Catabolic mannopine (MOP) cyclase encoded by Ti or Ri plasmids lactonizes MOP to agropine (AGR). The gene of the octopine-type Ti plasmid pTi15955 encoding the catabolic MOP cyclase enzyme previously was localized to a 1.6-kb segment within a cosmid clone, pYDH208. A subclone containing only this region complemented the AGR catabolism-negative phenotype conferred by a derivative of the octopine...

Foot ulceration is a major complication of diabetes. Several microorganisms can colonize these wounds, being Staphylococcus aureus frequently isolated. It produces numerous virulence factors controlled by Quorum-sensing system, encoded by agr (accessory gene regulator). Currently four distinct genetic agr groups have been established. Quorum-sensing system of a collection of 23 S. aureus DFU is...

BACKGROUND The accessory gene regulator (agr) and staphylococcal accessory regulator (sarA) play opposing roles in Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation. There is mounting evidence to suggest that these opposing roles are therapeutically relevant in that mutation of agr results in increased biofilm formation and decreased antibiotic susceptibility while mutation of sarA has the opposite effec...

Staphylococcus aureus contains an autoinducing quorum-sensing system encoded within the agr operon that coordinates expression of virulence genes required for invasive infection. Allelic variation within agr has generated four agr specific groups, agr I-IV, each of which secretes a distinct autoinducing peptide pheromone (AIP1-4) that drives agr signaling. Because agr signaling mediates a pheno...

Background & Objective: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is reported as one of the important bacterial causes of burn wound infections. This study was carried out to investigate molecular characterization of community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) isolated from Iranian burn patients. Methods: A total of 31 isolates of S. aureus<...

The pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus has the ability to cause a wide variety of human diseases, ranging from superficial abscesses and wound infections to deep and systemic infections such as osteomyelitis, endocarditis and septicaemia. The ability to cause disease has been attributed to a large number of toxins and digesting enzymes as well as to proteins at the bacterial surface tha...

Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is an important food-borne human pathogen that is able to strive under a wide range of environmental conditions. Its accessory gene regulator (agr) system was shown to impact on biofilm formation and virulence and has been proposed as one of the regulatory mechanisms involved in adaptation to these changing environments. The Lm agr operon is homologous to the Staphyl...

The expression of most Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors is controlled by the agr locus, which encodes a two-component signaling pathway whose activating ligand is an agr-encoded autoinducing peptide (AIP). A polymorphism in the amino acid sequence of the AIP and of its corresponding receptor divides S. aureus strains into four major groups. Within a given group, each strain produces a pe...

BACKGROUND/AIM Despite great effort to elucidate the process of acquired gefitinib resistance (AGR) in order to develop successful chemotherapy, the precise mechanisms and genetic factors of such resistance have yet to be elucidated. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a cross-platform meta-analysis of three publically available microarray datasets related to cancer with AGR. For the top 100 d...

Introduction: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is responsible for an increasing number of serious hospital- and community-acquired infections. USA300 is known to be the most common cause of community-acquired infections, but recently there have been some reports on hospital-acquired infections caused by this strain. Methods: Totally 171 isolates of S. aureus were collected fro...