ABSTRACTVarious mutations in therpoBgene, which encodes the RNA polymerase β subunit, are associated with increased vancomycin (VAN) resistance in vancomycin-intermediateStaphylococcus aureus(VISA) and heterogeneously VISA (hVISA) strains. We reported thatrpoBmutations are also linked to the expression of the recently found “slow VISA” (sVISA) phenotype (M. Saito, Y. Katayama, T. Hishinuma, A. Iwamoto, Y. Aiba, K Kuwahara-Arai, L. Cui, M. Matsuo, N. Aritaka, and K. Hiramatsu, Antimicrob Agents Chemother 58:5024–5035, 2014,http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AAC.02470-13). Because RpoC and RpoB are components of RNA polymerase, we examined the effect of therpoC(P440L) mutation on the expression of the sVISA phenotype in the Mu3fdh2*V6-5 strain (V6-5), which was derived from a previously reported hVISA strain with the VISA phenotype. V6-5 had an extremely prolonged doubling time (DT) (72 min) and high vancomycin MIC (16 mg/liter). However, the phenotype of V6-5 was unstable, and the strain frequently reverted to hVISA with concomitant loss of low growth rate, cell wall thickness, and reduced autolysis. Whole-genome sequencing of phenotypic revertant strain V6-5-L1 and comparison with V6-5 revealed a second mutation, F562L, inrpoC. Introduction of the wild-type (WT)rpoCgene using a multicopy plasmid resolved the sVISA phenotype of V6-5, indicating that therpoC(P440L) mutant expressed the sVISA phenotype in hVISA. To investigate the mechanisms of resistance in the sVISA strain, we independently isolated an additional 10 revertants to hVISA and VISA. In subsequent whole-genome analysis, we identified compensatory mutations in the genes of three distinct functional categories: therpoCgene itself as regulatory mutations, peptidoglycan biosynthesis genes, andrelQ, which is involved in the stringent response. It appears that therpoC(P440L) mutation causes the sVISA phenotype by augmenting cell wall peptidoglycan synthesis and through the control of the stringent response.
Stabilization of the primary sigma factor of Staphylococcus aureus by core RNA polymerase
