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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 2000, p. 2845-2847, Vol. 44, No. 10
Microbial Genetics, University of
Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
Received 29 November 1999/Returned for modification 18 March
2000/Accepted 15 June 2000
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.
0066-4804/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
The D-Alanine Residues of
Staphylococcus aureus Teichoic Acids Alter the
Susceptibility to Vancomycin and the Activity of Autolytic
Enzymes
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Microbial
Genetics, University of Tübingen, Waldhäuser Str. 70/8,
72076 Tübingen, Germany. Phone: 49-7071-297-5938. Fax:
49-7071-29-5937. E-mail: andreas.peschel{at}uni-tuebingen.de.
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