INBRE Seminar Series
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Dr. John E. GustafsonHousehold disinfectant reduced susceptibility mechanism of |
Staphylococcus aureus mutants expressing reduced susceptibility to a pine-oil based house disinfectant (POHDRS) also display reduced susceptibility to membrane denaturing antimicrobials: the cell wall-active antibiotics vancomycin and oxacillin, and the human cathepsin G peptide CG117-136. In addition, POHDRS mutants demonstrate increased anteiso fatty-acid content, altered peptidoglycan metabolism and growth rates, as well as reduced staphyloxanthin (orange pigment) production. Using transcriptome and comparative genomic sequencing we conclude that the POHDRS phenotype results from mutations altering the function of the catabolite control protein (ccpA) and upregulation of the mevalonate pathway and ddh, a gene previously identified to affect vancomcyin resistance levels. Furthermore, transcriptome alterations are also responsible for the altered cell wall metabolism and reduced staphyloxanthin production observed in a POHDRS mutant. |
| Dr. Gustafson is Director of the Molecular Biology Program in the Biology Department at New Mexico State University. |