Cheung Ambrose L, Bayer Arnold S, Zhang Gongyi, Gresham Hattie, Xiong Yan-Qiong
Department of Microbiology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2004 Jan 15;40(1):1-9. doi: 10.1016/S0928-8244(03)00309-2.
Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen. In response to changing host environments, this bacterium has the capability to switch on selective sets of genes to enhance its chances for survival. This switching process is precisely controlled by global regulatory elements. There are two major groups of global regulatory elements in S. aureus, including two-component regulatory systems (TCRSs) and the SarA protein family. Presumably, the sensor proteins of the 16 TCRSs in S. aureus provide external sensing, while the response regulators, in conjunction with alternative transcription factors and the SarA protein family, function as effectors within the intricate regulatory network to respond to environmental stimuli. Sequence alignment and structural data indicate that the SarA protein family could be subdivided into three subfamilies: (1) single-domain proteins; (2) double-domain proteins; and (3) proteins homologous to the MarR protein family. Recent data using reporter gene fusions in animal models, have confirmed distinct expression profiles of selected regulatory and target genes in vitro vs. in vivo.
金黄色葡萄球菌是一种机会致病菌。为响应不断变化的宿主环境，这种细菌有能力开启特定的基因组合，以增加其存活几率。这种转换过程由全局调控元件精确控制。金黄色葡萄球菌中有两大类全局调控元件，包括双组分调控系统（TCRSs）和SarA蛋白家族。据推测，金黄色葡萄球菌中16个TCRSs的传感蛋白提供外部感知，而响应调节因子与替代转录因子和SarA蛋白家族一起，在复杂的调控网络中作为效应器来响应环境刺激。序列比对和结构数据表明，SarA蛋白家族可细分为三个亚家族：（1）单结构域蛋白；（2）双结构域蛋白；（3）与MarR蛋白家族同源的蛋白。最近在动物模型中使用报告基因融合的研究数据证实了所选调控基因和靶基因在体外与体内不同的表达谱。
