Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Hypothetical Model of Phenotypic Variation in Staphylococci

  • Chapter
Book cover Pathogenesis of Wound and Biomaterial-Associated Infections

Summary

Members of the genus Staphylococcus exhibit a characteristic pleiotropic phenotypic variation. For one strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis senso stricto, colonial morphology, slime production, beta-lactam resistance, and virulence were subject to simultaneous, spontaneous, phenotypic variation at a rate of 1 ×10−5 per bacterium per generation. Based upon recent progress with Bordetella pertussis and Staphylococcus aureus we prepared a model of phenotypic variation that would explain this phenomenon.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Abraham JM, Freitag CS, Clements JR, Eisenstein BI. An invertible element of DNA controls phase variation of type 1 fimbriae of Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci 82: 5724 – 27, 1985.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Altenbern RA. Genetic studies of pigmentation of Sta-phylococcus aureus. Can J Microbiol 13: 389 – 95, 1967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Berger-Bashi B, StrassleA, Kayser FH. Characterization of an isogenic set of methicillin-resistant and susceptible mutants of Staphylococcus aureus. Eur J Clin Microbiol 5: 697 – 701, 1986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bigger JW, Boland CR, O'Meara RAQ. Variant colonies of Staphylococcus aureus. J Path Bacteriol 30: 261 – 69, 1927.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Chambers HF, Miller MH. Emergence of Resistance to Cephalothin and Gen tamicin during combination therapy for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis in rabbits. J Infect Dis 155: 581 – 85, 1987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Chatterjee AN, Mirelman D, Singer HJ, Park JT. Properties of a novel pleiotropic bacteriophage-resistant mutant of Staphylococcus aureus H. J Bacteriol 100: 846 – 53, 1969.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Christensen GD, Baddour LM, Simpson WA. Phenotypic variation of Staphylococcus epidermidis slime production: in vitro and in vivo studies. Infect Immun 55: 2870 – 77, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Christensen GD, Baddour LM, Madison BM, Parisi JT, Abraham SN, Hasty DL, Lowrance JH, Josephs JA, Simpson WA. Colonial morphology of staphylococci on Memphis agar: phase variation of slime production, resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, and virulence. J Infect Dis (in Press, JID -A881065), 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Eisenstein BI. Phase variation of type 1 fimbriae in Escherichia coli is under transcriptional control. Science 214: 337 – 39, 1981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Eisenstein BI, Sweet DS, Vaughn V, Friedman DI. Integration host factor is required for the DNA inversion that controls phase variation in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84: 6506 – 10, 1987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Elek SD. Staphylococcus pyogenes,E. and S. Livingstone Ltd., Edinburgh, 15-18,1959.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Forsgren A, Nordstrom K, Philipson L, Sjoquist J. Protein A mutants of Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacteriol 107: 245 – 50, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fung JC, Kaplan MH, Hsieh H-C, Stephens A, Tyburski MB, Tennenbaum MJ. Two coagulase-variant forms of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from blood cultures. J Clin Microbiol 20: 115 – 17, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Goldman S, Hanski E, Fish F. Spontaneous phase variation in Bordetella pertussis is a multistep non-random process. EMBO J 3: 1353 – 56, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Harmon SA, Baldwin JN. Nature of the determinant controlling penirillinase production in Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacteriol 87: 593 – 97, 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Hindler JA, Inderlied CB. Effects of the source of Mueller- Hinton agar and resistance frequency on the detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol 21: 205 – 10, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kass EH, Schlievert PM, Parsonnet J, Mills JT. Effect of magnesium on production of toxic-shock-syndrome toxin-1: a collaborative study. J Infect Dis 158: 44 – 50, 1988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kozarsky PE, Terry PM, Rimland D. Development of antibiotic resistance by Staphylococcus aureus in a single patient. Amer J Med 80: 1208 – 12, 1986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Korman RZ. Coagulase-negative mutants of Staphylococcus aureus: genetic studies. J Bacteriol 86: 363 – 69, 1963.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Lee AC, Bergdoll MS. Spontaneous occurrence of Staphylococcus aureus mutants with different pigmentation and ability to produce toxic shock syndrome toxin 1. J Clin Microbiol 22: 308 – 09, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  21. McCchyJK, Rosenblum ED. Biological properties of a-toxin mutants of Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacteriol 92: 575 – 79, 1966.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Omenn GS, Friedman J. Isolation of mutants of Staphylococcus aureus lacking extracellular nuclease activity. J Bacterio1101: 921 - 24, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Parisi JT and Kiley MP. Components in brain heart infusion selective for chromogenic variants of Staphylococcus aureus. Can J Microbiol 16: 91 – 94, 1970.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. PengH-L, Novick RP, Kreiswirth B, Komblum J, Schlievert P. Cloning, characterization, and sequencing of an accessory gene regulator (agr) in Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacterlo1170: 4365 – 72, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Peppier MS. Isolation and characterization of isogenic pairs of domed hemolytic and flat nonhemolytic colony types of Bordetella pertussis. Infect Immun 35: 840 – 51, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Recsei P, Kreiswirth B, Schleivert P, Gruss A, Novick RP. Regulation of exoprotein gene expression in Staphylococcus aureus by agr. Mol Gen Genet 202: 58 – 61, 1986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Robinson JM, Heath HE, Sloan GL. Lack of pleiotropic compensation in extracellular production by hypoproduring variants of Staphylococcus simulans biovar staphylolyticus. J Gen Microbio1133: 253 – 57, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Rose KE, Heath HE, Sloan GL. Simple screening method for identification of nonpleiotropic mutants for exoenzyme production. Appl Environ Microbiol 49: 1335 – 37, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Sabath LD. Mechanisms of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics in strains of Staphylococcus aureus. Ann Int Med 97: 339 – 44, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Schwalbe RS, Stapleton JT, Gilligan PH. Emergence of vancomycin resistance in coagulase-negative staphylococci. New Engl J Med 316: 927 – 31, 1987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Selepak ST, Witebsky FG. Inoculum size and lot-to-lot variation as significant variables in the tube coagulase test for Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol 22: 835 – 37, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Sugarman B, Pesanti E. Treatment failures secondary to in vivo development of drug resistance by microorganisms. Rev Infect Dis 2: 153 – 68, 1980.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Stibitz S, Weiss AA, Falkow S. Genetic analysis of a region of the Bordetella pertussis chromosome encoding filamentous hemagglutinin and the pleiotropic regulatory locus vir. J Bacteriol 170: 2904 – 13, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Weiss AA, Falkow. Genetic analysis of phase change in Bordetella pertussis. Infect Immun 43: 263 – 69, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Yoshikawa M, Matsuda F, Naka M, Murofushi E, Tsunematsu Y. Pleiotropic alteration of activities of several toxins and enzymes in mutants of Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacterio1119: 117 – 22, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Gordon D. Christensen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Larry M. Baddour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. W. Andrew Simpson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Lund, POB 117, S-22100, Lund, Sweden

    Torkel Wadström PhD (Professor) & Åsa Ljungh PhD (Assistant Professor) (Professor) &  (Assistant Professor)

  2. Department Medical Microbiology, Sölvegaten 23, S-23362, Lund, Sweden

    Ingvar Eliasson PhD

  3. Burns Institute, Shriners Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Ian Holder PhD

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1990 Springer-Verlag London Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Christensen, G.D., Baddour, L.M., Simpson, W.A. (1990). Hypothetical Model of Phenotypic Variation in Staphylococci. In: Wadström, T., Eliasson, I., Holder, I., Ljungh, Å. (eds) Pathogenesis of Wound and Biomaterial-Associated Infections. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3454-1_53

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3454-1_53

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-19596-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-3454-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation