Styaphylococcus aureus adaptation to the host and persistence: the role of loss of capsular polysaccharide expression.

TUCHSCHERR, LORENA P.N.; LÖFFLER, BETTINA; BUZZOLA FERNANDA R.; SORDELLI, DANIEL O.

FUTURE MICROBIOLOGY

FUTURE MEDICINE LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2010 vol. 5 p. 1823 - 1832

1746-0913

            Staphylococcus aureus displays a vast array of virulence factors which enable this species to readily adapt to different environmental niches in different hosts.  The cap gene cluster, with one exception, is present in all relevant clinical S. aureus isolates and capsular polysaccharide (CP) expression is apparent in isolates from patients with acute infection.  The number of chronic infections caused by S. aureus lacking permanently CP expression, however, is significantly high, indicating that loss of CP expression may be a key S. aureus feature associated to persistence. The role of the loss of CP and other factors expression as well as the emergence of other defined phenotypes and their relevance to persistence and chronicity of the infection is discussed in this review.