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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2001, p. 1099-1103, Vol. 45, No. 4
0066-4804/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AAC.45.4.1099-1103.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

rho Is Not Essential for Viability or Virulence in Staphylococcus aureus

Robert S. Washburn,dagger Andrea Marra,Dagger Alexander P. Bryant, Martin Rosenberg, and Daniel R. Gentry*

GlaxoSmithKline, Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426

Received 15 November 2000/Returned for modification 29 December 2000/Accepted 11 January 2001

We have identified the gene for transcription termination factor Rho in Staphylococcus aureus. Deletion of rho in S. aureus reveals that it is not essential for viability or virulence. We also searched the available bacterial genomic sequences for homologs of Rho and found that it is broadly distributed and highly conserved. Exceptions include Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Mycoplasma genitalium, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803, all of which appear not to possess a Rho homolog. Complementation studies indicate that S. aureus Rho possesses the same activity as Escherichia coli Rho and that the Rho inhibitor bicyclomycin is active against S. aureus Rho. Our results explain the lack of activity of bicyclomycin against many gram-positive bacteria and raise the possibility that the essentiality of rho may be the exception rather than the rule.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: GlaxoSmithKline, UP1345, 1250 S. Collegeville Rd., Collegeville, PA 19426. Phone: (610) 917-7504. Fax: (610) 917-7901. E-mail: Dan_R_Gentry{at}sbphrd.com.

dagger Present address: Institute for Cancer Research, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.

Dagger Present address: Protein Design Laboratories, Inc., Fremont, CA 94555.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2001, p. 1099-1103, Vol. 45, No. 4
0066-4804/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AAC.45.4.1099-1103.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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