College of Life Science and Technology, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu 610041, China.
Sci China Life Sci. 2011 Sep;54(9):863-9. doi: 10.1007/s11427-011-4195-5. Epub 2011 Jul 20.
The staphylococcal nuclease, encoded by the nuc1 gene, is an important virulence factor of Staphylococcus aureus. However, the physiological role of the nuclease has not been fully characterized. The current study observed that biofilm development could be prevented in staphylococcal nuclease-producing strains of S. aureus; however, when the nuc1 gene was knocked out, the ability to form a biofilm significantly increased. Scanning electron and confocal scanning laser microscopy were used to evaluate the role of the nuc1 gene in biofilm formation. Moreover, the nuc1 gene product, staphylococcal nuclease, and recombinant NUC1 protein were found to have a visible effect on other biofilm-forming bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, and Haemophilus parasuis. The current study showed a direct relationship between staphylococcal nuclease production and the prevention of biofilm development. The findings from this study underscore the important role of staphylococcal nuclease activity to prevent biofilm formation in S. aureus. They also provided evidence for the biological role of staphylococcal nucleases in other organisms.
葡萄球菌核酸酶由 nuc1 基因编码，是金黄色葡萄球菌的重要毒力因子。然而，该核酸酶的生理作用尚未完全阐明。本研究观察到，产葡萄球菌核酸酶的金黄色葡萄球菌菌株可防止生物膜的形成；然而，当敲除 nuc1 基因时，形成生物膜的能力显著增加。扫描电子显微镜和共聚焦扫描激光显微镜用于评估 nuc1 基因在生物膜形成中的作用。此外，发现 nuc1 基因产物葡萄球菌核酸酶和重组 NUC1 蛋白对其他生物膜形成菌（如铜绿假单胞菌、胸膜肺炎放线杆菌和副猪嗜血杆菌）有明显的影响。本研究表明，葡萄球菌核酸酶的产生与生物膜形成的预防之间存在直接关系。本研究结果强调了葡萄球菌核酸酶活性在预防金黄色葡萄球菌生物膜形成中的重要作用。它们还为其他生物体中葡萄球菌核酸酶的生物学作用提供了证据。
