Bose Lab

Overview

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacteria found commonly in the nares of humans. However, it is also a prolific pathogen that can cause an array of infections, ranging from mild skin and soft tissue infections to severe diseases such as toxic shock syndrome, scalded skin syndrome, necrotizing pneumonia, necrotizing fasciitis, abscesses, and endocarditis. While once considered an opportunistic pathogen, the recent emergence of particular CA-MRSA strains that can infect otherwise healthy individuals has challenged this notion. In a very simplistic view, S. aureus infections can be grouped in two categories: 1) acute invasive disease dependent on the production of secreted factors such as toxins, and 2) chronic infections associated with biofilm formation which may or may not form on implanted medical devices. The research of my lab focuses on dissecting the molecular mechanisms behind the ability of this bacterium to cause disease.


FakA in virulence factor regulation:Bacteria have the ability to produce fatty acids endogenously for the production of many metabolites and membranes. In addition, bacteria can also acquire fatty acids from the environment and the use of these exogenous fatty acids requires an exogenous fatty acid utilization pathway. In Staphylococcus aureus, and likely other Gram-positive bacteria, this pathway consists of two fatty acid carrier proteins and the fatty acid kinase FakA. Our studies initially identified FakA (previously called VfrB) as an uncharacterized regulator of virulence factors such as Hla and proteases. The regulation of virulence factors is due, in part, to the necessity of FakA for activation of the SaeRS two component system. Indeed, the presence of a constitutively-active SaeS bypasses the need for FakA in hla and coa expression. Furthermore, stimulation of SaeS with HNP-1 decreases FakA requirement for coa expression. In addition to this, a fakA mutant have altered cellular metabolism including carbon and amino acid metabolism, as well as changes in cytoplasmic redox and energy status.  This change in cellular metabolism results in altered growth kinetics. Interestingly, altered growth kinetics is independent of Sae, demonstrating that the inability to use exogenous fatty acids impacts multiple pathways. While initially expected to survive poorer during infection, the fakA mutant causes hyper-necrotic lesions in a murine model of skin infection, despite similar bacterial titers. By 7-days post-infection, the wild-type infection begins to resolve while the fakA mutant-infected mice still have necrotic skin lesions and high titers of bacteria. Interesting, these changes in bacterial numbers and pathology correlate with altered immune response at the site of infection. Together, these data demonstrate that the fatty acid kinase FakA modulates both the physiology and virulence of S. aureus.


YjbH/Spx in virulence factor production. To persist within the host and cause disease, Staphylococcus aureus relies on its ability to precisely fine-tune virulence factor expression in response to rapidly changing environments. During an unbiased transposon mutant screen, we observed that disruption of the two-gene operon, yjbIH, resulted in decreased pigmentation and aureolysin activity relative to the wild-type strain. Further analyses revealed that YjbH, a predicted thioredoxin-like oxidoreductase, is mostly responsible for the observed yjbIH mutant phenotypes, though a minor role exists for the putative truncated hemoglobin, YjbI. These differences were due to significantly decreased expression of crtOPQMN and aur. Previous studies found that YjbH targets the disulfide- and oxidative-stress responsive regulator Spx for degradation by ClpXP. The absence of yjbH or yjbI resulted in altered sensitivities to nitrosative and oxidative stress and iron deprivation. Additionally, aconitase activity was altered in the yjbH and yjbI mutant strains. Decreased pigmentation and Aur activity in the yjbH mutant was found to be Spx-dependent and to involve the alternative sigma factor, σB. Lastly, we used a murine sepsis model to determine the effect of the yjbIH deletion on pathogenesis and found that the mutant was better able to colonize the kidneys and spleens during an acute infection than the wild-type strain. These studies identify changes in pigmentation and protease activity in response to YjbIH and are the first to show a role for these proteins during infection.


New tools for the research community: While a lot of recent successes have enhanced our ability to genetically manipulate Staphylococcus to make mutants or track gene/protein expression, more tools are necessary. To accomplish our studies, we are heavily invested in the development of new genetic tools for studying S. aureus and closely related bacteria.


Select related publications:

  1. Ridder, MJ, AKG McReynolds, H Dai, MT Pritchard, M. Markiewicz, and JL Bose. 2022. Kinetic characterization of the immune response to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus subcutaneous skin infection. Infect Immun. 90(7):e0006522.
  2. DeMars, Z, KN Krute, MJ Ridder, AK Gilchrist, C Menjivar, and JL Bose. 2021. Fatty acids can inhibit Staphylococcus aureus SaeS activity at the membrane independent of alterations in respiration. Mol Microbiol. 116(5):1378-1391.
  3. Ridder, MJ*, SM Daly*, KD Triplett, NA Seawell, PR Hall, and JL Bose. 2020. Staphylococcus aureus fatty acid kinase FakA modulates pathogenesis during skin infection via proteases. Infect Immun. 88:e00163-20. *equally-contributing authors
  4. DeMars, Z, VK Singh, and JL Bose. 2020. Exogenous fatty acids remodel Staphylococcus aureus lipid composition through fatty acid kinase. J Bacteriol.
  5. Austin, CM, S Garabaglu, CN Krute, MJ Ridder, NA Seawell, MA Markiewicz, JM Boyd, and JL Bose. 2019. Contribution of YjbIH to virulence factor expression and host colonization in Staphylococcusaureus. Infect Immun. in press
  6. Krute, CN*, MJ Ridder*, NA Seawell, and JL Bose. 2018. Inactivation of the exogenous fatty acid utilization pathway leads to increased resistance to unsaturated fatty acids in Staphylococcus aureus. Microbiology. doi 10.1099/mic.0.000757 *equally-contributing authors
  7. DeMars, Z, and JL Bose 2018. Redirection of metabolism in response to fatty acid kinase in Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol. 200:e00345-18
  8. Krute, C.N., K.C Rice and J.L. Bose. 2017. VfrB is a key activator of the Staphylococcus aureus SaeRS two-component system. Journal of Bacteriology. PMID 28031278
  9. Krute, C.N., K.L. Krausz, M.A. Markiewicz, J.A. Joyner, S. Pokhrel, P.R. Hall, and J.L. Bose. 2016. Generation of a stable plasmid for in vitro and in vivo studies of Staphylococcus species. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. PMID: 27637878
  10. Krausz, K.L., and J.L Bose. 2014. Rapid Isolation of DNA from Staphylococcus. In J.L. Bose (ed), Genetic Manipulation of Staphylococci: Methods and Protocols. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, New York, NY
  11. Krausz, K.L., and J.L Bose. 2014. Bacteriophage transduction in Staphylococcus aureus: broth-based method.  In J.L. Bose (ed), Genetic Manipulation of Staphylococci: Methods and Protocols. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, New York, NY
  12. Bose, J.L. 2014. Chemical and UV Mutagenesis.  In J.L. Bose (ed), Genetic Manipulation of Staphylococci: Methods and Protocols. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, New York, NY
  13. Moormieir, D., J.L. Bose, A.R. Horwsill, and K.W. Bayles. 2014. Temporal and stochastic control of Staphylococcus aureus biofilm development. mBio 5:e01341-14
  14. Parsons, J.B., T.C. Broussard, J.L. Bose, J.W. Rosch, P. Jackson, C. Subramanian, and C.O. Rock. 2014. Identification of a two-component fatty acid kinase responsible for host fatty acid incorporation by Staphylococcus aureus. PNAS 111:10532-10537
  15. Bose, J.L., S.M. Daly, P.R. Hall, and K.W. Bayles. 2014. Identification of the vfrAB operon in Staphylococcus aureus: a novel virulence factor regulatory locus. Infect. Immun. 5(82):1813-1822. doi: 10.1128/IAI.01655-13
  16. Bose, J.L. 2014. Genetic manipulation of Staphylococci. In P.D. Fey (ed.), Staphylococcus epidermidis: Methods and Protocols. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, New York, NY
  17. Gries, C.M., J.L. Bose, A.S. Nuxoll, P.D, Fey, and K.W. Bayles. 2013. The Ktr potassium transport system in Staphylococcus aureus and its role in cell physiology, antimicrobial resistance, and pathogenesis. Mol. Microbiol. 89:760-773.
  18. Bose, J.L., P.D. Fey, and K.W. Bayles. 2013. Genetic tools to enhance the study of gene function and regulation in Staphylococcus aureus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 79:2218-2224.
  19. Fey, P.D., J.L. Endres, V.K. Yajjala, T.J. Widhelm, R.J. Boissy, J.L. Bose, and K.W. Bayles. 2013. A Genetic Resource for rapid and comprehensive screening of nonessential Staphylococcus aureus genes. mBio. 4(1):doi:10.1128/mBio.00537-12.
  20. Bose, J.L., M.K. Lehman, P.D Fey, and K.W. Bayles. 2012. Contribution of the Staphylococcus aureus AtlA AM and GL murein hydrolase activities in cell division, autolysis, and biofilm formation. PloS ONE 7:e42244.
  21. Kaplan, J.B., E.A. Izano, P. Gopal, M.T. Karwacki, S. Kim, J.L. Bose, K.W. Bayles, and A.R. Horswill. 2012. Low-levels of β-lactam antibiotics induce extracellular DNA release and biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus. mBio 3:e00198-12.