Staphylococcus aureuscell wall maintenance – the multifaceted roles of peptidoglycan hydrolases in bacterial growth, fitness, and virulence

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human and livestock pathogen that is well-protected against environmental insults by a thick cell wall. Accordingly, the wall is a major target of present-day antimicrobial therapy. Unfortunately, S. aureus has mastered the art of antimicrobial resistance, as underscored by the global spread of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). The major cell wall component is peptidoglycan. Importantly, the peptidoglycan network is not only vital for cell wall function, but it also represents a bacterial Achilles’ heel. In particular, this network is continuously opened by no less than 18 different peptidoglycan hydrolases (PGHs) encoded by the S. aureus core genome, which facilitate bacterial growth and division. This focuses attention on the specific functions executed by these enzymes, their subcellular localization, their control at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels, their contributions to staphylococcal virulence and their overall importance in bacterial homeostasis. As highlighted in the present review, our understanding of the different aspects of PGH function in S. aureus has been substantially increased over recent years. This is important because it opens up new possibilities to exploit PGHs as innovative targets for next-generation antimicrobials, passive or active immunization strategies, or even to engineer them into effective antimicrobial agents.

The cell cycle of Staphylococcus aureus: An updated review

“…PG hydrolases have different enzymatic activities; glucosaminidases and muramidases cut bonds within the glycan chain, amidases cut the bond connecting the stem peptide to the glycan chain, endopeptidases cut within the stem peptide, and carboxypeptidases cut off the terminal amino acid of the stem peptide (Vollmer et al, 2008 ). S. aureus encodes a large array of different PG hydrolases (see M. Wang et al, 2022 for review). Functional data on specific hydrolases have emerged in recent years.…”

Bacillus subtilismaintains antibiofilm activity againstStaphylococcus aureusfollowing adaptive laboratory evolution

“…Previous work in our lab established B. subtilis 6D1 CFE upregulates agr, RNAIII , and saeR in S. aureus (37), and overexpression of these regulators also increases transcription of peptidoglycan hydrolases lytM, ssaA, sceD (97). Peptidoglycan hydrolases and Mur ligases collectively help to remodel and recycle peptidoglycan in S. aureus , and peptidoglycan recycling is known to drive bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation(68).…”

Wettability and Bactericidal Properties of Bioinspired ZnO Nanopillar Surfaces

“…In contrast, E. coli is typically rod-shaped, with a width of 0.5 μm and a length of 1.5 μm. − The differences in structural morphology between the bacteria may have had an effect on their viability on nanopillar-based structures. The shape of the E.…”