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World J Clin Infect Dis. May 25, 2016; 6(2): 22-27
Published online May 25, 2016. doi: 10.5495/wjcid.v6.i2.22
Osmolyte transport in Staphylococcus aureus and the role in pathogenesis
William R Schwan, Keith J Wetzel
William R Schwan, Keith J Wetzel, Department of Microbiology, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI 54601, United States
Author contributions: All the authors contribute to the manuscript.
Supported by NIH grant, No. 1R15AI47801-01A.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: William R Schwan, MD, Department of Microbiology, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1725 State St, La Crosse, WI 54601, United States. wschwan@uwlax.edu
Telephone: +1-608-7856980
Received: October 23, 2015
Peer-review started: October 27, 2015
First decision: February 2, 2016
Revised: February 18, 2016
Accepted: April 7, 2016
Article in press: April 11, 2016
Published online: May 25, 2016
Abstract

Osmolyte transport is a pivotal part of bacterial life, particularly in high salt environments. Several low and high affinity osmolyte transport systems have been identified in various bacterial species. A lot of research has centered on characterizing the osmolyte transport systems of Gram-negative bacteria, but less has been done to characterize the same transport systems in Gram-positive bacteria. This review will focus on the previous work that has been done to understand the osmolyte transport systems in the species Staphylococcus aureus and how these transporters may serve dual functions in allowing the bacteria to survive and grow in a variety of environments, including on the surface or within humans or other animals.

Keywords: PutP, OpuD, Staphylococcus aureus, Proline transport, Osmolyte

Core tip:Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the number one cause of skin and soft tissue infections. In the United States, S. aureus is usually the number one hospital-acquired pathogen. The skin and urinary tract organs are high osmotic stress environments. Osmolyte transport is essential for S. aureus survival in different environmental niches, such as within human skin abscesses or the human urinary tract.