Fig. 5: Altered cytosine DNA methylation induces EA-Agr phenotype in S. aureus.
From: Altered genomic methylation promotes Staphylococcus aureus persistence in hospital environment
a Venn diagram comparing identified the increased 5mC genes in Agr positive group compared to EA-Agr group. Orange: CC1 outbreak lineage (CN02agr+, CN06agr+, CN07EA, CN17EA), Green: ST15 (CovSA09agr+, CovSA10EA), Purple: ST45(CovSA03agr+, CovSA07EA). The numbers in the Venn diagram represent the number of differentially methylated genes in each subset. b RpsD and pcrA expressions of Agr positive (CN02agr+, CN06agr+, n = 5 for each) and EA-Agr (CN07 EA, CN17 EA, n = 6 for each) subclones in the late growth phase (4 h culture) of low aeration condition 1. Data are the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, two-tailed Mann-Whitney test. c RNAIII expression and bacterial density (OD600) of CN02agr+ (Agr positive) subclone, CN02agr+ deficient in mraW (CN02∆mraW + pTX∆16), and CN02agr+ mutant subclone complemented with mraW plasmid (CN02∆mraW + pTX∆mraW) grown under low aeration 2 and high aeration condition for 6.5 h. OD600; the optical density (OD) at 600 nm. n = 6 for each. d RNAIII expression and bacterial density (OD600) of CN07EA (EA-Agr) subclone, CN07EA mutant subclone deficient in mraW (CN07∆mraW + pTX∆16) and CN07EA mutant subclone complemented with mraW expression plasmid (CN07∆mraW + pTX∆mraW). n = 6 for each. e Bacterial survival rate (%) inside Mac 24 h after phagocytosis using gentamycin (GEN) to eliminate extracellular bacteria. Agr positive: CN02agr+, CN02∆mraW + pTX∆mraW, EA-Agr: CN07EA, CN02∆mraW + pTX∆16 and CN07∆mraW + pTX∆mraW, Agr negative: CN07∆mraW + pTX∆16. n = 6 for each. c–e Data are the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, n.s. not significant. Kruskal-Wallis test with two-tailed Dunn’s post-hoc test. The dots represent the number (n) of biological measurements. f A hospital adaptation model of EA-Agr S. aureus.
