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Impacts of enterotoxin gene cluster-encoded superantigens on local and systemic experimental Staphylococcus aureus infections

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Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is both a component of the normal skin flora and an important pathogen. It expresses a range of recognized and putative virulence factors, such as enterotoxins with superantigenic properties. Several superantigen genes, i.e., seg, sei, selm, seln, and selo, are encoded by the enterotoxin gene cluster (egc), which is found in the majority of S. aureus isolates. Carriage of egc is associated with fitness of S. aureus in the gut microbiota, but it is not known if it contributes to pathogenicity. We constructed egc+ (functional for the seg, selm, and selo genes) and isogenic egc− S. aureus mutants, and investigated their virulence profiles in murine infection models. No effect of egc was seen in a local skin and soft tissue infection model, but in an invasive infection model, increased weight loss was observed after infection with the egc+ as compared to the egc− mutant. Mortality and arthritis were not affected by egc status. Our data suggest that egc has limited effects on the virulence of S. aureus. It may primarily function as a colonization factor increasing commensal fitness, although it might have some aggravating effects on the infection when the bacteria reach the blood.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Tim Foster and Dr. Ian Monk (Department of Microbiology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland) for supervising the construction of the isogenic mutants, and Prof. Hans-Jürg Monstein (University of Linköping) and Dr. Anne Farewell (University of Gothenburg) for their advice regarding the manuscript. We acknowledge the valuable assistance of Dr. Ing-Marie Jonsson. The study was supported by the European Commission (Marie Curie IMMUNOBIOTA, grant MTKD-CT-2006-042540), Region Västra Götaland (LUA/ALF), Göteborg Medical Society, Göteborg Rheumatism Association, and Scandinavian Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Adlerbertska, Wilhelm and Martina Lundgren, and Family Thöléns and Kristlers Foundations. This study has not received financial support from any commercial source.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg, Guldhedsgatan 10, 413 46, Göteborg, Sweden

    F. L. Nowrouzian

  2. Department of Rheumatology and Inflammation Research, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    A. Ali & E. Josefsson

  3. Centre National de Référence des Staphylocoques, Hospices Civils de Lyon, CIRI, Université Lyon 1, Inserm U1111, CNRS UMR5308, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon, France

    C. Badiou, O. Dauwalder & G. Lina

Authors
  1. F. L. Nowrouzian
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  2. A. Ali
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  3. C. Badiou
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  4. O. Dauwalder
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  5. G. Lina
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  6. E. Josefsson
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Correspondence to F. L. Nowrouzian.

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Nowrouzian, F.L., Ali, A., Badiou, C. et al. Impacts of enterotoxin gene cluster-encoded superantigens on local and systemic experimental Staphylococcus aureus infections. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 34, 1443–1449 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-015-2371-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-015-2371-4

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