Transposon mutagenesis in Staphylococcus epidermidis using the Enterococcus faecalis transposon Tn917

Tn1 transposition in the course of natural transformation enables horizontal antibiotic resistance spread in Acinetobacter baylyi

Transposons are genetic elements that change their intracellular genomic position by transposition and are spread horizontally between bacteria when located on plasmids. It was recently discovered that transposition from fully heterologous DNA also occurs in the course of natural transformation. Here, we characterize the molecular details and constraints of this process using the replicative transposon Tn1 and the naturally competent bacterium Acinetobacter baylyi. We find that chromosomal insertion of Tn1 by transposition occurs at low but detectable frequencies and preferably around the A. baylyi terminus of replication. We show that Tn1 transposition is facilitated by transient expression of the transposase and resolvase encoded by the donor DNA. RecA protein is essential for the formation of a circular, double-stranded cytoplasmic intermediate from incoming donor DNA, and RecO is beneficial but not essential in this process. Absence of the recipient RecBCD nuclease stabilizes the double-stranded intermediate. Based on these results, we suggest a mechanistic model for transposition during natural transformation.

An update on the molecular genetics toolbox for staphylococci

Staphylococci are Gram-positive spherical bacteria of enormous clinical and biotechnological relevance. Staphylococcus aureus has been extensively studied as a model pathogen. A plethora of methods and molecular tools has been developed for genetic modification of at least ten different staphylococcal species to date. Here we review recent developments of various genetic tools and molecular methods for staphylococcal research, which include reporter systems and vectors for controllable gene expression, gene inactivation, gene essentiality testing, chromosomal integration and transposon delivery. It is furthermore illustrated how mutant strain construction by homologous or site-specific recombination benefits from sophisticated counterselection methods. The underlying genetic components have been shown to operate in wild-type staphylococci or modified chassis strains. Finally, possible future developments in the field of applied Staphylococcus genetics are highlighted.

Characterization of transposon mutants of biofilm-producing Staphylococcus epidermidis impaired in the accumulative phase of biofilm production: genetic identification of a hexosamine-containing polysaccharide intercellular adhesin

The primary attachment to polymer surfaces followed by accumulation in multilayered cell clusters leads to production of Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms, which are thought to contribute to virulence in biomaterial-related infections. We isolated Tn917 transposon mutants of biofilm-producing S. epidermidis 13-1, which were completely biofilm negative. In pulsed-field gel electrophoresis no obvious deletions of the mutants were noted. The Tn917 insertions of mutants M10 and M11 were located on different EcoRI fragments but on identical 60-kb SmaI and 17-kb BamHI chromosomal fragments. Linkage of transposon insertions of mutants M10 and M11 with the altered phenotype was demonstrated by phage transduction, whereas the several other mutants apparently represented spontaneous variants. In a primary attachment assay with polystyrene spheres, no significant difference between any of the mutants and the wild type could be detected. Cell clustering as an indication of intercellular adhesion, which is a prerequisite for accumulation in multilayered cell clusters, was not detected with any mutant. These results demonstrate that the mutants were impaired in the accumulative phase of biofilm production. Mutants M10 and M11 did not produce detectable amounts of a specific polysaccharide antigen (D. Mack, N. Siemssen, and R. Laufs, Infect. Immun. 60:2048-2057, 1992), whereas substantially reduced amounts of antigen were produced by the spontaneous variants. Hexosamine was determined as the major specific component of the antigen enriched by gel filtration of biofilm-producing S. epidermidis 1457 because almost no hexosamine was detected in material prepared from the isogenic biofilm-negative transductant 1457-M11, which differentiates the antigen from other S. epidermidis polysaccharide components. Our results provide direct genetic evidence for a function of the antigen in the accumulative phase of biofilm production by S. epidermidis by mediating intercellular adhesion.