Summary
Insertion of the erythromycin-resistance transposon Tn551 into the Staphylococcus aureus chromosome at a site which maps between the purB and ilv loci has a pleiotrophic effect on the production of a number of extracellular proteins. Production of alpha, beta and delta hemolysin, toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST-1) and staphylokinase was depressed about fifty-fold while protein A production was elevated twenty-fold. Hybridization analysis showed that the defect in expression of TSST-1 and alpha hemolysin was at the transcriptional level. Inability of the mutant strain to express either a cloned TSST-1 gene or the chromosomal gene indicates that the transposon has inactivated a trans-active positive control element. This element has been designated agr for accessory gene regulator.
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Recsei, P., Kreiswirth, B., O'Reilly, M. et al. Regulation of exoprotein gene expression in Staphylococcus aureus by agr . Mol Gen Genet 202, 58–61 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330517
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330517