Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Infect Dis. Apr 26, 2022; 12(1): 20-32
Published online Apr 26, 2022. doi: 10.5495/wjcid.v12.i1.20
Mutations of the brpR and brpS genes affect biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus
Allison Zank, Lillian Schulte, Xavier Brandon, Lauren Carstensen, Amy Wescott, William R Schwan
Allison Zank, Lillian Schulte, Xavier Brandon, Lauren Carstensen, Amy Wescott, William R Schwan, Department of Microbiology, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI 54601, United States
Author contributions: Zank A, Wescott A, and Schwan WR designed the research study; Zank A, Schulte L, Brandon X, Carstensen L, Wescott A, and Schwan WR performed the research; Zank A, Brandon X, and Schwan WR contributed new plasmids; Zank A, and Schwan WR analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Science Foundation Graduate Research Program to Zank A, No. 0002016179620.
Institutional review board statement: No humans or samples from human were used in this study.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: No animals were used in this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Schwan WR holds a composition of matter and use patent covering the SK-03-92 Lead compound.
Data sharing statement: The authors will share their data with whomever asks.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: William R Schwan, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1725 State St, La Crosse, WI 54601, United States.wschwan@uwlax.edu
Received: September 2, 2021
Peer-review started: September 2, 2021
First decision: November 22, 2021
Revised: December 3, 2021
Accepted: February 12, 2022
Article in press: February 12, 2022
Published online: April 26, 2022
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a primary cause of skin/soft tissue infections. Biofilm formation is a key component of S. aureus pathogenesis. Thus, an understanding of what regulates biofilm formation in S. aureus is important.

Research motivation

We were interested in characterizing two open reading frames that we thought were tied to biofilm formation in S. aureus.

Research objectives

Determine if mutations in the brpR and brpS genes affected biofilm formation and what the respective proteins had homologies with.

Research methods

We used biofilm assays and quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis to test brpR and brpS mutants compared to the parent strain of S. aureus. Bioinformatic tools were used to determine what roles the BrpR and BrpS proteins may play in S. aureus cells.

Research results

The biofilm and qRT-PCR analyses demonstrated that mutations in the brpR and brpS genes affected biofilm formation in S. aureus and led to transcriptional differences in key biofilm-related genes as compared to the parent strain. Further, the BrpR and BrpS proteins share homologies with proteins involved in late-stage competence in streptococcal species.

Research conclusions

BrpR/BrpS are likely a new two-component system which regulates biofilm formation in S. aureus.

Research perspectives

A better understanding of a new regulator of S. aureus biofilm formation has been identified.