Staphylococcus aureus and Virulence-Related Small RNA

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus causes a wide range of diseases, including both community-associated and hospital-acquired infections such as abscesses, wound infections, osteomyelitis, endocarditis and septicemia. Regulation of the expression of various virulence factors is initiated through complex coordination between two-component systems, transcriptional regulatory proteins and regulatory small RNAs (sRNAs). S.aureus uses many sRNA and RNA–RNA interactions mediated the regulation of the expression of genes post-transcriptionally, but it uses few sigma factors to initiate the transcription function. sRNA transcripts are encoded within intergenic regions or in antisense orientation to mRNA transcripts, and sRNA regulation plays a central role in the response to stress stimuli encountered by pathogens during infection. One of the most intriguing examples of sRNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulation is RNAIII from S.aureus, which interacts with and regulates various RNA targets involved in virulence. Several genes known to be regulated by RNAIII have been demonstrated to be regulated by the sarA locus, independent of its effect on the expression of RNAIII. We discuss the potential role of small RNA (sRNA) in the pathogenesis and virulence factors production of Staphylococcus aureus.