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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 1999, p. 2121-2125, Vol. 43, No. 9
0066-4804/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Characterization of fmtA, a Gene That Modulates the Expression of Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

Hitoshi Komatsuzawa,1,* Kouji Ohta,1 Harald Labischinski,2 Motoyuki Sugai,1 and Hidekazu Suginaka1

Department of Microbiology, Hiroshima University School of Dentistry, Kasumi 1-2-3, Minami-ku, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan,1 and Bayer AG, PH-Research Antiinfectives I, D42096 Wuppertal, Germany2

Received 6 November 1998/Returned for modification 29 December 1998/Accepted 16 June 1999

FmtA is a factor which affects the methicillin resistance level in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Since FmtA has two of three conserved motifs which are typically found in penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) and beta -lactamases, we investigated the penicillin-binding activity of recombinant FmtA and found no such activity. Immunoblotting analysis revealed that FmtA localizes in the membrane fraction. To investigate the function of FmtA, high-pressure liquid chromatography analysis of cell wall muropeptides was performed with an fmtA-inactivated mutant and its parent. The mutant showed a reduced cross-linking and partially reduced amidation of glutamate residues in the peptidoglycan of the mutant. The transcription of fmtA was dose dependently increased by the addition of beta -lactam antibiotics, fosfomycin, and bacitracin, while its transcription was not changed by the addition of vancomycin or tetracycline. These results reveal that Fmt is a membrane-located, non-penicillin-binding protein and that mutation of fmtA affects the cell wall structure, although its precise function is still unknown.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Hiroshima University School of Dentistry, Kasumi 1-2-3, Minami-ku, Hiroshima City Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan. Phone: 81 82 257 5636. Fax: 81 82 257 5639. E-mail: hkomatsu{at}ipc.hiroshima-u.ac.jp.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 1999, p. 2121-2125, Vol. 43, No. 9
0066-4804/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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