The d -Alanine Residues of Staphylococcus aureus Teichoic Acids Alter the Susceptibility to Vancomycin and the Activity of Autolytic Enzymes
Year: 2000
Type: article
Abstract: Recently, Staphylococcus aureus strains with intermediate resistance to vancomycin, the antibiotic of last resort, have been described. Multiple changes in peptidoglycan turnover and structure contribute to the resistance phenotype. Here, we describe that structural changes of teichoic acids in the cell envelope have a considerable influence on the susceptibility to vancomycin and other glycopeptides. S. aureus cells lacking D-alanine esters in teichoic acids exhibited an at least threefold-increased sensitivity to glycopeptide antibiotics. Furthermore, the autolytic activity of the D-alanine mutant was reduced compared to the wild-type, and the mutant was more susceptible to the staphylolytic enzyme lysostaphin. Vancomycin inhibited autolysis at very high concentrations but neither in the wild-type nor in the mutant was the autolytic activity influenced in the range of the MIC. Mutant cells had a considerably higher capacity to bind vancomycin.
Institution: University of Tübingen
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2102258368