Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 2010-01-01

Method for screening compounds that influence virulence gene expression in Staphylococcus aureus.

Anita Nielsen, Kristian F Nielsen, Dorte Frees, Thomas O Larsen, Hanne Ingmer

Index: Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 54 , 509-12, (2010)

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Abstract

We present a simple assay to examine effects of compounds on virulence gene expression in the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. The assay employs transcriptional reporter strains carrying lacZ fused to central virulence genes. Compounds affecting virulence gene expression and activity of the agr locus are scored based on color change in the presence of a chromogenic beta-galactosidase substrate. The assay can be used to screen for novel antivirulence compounds from many different sources, such as fungi, as demonstrated here.