A research group led by Prof. SUN Baolin from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) makes significant progress in the pathogenic mechanisms of Staphylococcus aureus. Entitled as Rsp promotes the transcription of virulence factors in an agr-independent manner in Staphylococcus aureus,their work is published on Emerging Microbes & Infections.

The research discovers the way in which Rsp protein self-modulates. As a member of the AraC/XylS family which represents a group of transcriptional regulators with a highly conserved 99 amino acid at the C-terminal region, Rsp can bind to its promoter regions in an agr-independent manner to positively regulate the expression of virulence genes. The contribution of Rsp to the pathogenicity of Staphylococcus aureus is further confirmed by a mouse model.

Rsp promotes the transcription of virulence factors in Staphylococcus aureus

The research enlarges our knowledge of the regulation of virulence determinants in Staphylococcus aureus and provides new ideas on the molecular targets in the process of developing medicine to Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2020.1752116

(Written by LIU Wei, edited by LU Hongyu, USTC News Center)