus bacteriophage once it injects its own DNA into L. monocytogenes, and they would like to test whether the phage-mediated exchange of genetic information goes only one way or in both directions between the microbes.

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Contact: Lorinda Klein Lorindaann.Klein@nyumc.org 212-404-3555 NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine Source:Eurekalert

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